Jammerzine has an exclusive interview with Rob Dexter from Kings County. If ever there was a band, or an artist, that has taking what they have and fed it with a steady stream of experience and talent, and naturally grew their career via grass roots grinding and organic evolution, it’s Kings County.
With their new single and video for their rendition of New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’, Kings County fuse that perfect blend of rock and raucous in a sound that is as signature as it is infectious.
In this interview, we talk with Rob about the surprising beginnings of what was to become Kings County, that sound they’ve perfected, and where all of this persistence is going and how they plan to get there.
Check out our other features with kings County HERE.
About Kings County & ‘Blue Monday’
New Order’s 1983 hit single, “Blue Monday”, has been covered by various bands over the years, but this time is different. It has been re-imagined by Orlando, Fl., hard rock band, Kings County, who have transformed it into a living, breathing entity with heavy guitars, real earthy drums, aggressive modern vocals, while incorporating some of that signature New Order keyboard sounds.
Kings County is Rob Dexter (Vocals, Bass), Steve Bell (Guitars, Vocals), Joe Lopez (Drums) and Bill Kania (Guitars, Vocals).
Dexter says, “Great songs stand the test of time and New Order’s 1983 hit, “Blue Monday” is no exception. Over the years, we’ve realized that a lot of the 80’s new wave bands like The Cure, Depeche Mode and New Order converted well to hard rock. For some reason you could take one of their songs, heavy up the guitars and it just came together, like it was meant to be.”
The video for, “Blue Monday”, was shot at M3 Studios in Miami, FL., the same location of Kings County’s, “So Cold”. However, the visual image of each video they do has a different look. “Blue Monday”, is more of a straightforward performance video with some high-end lighting. The video was directed by Jon Vulpine, who has worked with Three Days Grace, Skillet and Seether and is the fourth video Jon has shot for Kings County.
“We absolutely love Jon’s technique and vision for making a hardcore video, whatever the theme is”, says Dexter. “A great video starts with a great song, if you don’t have that, the video is meaningless. Our producer, Chuck Alkazian, absolutely brought the song to life with his signature drum sounds and in your face vocals.”
Kings County is looking to continue the success they had in 2023 by getting back to creating new, original music with their producer, Chuck Alkazian, who they consider a fifth member of the band. They also look forward to performing live throughout the year, bringing their hard-rock style of music to as many new ears as possible. They feel nothing will ever replace getting out there and playing for the fans, its why they all do it.
“Blue Monday” was produced by Super Producer and Engineer, Chuck Alkazian (Pop Evil, Soundgarden, Tantric) at Pearl Sound Studios (Asking Alexandria, Eminem, Filter) in Canton, MI.
LINKS:
https://www.kingscountyofficial.com
https://www.facebook.com/kingscountyband
https://www.instagram.com/kingscountyofficial
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSaG_L5KmHY9nxfvALuzPsA
https://twitter.com/kingscounty3
