Little King interview  11/09/2025

MM: Tell us about your band .. your influences and what took you down this genre of music.

 

Good evening from the desert. Tucson is lovely today…and actually, my new/old/new hometown is one of those influences!

 

I was always drawn to complexity in art, whether music, film, or visual mediums. I get bored easily, I guess, and the only thing that keeps me engaged and coming back for more is that which is not surface-level, easily digestible cannon fodder. I mean, I had my time in clubs dancing and acting a fool, particularly after divorce #2 and a bunch of time working and playing in the Bay Area. Super Hyphy, I know.

Rush, Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, Yes, and some other prog and metal offerings (big Maiden and Megadeth fan here) are mainstays of my playlist. I do love the familiarity of sing-along verses and choruses, but I also like some ambiguity and humor. Those bands definitely straddled those lines really well.

As I mentioned earlier, though, I take topical inspiration from my immediate surroundings and circumstances. I am currently on a hill in the Catalina Foothills in my little oasis, but I ride down to “the spot on Pennington” 5 days a week to the studio on my little Kawasaki Vulcan S. This ride shows me so much, from first to last. I am also a single dad, a caregiving son, an equal romantic partner, a small business owner, and last but not least, the mouthpiece for Little King. My heart (and plate) is full.

 

MM:Are there any themes or messages you aim to convey through your music?

Yes…and I am glad you asked. Perseverance, empathy, righteous anger, introspection, motivation, and inside jokes…this is the Little King thing! I’ve always tried to create a certain level of “thinking person’s rock” while also maintaining pleasing musicality and memorable hooks and lines. I think, to a large degree, it’s been hit-or-miss but always getting better since our first album, Transmountain, which came out in 1997.

 

The new album, Lente Vivente, was born of my experiences interviewing seniors for my company, LivingLens Memoirs, here in Arizona (yes, “Lente Viviente” means “living lens” in Spanish…see…inspired by current circumstances.) The way we see ourselves, our legacies and lives, are irrevocably altered by our experiences and even our DNA. But how do others see us…do we have emotional dysmorphia? Are we so subject to political or social biases, or those ancestral lessons that are just too ingrained to escape? This album examines those filters of nostalgia, family and friends, homelessness and addiction, romance, and cultural identity. I am proud that an active listener will certainly come away thinking a bit more about how they see themselves and how others see them…and hopefully with a few earworms to boot.

 

MM: What can fans expect from you in the near future—new music, tours, collaborations?

 

Little King released our first single from the new album, “Catch and Release,” on August 22 (I’ll say this now and not again…”Available now on all platforms!”) That song is a reflection (first lens/light/filter metaphor of the day) on all of the fly fishing I did with my dad in Montana in the 1970’s and 80’s as a young kid. We went again on the Yakima River last year for my birthday, and it was a profoundly nostalgic and altogether wonderful experience. We didn’t really slay trout like the old days, but as the song says, “We had our share.”

 

On September 12, we will unleash the second single, “Dawn Villa.” Like “Catch,” it is a pretty uptempo song that has some fat hooks, some pretty amazing bass playing and drumming, and me shrieking about growing up in a test tube of a neighborhood on Mercer Island, WA. The song started as a conversation between the 12 guys I grew up with…we’ve really all been friends for almost 50 years (EXACTLY 50 on January 1, 2026, actually.) We are all still in touch, and it was a project of love to chat with my old friends about our childhood memories and the Mandela Effect. It’s real, y’all.

 

Finally, Lente Viviente comes out on September 26. The band is immensely proud of this record…we’ve all shared that this is our favorite batch of songs we’ve ever contributed to. I am so grateful to Dave (Hamilton, bass and cello) and Tony (Bojorquez, drums) for their hard work, diligence, and preparation. And CHOPS! Those dudes made me so much better. The results…well, so far, the early reviews are pretty gratifying.

 

MM: Are there any dream venues or festivals you’d love to play?

 

Too many to name, really, but I will say that our hope is to play a series of festivals in Europe in 2026. Depends, of course, on how the album does and if that makes it financially feasible, but there are a ton of prog and neo-prog bands and festivals that Little King would love to be a part of. I’ve played a lot of show in the USA, and I absolutely have Europe on my bucket list. So…promoters, if you’re reading this…holler at your boy.

 

MM: How do you prepare for a show, both mentally and physically?

 

There is no fucking substitute for smart, diligent rehearsal…both individually and as a group. As the old saying goes, you don’t learn the songs in rehearsal…you fine-tune them. So, I am now in the process of solo practicing playing and singing the 7 songs on Lente Viviente with an eye towards a ton of shows in the next 8 months.  

 

As I have said in dozens of interviews over the years, playing and singing Little King songs at the same time is HARD. There are a lot of odd times, odder inflections, high notes mixed with complex musical passages, and LISTENING. There is no trainwreck like a prog rock trainwreck…you kinda have to know where you are and what’s coming next. It’s a challenge, but when you nail it, the feeling is sublime. “We did that!”

 

Physically, I use an app and warm up for 15 minutes before I ever sing even one song. It’s so important, again because I use a lot of range and dynamics in my vocal delivery…I need proper stretching to get it right. I also eat way less dairy, hydrate properly, get 7,000 steps a day, and lift 4-5 times a week. I am a bit of a gym rat for sure, and I know that it’s enabled me at the age of 53 to kick fucking ass on stage and in rehearsal with some sustainable, very NON Rock and Roll self-care. Hey, I wanna be Jagger, okay?

 

MM:What emotions do you hope to evoke in fans when they watch your band live

 

Joy, deeper thought, humor, and a bit of awe, please. To go. 

 

I think I want people to see how much hard work and thoughtfulness we all put into the compositions, the production, and the individual parts which are meticulously crafted and yet played, hopefully, with some reckless abandon. We aim for that live feel…the songs are all written and recorded on this record with an eye on maintaining their integrity as a 3-piece band. I loved Rush for that, and although all 3 of them were triggering a ton of samples, they never brought anyone else on stage until the very last 2 tours, and even then it was in the form of a string ensemble and then a violin soloist for “Losing It.” 

 

It’s so tempting to go crazy with overdubs in the studio. I have been guilty of it before, and then when I go to play the solo live, the bottom drops out. And that’s OKAY! I mean, live is live and not supposed to always be identical to the studio version. But too often, I think, I have settled for “less than” versions of the songs live. That’s something we aimed to remedy with Lente Viviente. I told Dave, who sings beautifully and has volunteered to nail the many harmonies on this record live, that he has his work cut out for him. I’ll say this, though…no one is better-suited than him to pull it off. Stay tuned!

 

MM: Do you have any favourite pre-show rituals?

 

In the blink of an eye, it went from Jack Daniel’s to Ibuprofen. 

 

MM: How do you handle criticism or comparisons to other bands in the scene?

 

Oh my goodness…I crawl into bed, draw the covers over my head, and vow to quit forever because someone in Winnipeg hates us. 

 

Seriously, after 28 years? I am NOT doing this for anyone other than myself, my bandmates, and the people who have stayed with us through the years. I don’t know how many there are out there…that’s the beauty of modern music promotion, actually, You can follow Spotify and YouTube analytics, and that’s always interesting to see where you’re catching on, but the reach is so out of control and dominoes push over so many more unseen dominoes. I am always awed that we get love in places I’ve never been.

 

As for what other bands and critics think of Little King? I don’t fucking care. At all. Where are YOUR 8 albums of dynamic, melodic, progressive, mostly competent rock and roll? Let’s trade.

 

WE are satisfied. This record sounds better even than it sounded in my head, and this is only maybe the 3rd time I can say that (I feel that way about Amuse De Q from 2021 and also Virus Divine from 2004…maybe the singles from 2023 “Amber Waves GoodBye” and “Silver Tongue,” too.) I love to hear about the snare sound, the bass tones, the vocal critiques…after all this time, it just fuels me beyond belief to get better and to block out the noise. 

 

But if they love it? Then of course we are gratified. That’s nice. We worked hard. Thanks for listening!

 

MM: What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a band, and how did you overcome it?

 

By far the biggest challenge has been consistency in touring. We are all adults, and the dreams of life on the road in our 20’s have long since given way to realistic dreams and goals. I am TOTALLY down to tour forever…as long as I don’t go broke. This is not a genre of music or a career path that leads to fame and fortune. It has to be a labor of love, a desire to complete pieces of a legacy, and a shit-ton of persistence to achieve. We’ve done those things…I have done those things…with a big dose of realism mixed with unbridled idealism. 

 

Financially, an indie band has to take a hit until it doesn’t. We lose money touring unless it’s a really good spot for us. I ALWAYS pay my band and crew more than fairly…you can’t find one legit complaint about that for my 28 years in Little King. I am really proud of that…I stand on business. But I am toooooo old and toooooo happy at home to jeopardize what little money I have saved over the years. I’d rather make another record, to be honest, than take a bath (literally and financially) in Atlanta or Topeka or Tukwila. Now a Roman bath? I’ll take that hit.

 

MM: Last song you listened to? 

 

I just shut out all music for such a long time that it is almost embarrassing. I was so caught up in the vortex of tracking, mixing, and mastering Lente Viviente that I didn’t really listen to music for pleasure for like 3 months. I find that when I am so deep in that creative process that I don’t wanna hear anything outside. Like, I don’t wanna second-guess any choices, whether they are notes, mixes, words, or mastering levels. I am a perfectionist caught up in an impossible chase, and that feeling of UGH hits a lot when you’re finishing an album. Having said all that…the last song I heard was “Deep AZ the Root” by my favorite almost-famous hip-hop group from the 90’s, Above The Law. I may be their biggest fan, and that whole album, Legends, is a stone-cold masterpiece.

 

MM:Tell us why we should check out your band

 

If you’ve gotten to the end of this interview and you aren’t compelled to give us 26 minutes and 34 seconds of your time, I don’t think there’s a fucking thing I can say to change your mind. All I can say is, “No herbal enhancement required…but it is recommended.” Or so I’ve been told.

 

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