{"id":1599,"date":"2010-04-19T13:28:22","date_gmt":"2010-04-19T18:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/archives\/?p=1599"},"modified":"2022-01-13T11:18:05","modified_gmt":"2022-01-13T16:18:05","slug":"dug-pinnick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/downthelinezine.com\/archives\/dug-pinnick\/","title":{"rendered":"dUg Pinnick"},"content":{"rendered":"

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dUg catches us up on his solo album, a couple of side projects and some pretty cool Kings X news <\/strong><\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of <\/em>duG Pinnick<\/em><\/p>\n

How are things going with Razr 13? Any new music on the horizon there?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re gonna do a new record but we haven\u2019t talked about the date yet. That will be on down the line because I\u2019ve got A.N.M. happening and a couple of small side projects I\u2019m trying to get done, plus my solo record.<\/p>\n

So you have new solo material coming out? Is it in the same vein as your last solo album Strum Sun Up<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, I\u2019ve got all the songs written, I\u2019ve just gotta get in my studio and get them pumped out. It\u2019s kind of in the same vein as Strum Sum Up<\/em>. What\u2019s happening is that I\u2019ve been through a lot with a friend of mine who I love to death, and he has a prescription drug problem. He almost died through it all and I did a lot of songs about dealing with that. Prescription drugs man, that\u2019s something that\u2019s a big problem in America right now.<\/p>\n

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Any plans to re-issue any older Kings X material?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re trying to get a box set going of the first four or five records, get them re-mastered and stuff, but I haven\u2019t heard much from that. That\u2019s really just a thought right now, but I\u2019m trying to push it\u2026 We\u2019ve got the live DVD coming out soon, it should have been out but we\u2019re holding it up with a few minor details. We did a live DVD in London about a year and a half ago, so we\u2019re real excited about that\u2026 that\u2019s the next thing that\u2019s coming.<\/p>\n

How did you guys in Kings X go from being an \u2018opening band\u2019 to really breaking out and \u2018making it\u2019 and how do you stay at it for so long and still keep it fresh and relevant?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You gotta look at it like a marriage, you get out of it what you put into it. If you don\u2019t learn to compromise, communicate and know your weaknesses and strengths, it just ain\u2019t gonna work out. So I think with us, we laugh about it, we just always tell people we\u2019re idiots. They\u2019re my best friends now, we\u2019ve lived together and been doing this for thirty years, and that\u2019s a long, long time. We\u2019re not like Aerosmith and those other bands that break up and come back together, and break up and have all these problems and then come back together again for the money. For us if it was about money we would have broken up a long, long, long time ago.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know why we\u2019re still together\u2026 I think we believe in it, we believe in this you know, there\u2019s something special here – a legacy of 14 records, plus we\u2019ve got so many solo projects out. I\u2019m just figuring if all else fails maybe we\u2019ll just get that one hit that goes viral for a second and then everybody will get turned on to all the back catalog\u2026 ya know man, we\u2019ve got some good stuff! For no other reason than to make a little money to pay some bills (laughter) or to be inducted into the rock \u2018n\u2019 roll hall of fame when we\u2019re ninety years old (more laughter).<\/p>\n

How did you guys shake the \u2018Christian\u2019 label, do you feel that you have, or do you feel that you were ever labeled that way?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We were labeled Christian from the beginning, even though we didn\u2019t want to be. We never even said that we were a Christian band, but we\u2019ve been labeled that ever since we began. Nowadays I read articles and they say \u201cthat Christian band with the gay, black singer that had a Mohawk\u201d and I think, \u201cgeez people, what about the music ya know?\u201d They always have to bring these things up, especially the gay thing and I never made a big deal about it, not ever, not at all\u2026 I just did this little article about it in CCM, it was sort of like going to your parents and saying, \u201cThis is who I am, why do you hate me (laughter)\u201d. I don\u2019t know why\u2026\u00a0 I don\u2019t know why I did it, ya know, I just busted out in CCM for some reason because I\u2019m just kind of like that, I like to confront things. Other then that it\u2019s never been a topic of anybody\u2019s, even when we go out in public and play people never mention it or seem to have a problem with it, but whenever there\u2019s an interview they always bring it up. Our lack of attendance and fans is not because I \u201ccame out\u201d, they just faded away like most bands fans do ya know. I know Christians want to say, \u201cWell he left the Lord, so the Lord\u2019s not blessing him, that\u2019s why they\u2019re not doing so good. That\u2019s just the bullsh*t attitude of some Christians who feel justified in someone else\u2019s downfall or pain, and those are the people that are gonna go to hell\u2026 those people don\u2019t like themselves and that\u2019s the problem.<\/p>\n

Did \u201ccoming out\u201d affect the fan base at all do you think?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, I know it did affect the fan base. I mean prior to that the big argument in youth groups was \u201care Kings X Christian or not?\u201d They don\u2019t give altar calls, they don\u2019t say Jesus in their songs, etc. That was a big controversy, but still the rockers were latching on to Kings X because they didn\u2019t have anybody else. Stryper was gone and here was Kings X, this new band that everybody seemed to like, and it was like people said \u201cthey\u2019re ours, they\u2019re Christians,\u201d and they went out to tell everybody that we were Christians and that was not what we wanted. The reason I didn\u2019t want us to be known as a Christian band was because I knew the moment we did anything wrong we would be crucified, ya know? Jesus preached mercy and God is forgiving, but Christians just seem to turn their back on you\u2026 not all, now don\u2019t get me wrong, I don\u2019t mean all Christians, just the ones who are vocal, you could put it that way.<\/p>\n

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What advice do you have for bands starting out today?<\/strong><\/p>\n

People ask me that all the time and I just say \u201cdude, I don\u2019t know.\u201d Just get out there and do what you can and always know that it just ain\u2019t about the money. If you\u2019re looking for fame and fortune and everybody to love you, your not gonna find it anymore – if you want that you gotta go play the game and be Lady Gaga or something. Find someone with money behind them, but even then you don\u2019t know if you can do it. You gotta find a record company with money, but the record companies aren\u2019t handing out the money because they\u2019re afraid they aren\u2019t gonna make any, it\u2019s really scary out there.<\/p>\n

So, my advice would be just go make music and do what you do and keep pushing, don\u2019t give up\u2026 and if you do give up, don\u2019t feel bad about it, at least you had fun. Someone asked me one time \u201cwhat was it like when you made it?\u201d and I said, \u201cI made it when I picked the bass up and played my first two notes\u201d, that\u2019s when it started and it\u2019s been that way ever since. There is no making it or not making it, or being successful or not being successful, if you\u2019re doing what you love to do and you\u2019re making a living at it, then you\u2019re the envy of the world.<\/p>\n

How has the digital age helped\/hindered you as an artist?<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the beginning that ruined everybody. That was like when grunge came, or when someone made a drum machine and all of a sudden drummers didn\u2019t have a job. It\u2019s like the internet came and now all of a sudden we don\u2019t have jobs\u2026 but ya know, that\u2019s progress. That\u2019s just the way it is, and I hate it, I\u2019m not happy about it. It\u2019s like in business, someone makes Cornflakes then someone comes along and makes something better, they\u2019re gonna stop eating Cornflakes. It\u2019s all business, even though people want me to take this personally, you just can\u2019t, even though my music is personal and what I do is personal, but when it comes to business, yeah, we understand\u2026 you build a better mousetrap they\u2019re gonna go buy it, bottom line!<\/p>\n

Like with the internet these days, whatever you wanna see in a band, you just go to you tube and you can find anything from some piece of sh*t band all the way up to great stuff. So I think as people we just have to look at it a different way, how do we market ourselves now because people have seen us at our lowest point on you tube So I think now bands are trying to regroup and go out and do a good show and get people to come out and see the real thing instead of watching it on you tube.<\/p>\n

Another thing too are some bands, like us, are planning on doing the \u2019favorite record\u2019 that everybody bought\u2026 like going and doing the Gretchen Tour, just going and playing the whole record. I went and saw The Cult do the \u201cLove\u201d album and it was great, it was awesome because that\u2019s my favorite record by them. I would love to go do a couple of songs off each album, but to give the fans that tour would be something! Make it an evening with Kings X, or even storytelling you know, but basically going back to the question, we just gotta find a way to market ourselves, the internet changes everything for everybody, not just musicians.<\/p>\n