Free from its daily tourists, Camden Lock and its very famous American-brand coffee shop offered the perfect quiet spot for me to interview the band who would unquestionably choose to play live and electric music for the rest of their lives, and record a duo with the Beatles, but who are still disagreeing on the best option for a nice weekend treat: a cup of tea with the Queen, or a pint of beer with Prince Harry. Pistol Kings. Or at least two of the members. With their lead-singer and guitarist, Tom Triggs, being ill, bassist, Jake Cook, and drummer, Ben Parker, sat at a table of Starbucks coffee, joking around and planning their dinner, before trying to keep their serious as soon as I pressed the record button on my phone.
"Can I swear," was the first question Ben asked, sending a cheeky look to his partner-in-crime; a sort of nice way to break the ice as well as showing that their friendship and the affection they have for each other is not fake. They are really fond of each other, care for each other.
Friendship. This is one thing that Pistol Kings is mainly about. A friendship that could make you envious, especially as it makes the harmony in the band outstanding - both on their record and live. "There are so many great aspects for being in a band, and in this one in particular. Great friendship, great music, we all are very passionate," Jake said, "I think our friendship is enough for us to influence our band. ("That’s really sweet, man," reacted Ben) That’s true, though. We are very connected; we’ve said we’d be best friends for the band. And I think that’s what influence a band to create more music".
To create more music, the three musicians with different music influences, going from the Red Hot Chili Pepper to Foo Fighters, from Pink Floyd to Linkin Park to Ben Howard, get inspired by many things, especially emotions. And with all of this creativity put together, Pistol Kings put together a very talented record, released earlier this year, call "When All Else Fails".
"We went through a bunch of names," Ben said, explaining the origin of the name of the record, "Actually we kinda all keep list of cool song names or whatever on our phones and, I think it was on Tom’s phone that we had this name".
"Tom read it out and it just clicked. There’s no really real behind story behind the name. I like the fact that it sort of linked up with ‘Stop Breaking All My, Shet’; and then if you listen to the whole record, all the way through the EP, it's sort of catchier. If you follow us as a band from the very beginning, you’d actually better understand why we chose that name. For the new people, I think it’s quite hard to understand, but if you go back to our earlier stuff, it’s quite funny," added Jake, before Ben concluded with: "I think it’s got a little bit of a ring to it, quite like ‘When all else fails, then *this*’". (NDLR their record)
Even though the record is fairly new, the band has been playing together for a couple of years now, and on the British music scene for longer than that. They have musically grown together, mixing their influences to create this sort of unique sound, different from other bands, exclusive to Pistol Kings. This live-performances sort of background made them wonder what the best parts of being in a band would be. Live performances? Fans? Yes, but not only.
Far from the Rock-band cliché of the 'Sex, Drug and Rock'n'Roll' sort of life, Ben explained that: "I think that for me there is three main things: the sh*t that happens between you and your bandmates, like the fun things that you do. The feeling of nailing a live show afterwards, and feeling the crowd, with the feedbacks they give to you. That is quite an adrenaline rush. And I think the third thing is when someone comes up to you and says that you’ve inspired them. (Jake agreed) It means that you can die because your life has been fulfilled".
As our coffees were starting to become as cold as the current London weather, I've decided to ask the two musicians in front of me the question that even I would not be able to answer: What would you say was the best decade in music?
After vivid reactions on how challenging the question was to them, Ben started to explain: "This is my theory. I think the Golden decade for everyone is the decade of the first ten years of their lives where they are surrounded by the music, but they don’t know that it’s there. And when they are a teenager, they’re just like: ‘Oh yeah! That music was really great’. And when they are in their 20s, they’re like: ‘That music is now legendary’. So, for me, it’s probably the 90s".
As for Jake, the theory of his friend does not really apply: "I don’t know. I’ve listened to all different styles and lots of different music throughout the years, ranging from the 60s to now. And even before that, I listened to old-time music, and I found that quite funny: it was about doing the washing and drinking tea. (They both laughed.) But from that, it inspired even further generations. So that’s why I think that music as a whole, throughout all years, is just great".
Running out of questions and warm coffee, I knew that the interview would soon come to an end. The members of Pistol Kings who would love to share the stage with Arcane Roots if they could - a band they all love! - proved at many occasions during that coffee break that the harmony in the group is genuine, and as powerful on the personal level as it is on the musical one.
What could we wish them for the future? Luck, as well as performing for the rest of their lives without worrying about anything else. But most of all, and they both agreed on it, to have a good health; they punctuated this answer with: "because if we lost one of our arms, any of us, we’ve be pretty screwed".
Friendship. This is one thing that Pistol Kings is mainly about. A friendship that could make you envious, especially as it makes the harmony in the band outstanding - both on their record and live. "There are so many great aspects for being in a band, and in this one in particular. Great friendship, great music, we all are very passionate," Jake said, "I think our friendship is enough for us to influence our band. ("That’s really sweet, man," reacted Ben) That’s true, though. We are very connected; we’ve said we’d be best friends for the band. And I think that’s what influence a band to create more music".
To create more music, the three musicians with different music influences, going from the Red Hot Chili Pepper to Foo Fighters, from Pink Floyd to Linkin Park to Ben Howard, get inspired by many things, especially emotions. And with all of this creativity put together, Pistol Kings put together a very talented record, released earlier this year, call "When All Else Fails".
"We went through a bunch of names," Ben said, explaining the origin of the name of the record, "Actually we kinda all keep list of cool song names or whatever on our phones and, I think it was on Tom’s phone that we had this name".
"Tom read it out and it just clicked. There’s no really real behind story behind the name. I like the fact that it sort of linked up with ‘Stop Breaking All My, Shet’; and then if you listen to the whole record, all the way through the EP, it's sort of catchier. If you follow us as a band from the very beginning, you’d actually better understand why we chose that name. For the new people, I think it’s quite hard to understand, but if you go back to our earlier stuff, it’s quite funny," added Jake, before Ben concluded with: "I think it’s got a little bit of a ring to it, quite like ‘When all else fails, then *this*’". (NDLR their record)
Even though the record is fairly new, the band has been playing together for a couple of years now, and on the British music scene for longer than that. They have musically grown together, mixing their influences to create this sort of unique sound, different from other bands, exclusive to Pistol Kings. This live-performances sort of background made them wonder what the best parts of being in a band would be. Live performances? Fans? Yes, but not only.
Far from the Rock-band cliché of the 'Sex, Drug and Rock'n'Roll' sort of life, Ben explained that: "I think that for me there is three main things: the sh*t that happens between you and your bandmates, like the fun things that you do. The feeling of nailing a live show afterwards, and feeling the crowd, with the feedbacks they give to you. That is quite an adrenaline rush. And I think the third thing is when someone comes up to you and says that you’ve inspired them. (Jake agreed) It means that you can die because your life has been fulfilled".
As our coffees were starting to become as cold as the current London weather, I've decided to ask the two musicians in front of me the question that even I would not be able to answer: What would you say was the best decade in music?
After vivid reactions on how challenging the question was to them, Ben started to explain: "This is my theory. I think the Golden decade for everyone is the decade of the first ten years of their lives where they are surrounded by the music, but they don’t know that it’s there. And when they are a teenager, they’re just like: ‘Oh yeah! That music was really great’. And when they are in their 20s, they’re like: ‘That music is now legendary’. So, for me, it’s probably the 90s".
As for Jake, the theory of his friend does not really apply: "I don’t know. I’ve listened to all different styles and lots of different music throughout the years, ranging from the 60s to now. And even before that, I listened to old-time music, and I found that quite funny: it was about doing the washing and drinking tea. (They both laughed.) But from that, it inspired even further generations. So that’s why I think that music as a whole, throughout all years, is just great".
Running out of questions and warm coffee, I knew that the interview would soon come to an end. The members of Pistol Kings who would love to share the stage with Arcane Roots if they could - a band they all love! - proved at many occasions during that coffee break that the harmony in the group is genuine, and as powerful on the personal level as it is on the musical one.
What could we wish them for the future? Luck, as well as performing for the rest of their lives without worrying about anything else. But most of all, and they both agreed on it, to have a good health; they punctuated this answer with: "because if we lost one of our arms, any of us, we’ve be pretty screwed".
You can follow Pistol Kings on Twitter @ PistolKings, on Facebook @ PistolKings, on YouTube and visit their website: www.PistolKings.com
• 17 Oct. at Oxjam Brixton, London
• 31 Oct. at Oxjam Bracknell
• 18 Nov. at The Good Ship, London
• 31 Oct. at Oxjam Bracknell
• 18 Nov. at The Good Ship, London
Believe me, you will not be disappointed by the level of professionalism and talent the band shares during each performance. Passionate and full of energy, they are very engaging with their audience - which is what a band should be like in my opinion.
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