Finding new and upcoming artists and giving them some exposure is probably one of the highlights of writing articles for myself. So when I was asked by my friend Josh if I could help set something up for his acoustic project called “No King.”, I was immediately down. After listening to the various tracks a number of times I’m convinced that this is something that needed to be shared and given the attention it truly deserves.

I had the chance to speak with No King on what influences him both lyrically and sonically, and what this whole project is about:



What sort of things inspire you lyrically, as well what inspired you to write Sueno Mal(when translated to English means “Bad Dream”)?

Josh: No King’s lyrical style can be attributed to many different influences. With driving country/folk guitar riffs and emo/indie rock style vocals, Sueno Mal is a fresh take on acoustic music. Sueno is a direct interpretation of a horrible dream I had.

We sort of got to know each other from out similar musical taste(Underoath, Circa, etc.) but what influenced No King, since it does have more of a country influence?

J: My main influences have always been bands like Circa Survive and Thursday, but I also love old country like Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Merle Haggard, all those guys. I think with this song I was able to combine many different styles and come up with a song that described the terror and achievement of that portion of my life

How did you get your start officially as the artist No King?

J: No King was started in early 2015 as a result of a contest put on by Chico State SOTA Productions. Chico Unplugged, an event they put on, is a contest featuring local singer songwriters in the area. I entered and won the contest, which gave me free studio time to record some songs. Through that I went on to meet fellow student and SOTA member Brandon Mckie. We sort of just bonded over our similar musical tastes so he’s helped record/produce the entire 5-song EP titled “Bury Your Name” I’m releasing sometime in October.

Sueno Mal by No King.

You can find the whole EP on No King’s bandcamp when it drops, but for now check out Sueno Mal and All My Demons!

If you live in the California area you can also catch him live at the first 2 days of the Folk-n-Soak Festival in Paso Robles which is from October 6th to 8th.

Folk-n-Soak Tickets

No King’s Socials

Bandcamp

Facebook

