Band Interview: Dug Pinnick Keeps it Real and Honest with King's X

The three piece power trio King's X has been turning out their own brand of progressive heavy rock for over twenty-eight years! In that time span the band has weathered the storm of many musical trends. They have been labeled Christian rock, heavy metal, grunge, Black rock and even punk! While groups have broken up, gotten back together or changed band members umpteen times, Jerry Gaskill, Ty Tabor and Dug Pinnick have stood the test of time and have created a blueprint for heavy, progressive rock that mixes the musicianship of Rush with the soul of Sly Stone, Beatles styled harmonies and the bone crushing riffs of Black Sabbath. The band is still remembered for their show stopping performance at the 1994 Woodstock festival and they have shared the stage, held their own and literally stolen fans from some of the heaviest bands in rock including AC/DC, The Scorpions and Living Colour. Although mainstream success has eluded the group, King's X have a strong cult following. The "X-Men" just wrapped a tour promoting their latest disc, "King's X: XV" with the newly reunited, Extreme. As he was getting some much needed rest and preparing to deal with Hurricane Ike in Texas, bassist/vocalist Dug Pinnick took time out of his schedule to talk to me about his band, his battle with religion and what keeps him going after twenty-eight years.

Associated Content: How did this particular tour with Extreme come about and what was the reaction from the crowds each night?

Dug Pinnick: This tour opportunity just fell into our laps. I think Nuno Bettencourt was instrumental in making it happen. He has said that he has always wanted to tour with us. As far as crowd reaction goes, the fans have been great. We were able to win a lot of new fans and at one point on the Extreme message board, their fans just started blogging/writing about us! HA!

AC: The band King's X is revered by the majority of musicians in the hard rock/heavy metal world. What does that kind of respect mean to you?

DP: It really took a while to accept those kinds of accolades. It's great to have that kind of respect from your peers. I mean some of the people saying stuff like that are folks that I grew up listening to so it's really tremendous to hear.

AC: Now the rumor has been, while many bands love and respect the group they are also fearful of having you as an opening act. Is that frustrating?

DP: It is frustrating! That's the downside...I know that has been the rumor for a while but literally only three musicians have ever said that to me...the bass player from Alice In Chains told me their drummer was a bit gun shy about going on after us and the guitarist from Skid Row also told me that they had a hard time following us when we toured with them...what can I say it's flattering but it also sucks! It makes touring difficult.

AC: You mentioned there were three musicians who told you this. Who was the third?

DP: Oh yeah, Corey Glover from Living Colour. When the tour with Extreme hit New York, Living Colour was on the bill. Corey asked me how come his band had to follow us...he wanted to know why we were going on first. I told him it was because his band has sold more records than us, that's why! HA!

AC: I believe last year you actually filled in for Corey Glover and sang lead for Living Colour on a few European dates. What was that like?

DP: It was cool. Those shows were at really big venues and they were packed. Corey was touring with Jesus Christ Superstar and the band had already booked the gigs. It was great. I got the chance to be a "real" frontman...I got to run around the stage with a microphone and no bass guitar...it was a good time.

AC: Your latest disc "XV" entered the Billboard top 200. You worked with producer Michael Wagner once again on this disc. Any specific reason you chose to go with him again?

DP: Honestly, here is how that went down. Michael worked with us on the album before this one, "Ogre Tones". After we finished mixing the last track for that disc I was getting into my car with Ty and Michael just looked at us both from his car and yelled out, "see you guys next year." I just looked at Ty and said, ok I guess we will be working with Michael again, and that's how it happened!

AC: For fans of the band, it has always been a mystery as to why the group never hit big with the mainstream. A few years ago you addressed your fans with a huge blog entry that was in part answering fans questions, part rant, and part cathartic expose on what the group has tried to do to attain mainstream success. Why did you do this?

DP: Hmm...I was reading all of these blogs and fan questions and I just got frustrated at what was being said. I wrote this thing and I sent it to our message board. All I wanted to do was express my own insight, into what has been going on for the last twenty-eight years but it turned into something much bigger. I had just reached a point where I wanted to tell everyone, "hey we have tried all of these things, several times...this is not as easy as you may think" but it morphed into something else. People thought I was angry, people thought the band was breaking up. Some people actually thought I was having a nervous breakdown! My blog actually got sent out and put on message boards and hard rock websites everywhere! The issue became huge!

AC: How did the ensuing hoopla make you feel?

DP: It was embarrassing. It was as if I had broken down and cried in front of our fans. I mean, many people came out of the woodwork and were like, "don't worry Dug, everything will be ok". And then there were other folks who took the attitude of, "man get over yourself, you are a rock star...life is good for you". I have no regrets putting my thoughts out there...I was being honest, but it's not something I will do again!
,
AC: Early in the band's career, your lyrics had religious overtones and you made it no secret that you were a devout Christian. You have since left the church in recent years. What prompted your split with organized religion?

DP: It was a gradual separation from the church. I basically embarked on my own spiritual quest. There was never a real turning point. I just gradually kept throwing away the rules and regulations of the church. I kept asking, what do these rules have to do with God? What does this have to do with spirituality and truth? I just kept searching and I really just got tired of fighting religion. The war for me is over. I was born into the church and at a very early age I thought I was born into a world that was perfect and I was wrong. The world is a really F@#ked up place. I have learned that my purpose is just to simply be myself...all I can do is be honest with myself and be honest with the people around me and be the best person I can be.

AC: Will the band headline its own tour before the years up?

DP: That's the plan. We will go out and headline our own tour in late November/early December. We will also tour overseas in Europe. Those plans could change however, if we get offered a really good tour as an opener.

AC: Dug after twenty-eight years what keeps you going as a musician?

DP: I still have the same attitude I had back in my 20's. I still just want to make music and play it in front of people. I want to make music and express myself and people seem to like it! I have several musical projects outside of King's X that I am working on and I also have a new solo disc out. That's the feeling that drives me and keeps me going...I mean this is what I do. I make music.

AC: After twenty-eight years what keeps the band going?

DP: I have no idea what drives those guys, HA!! I guess at this point we don't see any reason to stop! I mean I don't know...we have been committed to this and each other like a marriage. We never really talk about it...we just seem to have this connection and at this stage we are now more like brothers than friends. There is a deep connection that we have with each other and an even deeper connection we have with our fans...our fans have grown up with us. They bring their children to our shows. At the end of the day this is who we are and this is what we do.

Whether as an opening act or headlining their own tour, be sure to catch the power, passion and honesty of King's X when they hit your town.