Q&A: Krooked Kings on Growth & Music
MUCH OF THE CHARM OF — Krooked Kings is an ability to conflate time in a pool of wonder and reminiscence. Life is short, life is fast, and with such knowledge we must take it and do with it what we can. In 2018, five college friends from Utah, each with a distinct tether toward music, came together to form the now widely endeared indie-rock band Krooked Kings. Cinematic and experiential, they have crafted a world of sound that complements the necessary doubts of growing up, the act of absorbing a world that tends to move at too quick a pace to peddle beside. From their first single release, “Hesitation,” to their latest album, All Out of Good Days, the band sincerely and candidly tells stories of simply being, extending the coming-of-age tale into a recognition of growth as undefinable.
Together, the group finds an alliance in a range of influences, including the likes of Led Zeppelin, The Strokes, and Grateful Dead. Each of the band’s members, Oliver Martin, David Macey, Matthew Monossan, Paul Cogan, and Quinn Casper, offer a distinct contribution to the essence of the band, a unique drive toward music that merges into an ability to balance exuberant textures and rhythms, bittersweet lyricism, and dynamic yet delicate vocals in a manner that champions each of the members’ uniqueness. Simultaneously, they nurture their collective songwriting processes and chemistry, and their love of music as a shared experience channels throughout their artistry.
Their latest album, All Out of Good Days, featuring their 2023 single “Coming of Age,” is colored by a sympathetic nostalgia that is unpretentious and raw. Listeners are welcomed into a simultaneous cheer and vigor, or at times offered the rebellion of expectation, age, and growth.
“I think of our sound — at least right now — as teenagers' home videos from an idealized version of the ’90s or 2000s,” Macey, the band’s drummer, says. “Something shot through a shitty old camcorder. ” Having amassed a huge fanbase internationally, the band's unconstrained storytelling feels natural and unimposing, and their skilled musicianship has enabled a soundscape in which elements of garage rock and indie rock intertwine in a dance through recklessness and sentimentality, flickering between chaos and lightness.
Having toured with Goth Babe and Rare Americans in the previous two years, Krooked Kings continues to impress with a consistently developing artistry. It moves as they grow, yet maintains its core as uncomplicated and grippingly human.
Read on below as Krooked Kings’ drummer, Macey, discusses their new release and journey thus far.
LUNA: Prior to the formation of the band, did you find that your individual paths in music and your musical backgrounds were similar? I’m curious how your individual passions converged.
MACEY: Individually, our musical journeys have all been pretty different, actually. We all got into indie music around different times, some in middle and high school and some later. Some of us are self-taught at our instruments and haven’t been playing for very long, while others are super technically skilled and have been playing forever.
LUNA: How do you find that?
MACEY: We’re kind of a ragtag crew in terms of experience with playing and with our genre.
LUNA: This was in 2018, so about four, five years ago? How did you guys come together?
MACEY: Yeah, we started in 2018 with Paul and Oli and some others who only really participated for one show. Oli forced his brother to play bass even though he doesn’t really know how.
LUNA: Did it take some time for that to develop? What has the progression been like up until now?
MACEY: We didn’t really lock into our actual lineup until 2020, and that’s when our style really began to develop.
LUNA: In terms of this style, does this go back to what you mentioned about all coming together at different points of your own musicianship: your skill, passion, and overall stages in your music?
MACEY: Yeah, for sure. It’s been fun to see how all of our different tastes come together, and I think it’s something we are still figuring out.
LUNA: Individual style is always going through constant evolution, so as a band this must happen on another level too — as a collective. Has your sound shifted? Has there been any particularly significant catalysts in your growth?
MACEY: Definitely, yeah. Our sound has definitely shifted especially recently with our newest album, All Out of Good Days. This was mostly because of our opportunity to work with Day Wave. He’s super talented at producing, and I think [he] was able to hone our sound into something a lot more cohesive.
LUNA: That’s an amazing collaboration — Day Wave has been such a prominent name in indie rock for a while, so congratulations on that. Are there any other perspectives about music or yourselves that you’ve gained in this time, as well? Perhaps things you’ve picked up and now carry with you?
MACEY: There’s been so many. I think a big thing is that we’ve just learned to be more flexible. Sometimes a song you’re writing isn’t turning into what you want it to be, but the rest of the band is heading that direction so you have to trust their instinct.
LUNA: Do you have a collective instinct, a middle ground you all reside in when making music together?
MACEY: To be honest, music is really hard to collaborate on. It would be a lot easier for us to focus on our solo projects, where we never have to butt heads. But none of us could write a Krooked Kings song on our own.
LUNA: I guess that’s what makes it special, having this product of different journeys … these individual slants on music.
MACEY: Exactly, that’s what makes our songs unique and cool.
LUNA: You guys have mentioned that you started off playing in backyards and basements. These spaces hold a lot of intimacy, and there is a youthfulness to it, a playfulness. Did that form any significant aspects of your music now?
MACEY: You know, I think that the intimacy of those settings taught us to not be afraid of awkwardness. We were all pretty bad at our songs when we would play those spaces, and that led to a lot of fuck-ups and awkward moments. Now if we mess up or something goes wrong on the technical end, we just kind of shrug it off. I think audiences kind of like to see that the people onstage are human, and if we don’t let something like that get to us, it won’t get to them either.
LUNA: That’s a lovely point, and very true. Much of music is just sharing a human experience. What about music drew you in the first place?
MACEY: The catharsis of music has always been key for me. Great music makes you feel things deeply, and creating music gives you a chance to explore your feelings with a similar depth.
LUNA: Healing, in a way?
MACEY: Yeah, it's therapeutic.
LUNA: What is your process like when writing music and conceptualizing a project?
MACEY: Usually, Oli will have some chords or an idea and then bring it to me, and we will flesh out the basic structure, melody, [and] lyrics and then bring it to the band for their input and for them to write their own parts. That’s how we have done it so far, at least.
LUNA: Does that waver at times into projects that are more collaborative overall? Like a project that had you all in the same room most of the time?
MACEY: Yeah, I guess. Nowadays it's like that. It’s been more of a process where anyone can come in with an idea and we all work around it together, as a whole group.
LUNA: Do you each have distinct influences that were formative to your love of music, individually?
MACEY: Yeah, for sure. We all have pretty different individual tastes. Matt really likes house music, Quinn likes some jazzier indie rock. I like a lot of art pop and 2000s indie, Oli likes some slower, grungier indie rock and some emo, while Paul likes more upbeat and funky indie-rock stuff.
LUNA: You’ve also mentioned before that the Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, and Bon Iver are some of your collective inspirations. What other inspirations sit in this middle ground?
MACEY: It’s hard to find influences for the whole band because, like I said, we all have pretty different individual tastes. I would say Peach Pit and The Strokes are a common ground for us, for sure. But yeah, we definitely all kind of draw from our respective pools.
LUNA: Beyond the band itself, it seems like you share a unique bond, which comes through in the music. How vital would you say collaboration is to the band? Does it mean a lot that you are able to share music — this beautiful and cool, super personal thing — together?
MACEY: Definitely. Collaboration is super important to us. Like I said, none of us could write a Krooked Kings song on our own. We couldn’t. Making music together has created a bond between us, for sure. It's almost like being on a sports team or something — we’re all rooting for each other, and we win or lose together.
LUNA: Your chemistry is particularly noticeable through your performances. You’ve been on tour together a few times, which, aside from the music, can propel the dynamic or rock it a bit. How was that? Lots of laughs?
MACEY: I think being on the road together has taught us each other's idiosyncrasies, which has been fun. Not to come across as cocky or something, but we’re very funny. We have a lot of fun. At least I’m always cracking up with the weird, stupid shit we always joke about.
LUNA: I can hear that in your sound, too. Would you say your music embodies your dynamic? How would you describe your sound?
MACEY: I think of our sound — at least right now — as teenagers' home videos from an idealized version of the ’90s or 2000s, something shot through a shitty old camcorder.
LUNA: I think that is spot-on. Like I said, there is that sense of nostalgia — an ode to youth, the freedom within that. You’ve been on tour with Goth Babe and Rare Americans. Could you walk me through these experiences? Did they shape the band in any way?
MACEY: Both tours were very fun. They taught us a lot about the industry and a lot about the nature of being musicians on the road. I think being with musicians who are very technically skilled motivated us to get better at our instruments. I know I felt very amateurish in comparison to the seasoned bands we were with.
LUNA: That must have been really exciting. I do understand, though, feeling like a kid in a crowd of adults — something like that. I watched a video of your performance in Brooklyn last January — that looked pretty incredible. You must have amassed a lot of memorable moments so far. Do you have any favorites?
MACEY: I think our favorite memories have been on the road. Yeah, that New York show was great. We flew out to New York for that show, and on our off night went to this hole in the wall bar that was the size of a hallway; we just chatted and got some pizza. I’m not sure why that memory sticks out to me.
LUNA: Have there been any unexpectedly wonderful nights? Recently I went to one show where the band kept apologizing for things not going to plan — you know, sound and technical things, but it ended up being a really special, refreshing experience, I think for everyone there.
MACEY: Oh, yeah! Actually, another really good memory was our last show in Seattle. We had a bunch of technical difficulties — broken strings, broken pedal boards — but we ended up playing some songs we don’t normally play. Quinn played a song he had been working on for his solo project, and we joked around with the audience. It was just a fun night.
LUNA: With live performance, the band’s sound has a special thing about it. The instrumentation and vocals seem to be able to translate quite smoothly from, say, listening in headphones to a larger live space. What do you feel when you perform live? It must be unreal.
MACEY: Performing live is definitely a great feeling — you just get into a kind of flow state and lose yourself in it. It's hard to describe because you get so caught up in the moment you don’t really have time to focus on your feelings, and then all you can really say after is “That was awesome.”
LUNA: Do you have some favorite tracks, of the ones you’ve released and haven’t?
MACEY: We all shift around a lot — one week my favorite is “Sick of Being Young,” the next week it's “Wish We Could Be Friends,” which isn’t out yet. We’ve all been liking “You Thought” lately, which is also unreleased.
LUNA: Part of the magic of music is also the ability it has to capture a moment, but capture it in a way in which it can be accessed and engaged with for years and years to come. Looking back at everything you’ve created, are there any lyrics or songs that you now find connect to you or were significant at points in time?
MACEY: There definitely is. My favorite lyrics are “I’m sobbing in the driver's seat / I let the water swallow me” from “Landfall.” Luckily, that’s not particularly relevant to me right now, but I just love the imagery. Also I think it sums up a lot of emotional breakdown moments I’ve had, where I just drive somewhere pretty and have a good cry.
LUNA: Where are you guys now?
MACEY: We all live in Salt Lake City at the moment.
LUNA: That’s perfect for driving somewhere pretty, then.
MACEY: Exactly.
LUNA: Are there any places you've performed or experienced together that have been notable?
MACEY: Yeah, we have really loved visiting the PNW just because it's so beautiful up there. Fort Collins, Colorado holds a special place in our heart because we have a ton of passionate fans there. Not sure why, but they always make it special for us when we go there so we really like it.
LUNA: How amazing. I can imagine you would feel particularly inspired by your environment. We talked about what role music plays for you earlier — does this tie in with a sense of place at all?
MACEY: It’s definitely cathartic to make music, to put your feelings out into the world in a creative way, but it’s also just fun, being in these places is also part of that. It’s fun to be together and to make something.
LUNA: Your new single, “Coming of Age” is out now. Congratulations! How has it been since the release?
MACEY: It’s been great. It’s been received really positively and we are really proud of it so I think everyone is happy it’s out and excited to show everyone the rest of the album.
LUNA: That’s wonderful to hear, and very deserved. How did the song come together?
MACEY: I think we started with the line “You’re too old to be coming of age” and just built around that. I don’t remember much about the process, but the lyrics came fast. I remember writing them all in one session. I just remember it had been something I wanted to write about for a long time.
LUNA: In the way that you had the track idea in your head, or that you’ve needed to untether these feelings?
MACEY: Hmm, well, I don’t always feel very adult — I’m childish in a lot of ways — and then I realize that I’m 27 years old and I feel like I have so much catching up to do.
LUNA: Earlier you said a big inspiration for the band was The Strokes. I think, similarly, there is that idea of youthful futility bridging with growth and facing the past and, simultaneously, the future. There was a lyric in “Coming of Age” that stuck out to me — I think it was, “You're crying to your bitter past. A battle of your accomplishments, you fool.” It captures that in-between state really nicely. What do you hope your audience’s experience with the track — and soon, the album — will be?
MACEY: I hope they relate in a way. I think it’s easy to beat yourself up for feeling like you're missing something that your peers all seemed to have figured out, but everyone’s on a different timeline. Mostly, I hope people just enjoy listening.
LUNA: It certainly is. It can be depleting too, having paths that misalign with everyone around you — there’s a sense of displacement, and it can be overwhelming. I would presume that much of your audience will grapple with this track quite closely, too. I know I do. More broadly, what do you hope your audience's experience is when listening to all your music? Is there anything you want to say to your listeners?
MACEY: We really just hope that people enjoy listening to our songs, and if they can connect with them personally, that’s awesome too. Super awesome. We just want to share our thoughts and feelings with people, and hopefully it can make them feel less alone in this world, but if not … maybe we can just give them something nice to listen to.
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