King King Interview: Alan Nimmo
King King released its newest album, Maverick in 2020, which was voted #7 on Blues Rock Review’s Top 20 Albums of 2020. Maverick featured a new lineup joining frontman Alan Nimmo. Blues Rock Review caught up with Nimmo to discuss the album, the addition of Alan’s brother Stevie Nimmo to the band, and the future of touring.
“Whatever It Takes To Survive” is an emotional track. What inspired that?
The inspiration behind the track “Whatever It Takes To Survive” came from a personal tragedy that affected a loved one. I wrote the story from my point of view looking in on how someone dealt with it and watching that person’s strength come through.
New keyboardist Jonny Dyke co-produced the album. How big of an influence was he on Maverick?
Jonny and I found a really great rhythm together writing and producing Maverick. His talent and input were a huge influence on the album.
What do you feel was the biggest difference between Maverick and the band’s previous work?
I feel that the difference between Maverick and the band’s previous work is not only the quality of songs and song writing have improved drastically but this album was a lot of fun in the making. We had a great time and enjoyed ourselves and I truly believe that made all the difference.
What’s it been like having your brother Stevie in the band?
Adding Stevie Nimmo to any lineup is only going to be a good thing. His talent and presence is unmistakable but more than that… it’s great to have him on the team. He brings great balance to the lineup and the chemistry between us is extremely powerful.
The band put out a full length live concert. How was that experience?
It was great fun putting out our “Live @ Berkeley” show. I think it showcases just how good the band is and how good we’ve yet to become. Considering the circumstances and the fact that we hadn’t actually played together for a good while just showed the potential that we have! If this was an under rehearsed performance… just think what it’ll sound like when we get some time and touring under our belts!
Without touring in 2020 do you feel you’ve had more of an opportunity to consume music and be a fan? What music has stood out to you in 2020?
Although we didn’t tour in 2020, it was a busy time for us behind the scenes making sure we got the album out and with three singles in a row so far being playlisted on Planet Rock, it’s been a hectic time for us. However, I do try to make time for new music and especially with me presenting my radio show I think it’s important to seek out new and great music. With 2020 being such a difficult year financially for musicians it was the turn of the big guns when it came to releasing new music. AC/DC I think have yet again pulled it out of the bag and showed us that we all still have much to learn. Their new album Power Up is a master class and shows that when you find your formula you can’t lose.
With vaccines starting to be distributed are you optimistic the band will get able to resume touring in 2021?
I think that being optimistic is the only way for us to be at the moment. 2020 has been without a doubt the toughest year of our lives and we need to hold on to the hope that we will be allowed to get back on the road in 2021 and resume normal service but it’s out of our hands and like everyone else… we’ll just have to wait and see!
The music industry has been devastated by the pandemic. Do you feel there has been any silver lining for musicians?
Not meaning to sound negative… but, No! The industry like you say has been devastated but not by the pandemic, by the people who rule the world. The arts industry has been thrown to the wolves and we have been left in a very difficult position financially and personally. I feel that moving forward from here.. bands and artists will never be able to fully commit to our jobs the way we could before. We’ll all need to have a safety net to fall back on to make sure that we are covered in case this or something like it happens again. That will make it difficult to not only sustain our career but it will make it difficult to build and advance it too! We can only hope that won’t be the case and I assure you that we will be working extremely hard to return the industry to its former self along with all the other artists out there. Make no mistake… we love what we do and music is our life… not just our job and no one cares about this more than we do so we want to be walking on to a stage as soon as possible and we long to see our fans standing in front of us ready to enjoy a night of music and fun. We hope that everyone out there is safe and well.
King King’s new album Maverick is available from www.kingking.co.uk
Photo: Graeme Milne
