Redlight King is a younger band on an Uproar tour jam packed with rock vets, but that doesn’t mean its members are new to the industry. Lead singer, Kaz, has been writing and making music for years, but it seems that things are finally coming together for him and the rest of the band.
Redlight King has been steadily growing a fan base, especially here in New Jersey. The sound the band brings to the table is both refreshing and distinct. The screaming crowds love Redlight King, and for good reason. The band is powerful, entertaining, and has a presence unmatched by many in the industry.
Pop-Break: What’s the tour been like so far?
Kaz: It’s been great. One word. Great! It’s been busy but the crowds have been awesome and playing with a lot of these other bands has just fantastic. We’ve played with a lot of them before but not in the same setting. Just being a part of that, it’s really great for me. It’s an honor for me too.
PB: Age-wise, the band as a whole hasn’t been around all that long.
K: Yeah, we’re pretty new.
PB: What’s that like, being on tour with bands that have been around for the better part of two decades?
K: Like P.O.D. and Staind. I mean it’s awesome.
PB: Have you learned anything from them?
K: Well I would say that perseverance means something. I mean I’m kind of a veteran myself. I’ve been doing this ten, twelve years. So I’ve had various deals and various bands and I’ve toured a lot and worked really hard at this so I think, if anything, it’s having a lot of these bands come up to me and talk about my songwriting and mention that they like the songs and what we’re doing so I think it’s just finally nice to be amongst my peers. I mean honestly, and of course, like I said, we’re stoked and we’re honored to be out with these bands that are, ya know, are around and have been around and will be around.
PB: You do a lot of the writing, what’s that like? Is there any song that you feel really passionate about?
K: I think all of them.
PB: What song are you the most proud of?
K: I have to pick one? From our record?
PB: No it would be any song!
K: It could be any song! Anything from the Celine Dion catalogue. Just kidding!
PB: That’s going to be in print forever!
K: Perfect! I would say “Something for the Pain.” That’s probably the one I’m most proud of. That was the first song I wrote for this whole project. It’s kind of what started the whole thing. So it’s one of those songs, when I wrote it I knew that I was kind of back in the zone and I was excited to just build this new band and put out a record.
PB: So this tour is still pretty fresh. Do you have a favorite city that you’ve hit so far? Any crowd that was better than others?
K: Today was my favorite so far.
PB: Really?
K: Yes!
PB: Do you say that at every interview?
K: Everything was just clicking and Jersey has been so good to us. The Rat’s (WRAT 95.9) been so good to us.They know a lot of our songs.I saw everyone singing like every song we played they were singing the words to it. That’s what we’re out here doing, is just connecting with our fans and having fun playing. Today everything clicked so I would put this one so far on the map. It’s been a great show.
PB: You guys were in Jersey not that long ago. You did a show with Adelitas Way and Scarlet Carson before.
K: Yeah!
PB: So you’ve actually played with two of the bands that you’ve already played with today before. How’s the crowd different now versus then?
K: I think the crowd was pretty rowdy then too but, um, it’s just bigger. But it was really great, it was responsive and it was during the day but people are still killing it and they’re out there having a good time so! It’s still a rock crowd.
PB: You guys have played with a bunch of bands, who’s your favorite band you’ve played with so far?
K: All these bands on this tour. I would say this is the best tour so far that we’ve been on.
PB: Cool. Now for anybody that doesn’t know much about your music or your scene, is there a song they should listen to first?
K: On our record? I would say “Something for the Pain,” or “City Life.” “Bullet In My Hand,” is pretty well rounded as far as what our sound sounds like. But honestly, we wrote a record. We’re not a singles type of band. We don’t write singles for radio. We wrote a record so I would say, if you really want to get into the band or just any band, you should listen to their whole record and listen to it twice if you’re not sure. You know it happens to me that I listen to bands records and I listen to it again and I’m like “This is awesome.”
PB: So what music are you listening to these days?
K: I listen to a lot. I mean a lot of rock lately. Been listening to a lot of old school too. I just bought a Rancid record that I really dig, a Black Sabbath record. Jules (Julien Tomarin, guitarist) is heavy into metal so I just started listening to a lot of metal recently.
PB: Alright, I know you guys have to get out of here soon, do you have anything to say and put out there?
K: Yes! Support live music. We love it. It keeps us going and I just think that now when you go to see bands, you’re getting an experience. You’re getting more of what the band is than just what’s on the record and I think it’s important!
