The Coronavirus has impacted the lives of many around the world. With the loss of loved ones, jobs, stability, loneliness and a massive rise in mental health issues, one thing that seems to heal us during this difficult time is music.
It’s been difficult for artists to host proper music releases, as they are unable to visit radio stations, host concerts, among other things. However, rising alternative pop-rock band Between Kings still wanted to give their fans something to listen to since their full-length album Young Love was postponed. The result? A four song EP named after the band’s single “Antidote” that was released on Friday, April 24.
“The full album release date kept getting pushed back due to studio time, but we, and our team, really wanted to be there for the fans in this hard time and bring some new music on the original release date. So, we’ve broken the album up into two parts!” the band said in a statement.
“We’re actually really excited to do this so we can give something to everyone now and when the lockdown and restrictions start to lift, we can get everything back on track to bring the second half to you later in the year. We truly feel like this is our best work and we hope you enjoy! We’ve put so much time and passion into these songs that we are proud to say we’ve found our signature sound!”
Celeb Secrets sat down with the group’s frontrunner Nic Machuca to talk about the decision to split the album, its sound, and what’s to come from the band post-quarantine.
Keep reading for the full Q&A below and don’t forget to connect with the band on Instagram by giving them a follow at @betweenkings.
Celeb Secrets: We know that your album release was postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, however, you dropped an EP in its place. Can you talk to us about what went into making the decision to postpone and swapping for an EP?
Nic Machuca/Between Kings: “When we found out that we weren’t going to be able to release an entire album due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we sat down to discuss what the best option to move forward with would be and we all agreed that we should release what we had so far. We didn’t want to just sit on these songs and wanted to give our fans something to listen to while we finished the rest of the songs, so an EP seemed to make sense to us.”
CS: What can listeners expect from this collection of songs?
NM: “Our listeners can expect the same formula of songs. Catchy hooks and melodies and stadium size choruses complimented by melodic versus. We have defined what we want our music to sound like and feel our sound has matured. We put everything into making these songs and have received some awesome feedback so far.”
CS: Can you elaborate a little more on the creative process behind the songs on the EP? What inspired them/what they sound like, etc?
NM: “With this EP, we wanted to write from the heart and convey human emotion as much as we could. We usually put the music together first and then figure out what the songs vibe is before we write lyrics. Once that’s done and we have an idea of what the song will be like, I sit down and write the lyrics. These songs are very close to home for me and are a reflection of what I’m feeling at the time. When it comes to the sound of the music, Jordan is a wizard of a songwriter, so he and our producer Jimmy Messer worked closely getting these songs sounding like what we heard in our minds.”
CS: What’s one thing you are most proud of off the new EP?
NM: “We are super proud of the response we have received. So many people have written to us telling us how they feel connected with us and our music and it’s amazing to know that we are able to do that. We all have those songs that we connected to as kids and those songs that inspired us, so to know that our music is having that affect is awesome.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3vnI9ljiIc&feature=youtu.be
CS: The full length is dropping later this year. Is the EP a taste of what we can expect? Can you tell us a little more about it?
NM: “We can’t wait to release the whole album. I think these songs on our EP give our listeners a taste of the direction this album will go. We are trying to write music that is authentic to us, so the new music comes straight from our hearts.
CS: How have you been spending your time in quarantine?
NM: “We have been trying to stay busy and come up with ways of engaging our audience as we aren’t able to do so with live shows at the moment. We have been hitting up social media a fair bit, talking to fans. We are also busy writing new music and have just released a music video for “Too Young To Give A Fuck” which we had fans help us with by submitting their own videos. We are having a blast chatting to them and can’t wait to hit the road and meet them all! Trick, our drummer, has taken up dancing which is amazing too.”
CS: Do you have any plans for the rest of 2020 once quarantine is over?
NM: “Once quarantine is over, we plan on hitting the road once we have released the album. We have all this energy saved up from not playing live shows that we need to get out. So, hopefully we get to play our songs for as many people as we can.
CS: Since we are Celeb Secrets, what are some secrets about making the music that fans wouldn’t know when listening to it?
NM: “Before we write our music, our drummer comes up with interpretive dances to each track in order to get a feel for the song. He puts on a concert for the rest of the band and we sit and discuss what the song will be written about and score him on his dances. It helps him come up with the beats too. He pops and locks his way into our music and our hearts.”
