Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Kings and Queens
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
My earliest memory with music is trying things on my parents’ piano in a quiet room with a view of the woods where I grew up in the Northwest United States. I was probably five years old and didn’t know much yet aside from what my Dad started introducing to me. I remember being pulled in like I was experiencing a new world that I loved.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
My passion for creating music began before I learned how to actually play instruments or sing. I knew I liked the sounds and found different combinations of notes that made me feel different colors and emotions. The soothing ones I would play for what felt like hours. Combining different variations of those emotions into a journey that brings you to a beautiful place–that’s what songwriting is to me, and it became my favorite thing to do.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
My band, Kings and Queens, released a new album in July 2025 called, “This Is Where I See You.” It’s my first full length album after years of touring and recording with other artists. I call it an alternative or indie rock album but it’s very dynamic, spanning from heavy melodic rock to softer ambient emotions with strings embellishing the moods throughout. Between the causes that the project partners with to end human trafficking and the themes of freedom in the music, it is an expression for people, especially the voicless, to be lifted into the royalty they really are.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
My sound is passionate. It’s a genuine expression that has bubbled up from my soul. My biggest inspiration is the way God’s been there for me through highs and lows in such a personal and powerful way, and while I have zero religious agenda, it’s a personal experience that leads me to deep and emotional music. Like a lot of alternative rock, sometimes there’s dark and dissonant chords with a feeling of longing, but in my case, it’s all an expression of freedom, joy, and taking hold of goodness to overtake despair and suffering.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
When music comes from the heart, where you root your heart is what comes out in the music. When I learned to love myself and see life through hope rather than harm, my music shifted to encapsulate that as well. Even music without words can communicate somthing that can either tear down or lift up. To me, music is an expression to take you to a better place or even become a fortress to shield you from a broken place until you have the strength to relocate. After having opportunities to play in arenas and amazing concert venues, I wanted to find more of my voice in music. I dialed things back for awhile and went out to some street corners in Seattle and played instrumental music on the upright and acoustic bass. A vivid memory sticks out to me of pelople opening their windows from surrounding high rises and letting the music flood through their homes. One man said he heard the sound from blocks away and kept searching for it because it washed over his heart in a way that made things feel better for the first time in years. Ever since then, I decided that’s where I want the music to flow from.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
The essential tools to my creative process are less about certain brands and mostly about capacity and how they are setup to be empowering at the right time. Bass is my main instrument in many forms: electric, acoustic electric, and upright bass. There’s so many tools to help get the right tone, so what’s most important to me is an instrument that stays in tune well and has good action across the fret board. It’s 100 times easier to make an upright bass sound good and stay in tune if the bridge and fingerboard are setup well for the string action regardless of how expensive the instrument is. It did take years of trial and error to learn how to EQ and amplify the upright bass to work in a rock concert. I use a Fishman Acoutic DI, a separate graphic EQ pedal, and a compression pedal to get the right amount or low end, presence, and output while preventing the touchy feedback that seems to come while boosting this challenging but beautiful instrument.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
An indie song I love right now is, “Now I’m In It,” by HAIM. My wife and I will rock this on road trips or spontaneously go into dance mode when it’s on at home. I love how the rhythms create textures that work in combination with the melodies to create moods like a painting would evoke.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
My music and vision have been influenced greatly by spending time with people who have suffered abuse and tragedy. It puts life into perspective and shifts your sense of accomplishment from personal accolades to simply wanting to see relief come to those who have endured the worst. When I’m in front of a crowd, my heart is still playing for the one child at the group home in which I played soft melodies in the hallway at night. The vision for my music is that it will be a highway for powerful expressions that can spark freedom where there’s suffering. It’s what drove me to tour in the Netherlands and play music for groups of refugees throughout the country. They had been on such painful journeys and had vulnerable situations that human traffickers would prey upon. It inspired me to partner with anti-human trafficking efforts. Part of the proceeds of the new album, “This Is Where I See you,” go to non-profit rescue efforts so that the thousands of children forced into this slavery every year can find safety and healing.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
I hope listeners can feel that my music has no agenda expect love. It is not trying to tell anyone what to do or think but simply paint an experience that cultivates freedom where there’s depression, hope where there’s despair, love where there’s self hate, and rest where there’s pain. All the songs on the new album are like letters to people I love, describing where I see them. I see them in a place of victory, I see their beauty, I see them breaking the painful chains we’ve all experienced in the world, and I see beyond the mistakes that don’t define us. This is where I see you too.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Music has taught me that there is a place deeper than the mind or the sights in front of me. There’s a place beyond my wailing and worries, a place of peace I have access to, a place to which music so beautifully redirects us when words hardly move. It’s a language of the soul.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
I would love to play in the open air in New York City. I remember seeing Taylor Swift play her music on New Year’s Eve to city streets packed full of people. There’s somthing about music when there’s no ceiling, it seems like it can sweep over a city like a fresh wind.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
When I heard Lauv’s song “Paris in the Rain,” I loved how he incorporated the upright bass almost like a duet with the vocals. I had that same intent with the upright bass in my song “A Way Home.” It would be really fun to collaborate with him.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music?(Website,Spotify, IG, links)
Check out all things Kings and Queens at www.KAQmusic.com
Hear the new album on all major platforms like. . .
Spotify
YouTube Music
Apple Music
Amazon Music
Follow Kings and Queens. . . @KAQmusic
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
As I’m looking forward to the future, my dream for the next chapter is to take the live concert beyond what I’ve experienced as standard for so many years. I’d love for it to be a creative explosion where music is just the start. Just like I love to use the bass in unique ways to explore new territory, I want the rock concert to feature strings, painting, movement and visuals that stretch how far we’re transported to freedom.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
I hope listeners discover the many themes, symbolism, and patterns that weave through the new album. Sometimes they come in hidden instrumental tracks, or lyrics that tangle with tones to form deeper motives. The sound might not crossover directly, but there’s a lot of inspiration from exploring ideas in classical, opera, Shakespeare (check out the second verse of “Over The Sea”), jazz, painting, poetry, nature, culture, colors, and even sports.
If you want here you can add a representative Youtube video to insert below the interview 🙂
Check out the new music video for “Over The Sea”. . .
