Hi Little King, and welcome to LiveTrigger Magazine! Let’s start by introducing your project: what does make it unique and where is it based?

Little King
Ahhh…maybe we are unique, more than anything, for not sounding like anyone else and not really caring if we are commercially or critically successful. And that I’ve been making records for almost 25 years under the moniker “Little King” for almost 25 years with that exact same ethos.
I Love It when people tell me they can’t pinpoint who we sound like. Invariably, they come to the conclusion that we are pretty unique. That is extremely satisfying to hear, even more so than “Hey dude, sounds killer.”
It’s nice when people care, and it’s even nicer when they appreciate what we do. But the ultimate goal is to leave a legacy of music and words, and if I’m satisfied with a project, anything that comes along with that is gravy.
As for the Where, LK always records in El Paso, TX. Our drummer (Eddy Garcia) is also our engineer, and Ed owns a studio called Krank down in El Chuco. I have lived there off and on for the better part of half of the last 25 years, and all 7 albums have been tracked there…5 with Ed. So, it’s home, and most of the musicians on this record (Manny Tejeda, bass and vox, is from Rehoboth Beach, DE via the Dominican.)
How was your 2021 so far?
Busy and productive and crazy. Ad infinitum. Finished the new record, titled Amuse De Q , in February 2021 in El Paso with Manny and Ed and the rest of the featured players. Then demo’d the first song, “Bombs Away,” with a bunch of different mixing engineers. I’d never done that before choosing our person, so it was fun and really informative to hear 4 very different audio opinions of what we might sound like this time around.
Finally settled on Daniel Salcido (Plain White T’s, Disturbed, Sevendust) as the mixing engineer and Maor Appelbaum (Faith No More, Halford, Yes, etc.) as the mastering guy. They both live in LA, so I went out there a couple times in April and May with a trip to Costa Rica sandwiched in-between. Had some COVID, too. That was weird.
Next week, my son Asher comes back to Arizona to start his Freshman year of high school here in Tucson. Ash is a great kid…miss him terribly, but we found a cool little place to live in the Catalina Foothills and I am finishing and doing school paperwork, utilities, moving companies, etc. I am a single dad and he’s absolutely my priority at this point in life. He even has a guest keyboard solo spot on “Set It Down” from the new record.
All this while running a Corporate Events Business and promoting the 9/3/21 release of Amuse De Q. Shit NEVER STOPS.
Tell our readers more about your new album release. Are you excited?
I just played a couple songs for my mom. She’s 77 and hates everything, but she didn’t hate this. So, there you go…we are gonna be huge with the geriatric set. Should help me pick up chicks for sure.
It’s the best Little King has ever sounded, Hands Down. I am stoked to bring it to the masses. The single and video for “Keyboard Soldier” were released in early July, and the next single and video for “Bombs Away” will be out August 6.
We (Director Nicce Radhe and I) had SO MUCH FUN with it, and the video really captures the essence of what I was going through at the beginning of the pandemic last year. That’s what really precipitated the making of this album, as all of the songs are related to some experience I had (or someone close to me did, anyway) during the Q. “Bombs” kicks that off really well, I think.
The vid was filmed locally at the Pima County Air Museum, I might add. It’s always an important thing to work with local talent in local settings when I make and promote a record. El Paso musicians are all over the album, and since I’ve moved back to Tucson recently, I went with Tucson locals Nicci and photographer Julius Scholsburg for the promo photos. They both did awesome work.
Where do you get inspiration, and how do you create your music?
If an artist couldn’t find inspiration from the madness of the Pandemic, that’s an odd state of being. Amuse De Q references the “Q, or Quarantine. During the 2020 lockdown, because we couldn’t tour as planned, I was amused during it by writing songs…also, “A Muse”…Melpomene is the muse of Tragedy and Chorus…she is the Cover Girl and has a little instrumental in her name as well.
The songs are diverse in subject and musical styles, but the through-line is there lyrically and melodically if people care to dig into it. Domestic Abuse of my female friends is a Pandemic unto itself, and that was only exacerbated by the Q. I have been sober for 19 months after a ridiculous and humiliating run-in with the Delaware police. Unrequited and virtual love, Social Media and the political/social unrest in the USA, and climate change. I hit them ALL.
Are you happy about what’s happening in your life as a musician?
Fuck YES I am happy! We have a new record that I love and totally believe in, and that is everything to me. It literally sustains me through the tough times. I try not to get too high or low, but this is a peak for me personally as well as professionally. At this point, with this album, if people don’t dig it? That’s okay, we aren’t for them. I can live with that. This album is how Little King was always meant to sound.
What about your next gigs. Are you planning a tour?
We shall see. Manny and his wife Lera just had a baby boy, so it’s sticky to extricate him from homelife. Financially, it has to be justified for him, and Manny IS Little King’s bass player. I won’t go out without him. Eddy is a single dad with a 15- and 10-year-old, and he also looks after his elderly parents in El Paso. In addition, his band Pissing Razors has a record coming out as well…their 7th, I think. Busy guy, brother from another, and I don’t want to tour without him either.
As for me? The aforementioned single dad/mom responsibilities as well as work and life intrude. But…I am ready to go. IF the demand is there, particularly in Europe, I will do everything in my power to bring our show to life. It’s my passion and my dream, and this record deserves to have its day in court.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Our website is always up-to-date

Little King Picture