In a new interview with Blabbermouth, Kerry King said he wanted to work with drama-free people in his new band.
When asked if getting along with band members is important, the guitarist responded:
“Of course, I’m going to get people who can play their instrument and who are very good at it. My pre-requisite at this point in my career is that I want cool dudes, friends, who have fun, are talented, and have no drama. Dudes that when the gig is over, you can crack open a beer. Pour a Jäger and do whatever they’re going to do, hang out and chill and talk about how much fun the show was.”
King’s Earlier Comments On His Solo Band
In a May chat with Eddie Jorgensen from CBS SF, King talked about his solo band, which includes drummer Paul Bostaph, bassist Kyle Sanders, guitarist Phil Demmel, and vocalist Mark Osegueda. Kerry explained why he chose three well-known musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area metal scene for the group:
“I didn’t think of it like that, but that’s just how it panned out. I’ve known these guys — especially everybody from the Bay Area — for decades. All of them except Mark needed work. Certainly Paul and I were out of work. Phil Demmel was also out of work, but he put his name in the hat very early and worked with us doing demos off and on.”
The musician continued:
“Every five or six weeks, he’d come down to play and we’d sound better. Using the demos we had, Phil would send new ideas whenever had new material. Phil’s an incredible player and Mark’s one of the best singers in thrash metal, without question. The pulse of thrash definitely comes from [the San Francisco Bay Area]. We [in Slayer] were a little displaced because we were in Southern California, but at the end of the day, so was Metallica.”
King had his new band perform their first show at Reggies in Chicago, Illinois on May 7. The guitarist’s debut solo album, ‘From Hell I Rise’ also arrived on May 17. Kerry is currently performing in North America with his band. They have gigs until the end of this month.