A BRIEF WORD WITH KING ME'S STEVE GREEN
by Chris Harper
Living in Wichita and frequenting the music scene, its would be impossible to not know of the band King Me. Arguably the best Wichita has to offer, they stand out and out-perform most nationally and internationally known bands in the world today. I had the opportunity recently to sit down with their base player, Steve Green for a bit of a discussion. Id heard that he was the nicest guy ever and Im here to tell ya, thats the truth. He is also bright, insightful and has an understanding of music that many of us can only wish for, in spite of the fact that hes a day-job working father. The following is our interview from a few weeks ago
CH Who or what are your biggest influences as a musician and/or a person?
SG Wow, Im pretty bad at these interviews by the way. Have you interviewed Luke? He always has good quality answers for this stuff. As a musician? I dont really know. Ive always gotten into a lot of bands. Ive always been into songs ya know so I never got into the playing side of it so much as being into songs. When I was real young, Id get into a song, a certain song and Id just love that song I still dont totally get into people in music. I can tell you I love this band but I cant name the guys in the band and I cant say that this is my favorite bass player or this is my favorite drummer and like that. Influences as far as a person, and maybe even music is probably my high school band teacher, he was awesome. He was an awesome drummer. I played drums all through school I see your drum sticks there.
CH Yeah, I just took drums up again. I started when I was twelve.
SG Cool. So, yeah, my high school band teacher. He was an awesome guy and just real inspirational to me and not just in music but as a person.
CH Who or what do you think of when you think rock and roll?
SG Elvis. (laughs) He was The King. When I went to the R-n-R Hall of Fame in Cleveland, have you ever been there?
CH Nope.
SG I went there right when it opened, I was in Cleveland, I didnt go there for that but I went to it and they have this whole room dedicated to Elvis. You go in, and sit down, its like a theater and its like a history of Elvis. He really was one of the pioneers. He made it all happen. So I say Elvis.
CH Why do you do what you do? I mean, why are you a musician instead of a person sitting at a desk from 9-5?
SG We started out with King Me as a hobby and got more and more serious about it and I left a good job and left good pay and went to pursue it more and more, and of course always worked through the whole time but went to pursue the band more and more and we all did and we gave it a heck of a run and had a lot of fun and played a lot of great shows, but I dont ever slow down as an individual, I have all kinds of stuff going on. I dont consider myself a desk job person even though I do have a job. Right now, Im playing in two bands, I run a sound company and work a 40 hour a week job and do all kinds of stuff.
CH Okay, this is an election year and this past presidential term has been one of such unrest and turmoil due to the controversy of the 2000 election to 9/11 and the fallout from that, to the war and now we have the elections coming up. How important is the relation between music and politics? Is there room for a relationship - is it important at all does it have a place?
SG You know, I think there probably room for it for a lot of people. Theres not really so much for me. I dont connect the two a lot but I know a lot of people do and what happens is a lot of times once a person becomes popular through their music then they have a platform to express their feelings and thats fine I guess if people are into it then thats fine and just like any politician, if people believe in what they are saying then they are going to be supportive of them and if they dont, they dont have to ya know. Free speech. Im into the free speech and if somebody has gotten to the level where they can talk to a lot of people and they want to say what they want to say, Im all right with it. That answer the question?
CH Yeah, absolutely actually. I was praying it wouldnt be something deep and philosophical.
SG Ya know, Im a pretty shallow guy in a lot of ways. As far as music is concerned, I had this conversation last night with my son. We were listening to some music, just crankin it up real loud and talkin and I asked if understood the words to this particular song cause it was a kind of faster, rhythmic song and he said not so much on this song and he said that he doesnt listen to words a lot unless I want to and focus on it. And its real interesting cause thats how I used to be with music. I didnt really listen to the words. I could hum the melody and know a few words but I really wasnt listening to what they were saying and everybody hears music differently and takes a lot different out of music and he at 13 years old is a lot like I used to be. I listen to words a lot more now than I used to but at that age I didnt and he doesnt either whereas I know a 10 year old who can sing ever word to every song hes ever heard, ya know what I mean? Everybodys different.
CH: Knowing you have something of quality to offer the masses, is it kind of discouraging as an artist that there arent bigger venues, more cash or a larger fan base?
SG: Yes. But I see that as discouraging just kind of around here on a local level ya know. I understand why theres not. A lot of things have changed over the years. Ya got DJs now that are real popular and karaoke has taken off and live music venues can hire a karaoke person to come in and it costs worlds less than a band. Its just crazy. Its a little frustrating but the way I look at it is that if somebody really wanted to be serious about music, theyd potentially leave this town. Just like if you wanted to be serious surfer, you wouldnt live in Wichita, KS to be a professional surfer, youd have to go where the surfing is happening. And if somebody wants to be a professional musician and take it to a higher level, theyre going to have to go to where the scenes a little better and there are more opportunities and more opportunity to be in front of people that can help yo make things happen. Theres not that much of that climate here. Although I would say that Ive had a lot of fun at a lot of venues in this town and I like small venues. Id rather play in a small venue anytime. I enjoy small venues so its not a larger thing just more of a market.
CH: Are you looking forward to the Orpheum?
SG: Yep. Absolutly. It should be a really fun show. Ive never performed there. Ive engineered sound there and Ive done a lot of things there but weve never played there. And Its always fun playing an all ages show. Its real different from a bar.
CH: Whats next for King Me? Besides the upcoming show, do you have any plans for another album in 2004-2005 any guest spots we should anticipate?
SG: No. Were going to, ya know, weve really changed our whole focus and we just like to have fun and were not going to play very much. Were only going to play a few shows this year. Yo know we played 100 shows a year for 6 or 7 years and you know 100 shows might not sound like a lot but when you figure that theres only 52 weeks a year and people are working or going to school or doing what ever and trying to do what ever. And trying to do everything. We really backed down last year and only did about 40 shows in 2003 and this year we really dont know for sure. Were gonna play a little bit and have a little fun. We didnt have anything booked and then this MS benefit at the Orpheum came along and we thought it would be a great thing to do. We were asked to play that and were gonna do that. Its not about the money, were just going out for a good cause and to play a good show. I would expect that were going to do some shows this summer but we dont have a game plan, which is very awkward because weve been a game plan type of organization. Weve always had our goals laid out. Weve always known what we were shooting for. Weve always had something very defined. And we dont now and its kind of cool really. Its kind of a stress-free situation. We may write a new album and record. I dont know.
CH: The plan is there is not plan.
SG: Exactly. The plan is to have fun enjoying playing music, being around each other and just having a good time with it and not let it dominate our lives like it did for a long time.
CH: Are there any other musical areas youd like to explore.
SG: Humyou know with the new band Ive gotten together with some buddies, thats kind of a new thing. Just to play new music and have a little more fun and play different styles of music. Other than that from a playing standpoint, no. I would like to do more sound production and maybe promote some concerts and things in that area.
CH: In many bands, the bass player not only bridges the rhythmical gap between the drummer and guitarist, but may also, on a social level, balance the energy of the band. What do you feel you role is in the bands dynamic? Ive seen, at the shows you are kind of like the little THX guy running back and forth from stage to soundboard and back again
SG: Im real into the technical side of the band. Probably more than you might think if you came out and watched the band and left. Im more into the technical, production part. And I dont knowThats one thing that cool about our band is we all do our little function and mines as much operational as it is performance unfortunately and I dont really see myself as that great a bass player. I just play my part and have fun doing it. Were one of those kinds of bands where none of us are that great a player but when we get together the package is a little bit better than the individual and that has always been kind of our thing. Weve always wanted to be a good unit not necessarily a great individual. And obviously if we were better players as individuals it would help the band overall but it has never been out strong point. Were not a kind of band that musicians get into commonly, were more the kind of band non-musicians enjoy whereas musicians come out and watch and say, Theyre not that great. But the people who just want to enjoy the show tend to dig it more.
CH: Ive played your CDs for people and a lot of them have commented that you guys should be on a more national level.
SG: Thats cool. Weve heard that. Its always great to hear that. Its cool. Weve always tried to think bigger and present ourselves bigger but it is what it is and you try so hard for so long and what do you do?
CH: Since you are the multi-instrumental talent of the band, what advice would you give to an aspiring musician?
SG: Just play a whole lot, practice a whole lot and write as much material as you can and if its not great dont beat yourself up just keep writing and keep writing and keep writing. I heard a tape last night of a friend of mines band here in town where one of the guys has written a song and its a guitarist part and a vocal part and if someone heard that they wouldnt be real impressed with it. Cause hes not that great a singer, he has pitch problems and all this but he does it enough to put the idea on tape but when he presents it to his band they polish it up and in a few months theyll play that song out and it will be a great song. So, just give it all you got cause you never know when youll run into that right person. And Ill tell you one piece of advice too that I would give to anybody that wants to be a musician. Hang out with people who are good at it. People who are doing it like you want to be doing it.
CH: Is it safer to perform other peoples stuff and risk butchering it or do your own stuff and have people hate that?
SG: From a safe standpoint its safer playing your own material because no body knows the difference. If you butcher it you butcher it. Especially if you dont have an album out. If you have an album out and theyve heard it then youre running a little bit of a risk. Covers area lot of people who dont play covers and dont like to will bag on em but covers are hard to reproduce and play well and sound well and everything but at the same time there is so much more satisfaction in playing your own material. And if you can get by doing what you want to do playing your own material youll definitely have a lot more opportunities to move into other areas and stuff but if you just enjoy playing an performing you can do it both. I will tell you that our band would never have stayed together as long as we have if it werent for our original material I mean, you know there are very few musicians who have no urge to write their own material and be involved in a program writing their own material and its part of the art, the desire to play to perform. But, playing covers is fun too. Ive done both for a long time.
