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| Kings X |
I was introduced to the progressive rock supergroup King's X by some music loving high school pals 14 years ago. FaithHopeLove, their third album on Atlantic Records had just been released. It was 1990, and the world was pre-Nirvana.
That summer I saw them perform at the Stone in San Francisco. There was a moment during the set where a group of us in the audience simultaneously experienced a profound appreciation and admiration for them. We shouted ecstatically... the band noticed and seemed perplexed.
They had a massive influence on 90's rock gods Soundgarden and I remember seeing the bass player from Pearl Jam wearing a King's X shirt backwards on MTV so that their logo was in front and everyone would see it.
I had the extreme honor of interviewing King's X drummer Jerry Gaskill at the House of Blues in Hollywood. They are currently on tour promoting their eleventh album, Black Like Sunday. This was the eighth time I'd seen King's X, and they did a couple things I'd never seen them do before. They did a five song semi-acoustic segment where they performed two of my favorite songs off their album Ear Candy, Thinking and Wondering and Mississippi Moon.They also included a slow and funky version of Over My Head which I had an excellent time dancing to. They played for at least two hours, as usual, giving every fan their money's worth and hung out at the merchandise table afterwards, signing cds and talking with fans.
Jerry's drumming is transcendental. Time stops. Men are humbled. He is channeling something up there on stage.
He is also a gifted songwriter and recently released a superb solo album, Come Somewhere on InsideOut Records. I chose to talk with him about two of my favorite topics; freedom and forgiveness.
LM: Have you ever felt that your freedom was limited by someone you loved?
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| Jerry Gaskill |
JG: There have been people in my life who I felt have hindered and threatened my freedom, even sometimes the very people who I have found freedom in can cause me to feel threatened to lose my freedom. I think that might be a common human thing.
Freedom is something we need to... I don't know if we need to strive for it, but it's something we're all looking for... possibly... and it takes time. Freedom and peace and all the things we desire and search for take time, and I think that's what we're doing pretty much every moment of our lives.
LM: Can you think of a specific situation where someone you loved was limiting your freedom and how you experienced it?
JG:I think those things happen with most close relationships, because when you get that close to a person you want more from them than they can give... you want to give more than you can give, you want to give less than you can give, all those things. Especially family relationships, wives and children. As much freedom and joy that they give, at the same time, because of the power of the relationship, it's draining it at the same damn time! (Beautiful laughter.)
LM: It's frustrating. I think what that can create is a need to control.
JG:There's that factor too, and there's all the different factors of that person, what makes them that person and that's what you're dealing with. You have to deal with it in yourself too, and they're dealing with you doing the same thing and therefore there is always that... stretching of freedom. (More beautiful laughter.)
LM:Can you think of a time when you were purposefully testing the boundaries of your freedom?
JG:Probably my teenage years I did that a bit, most likely we all do. You know, I dabbled in drugs and all that stuff. Those are things that you are told you shouldn't do but you do it anyway.
LM:Have you ever experienced forgiveness as transformational?
JG:Absolutely. Being married and having children is a continual rollercoaster of forgiving and being forgiven. Any close relationship, or even not a close relationship, we have to forgive and be forgiven on a continual basis.
LM:That's how we grow...
JG:Yes.
