KING perform in The Current studio
by Mark Wheat, Leah Garaas and KING
February 18, 2016
"I always knew from a really early age that I wanted to do something musical," says Paris Strother, one third of KING. "[Amber, my twin sister] was singing for as long as I can remember and I was always at the piano."
Ahead of their gig at Icehouse (that Prince himself attended), KING — twins Paris and Amber Strother and musical sister Anita Bias — stopped by The Current to record tracks off their debut album live in-studio and to chat with host Mark Wheat.
KING's first headlining gig in the Twin Cities felt like a homecoming of sorts for Paris and Amber; they grew up in Minnesota and still have family and friends here. Paris left the state in 2004 to study orchestration and arranging for strings at the esteemed Berklee College of Music hoping to one day score films. It wasn't until after graduating that she found herself pursuing performance as a career.
In 2011 KING put out their EP This Story. Five years later — nearly a generation in the music business — their debut album We Are KING is here. So why the wait? "There's getting from point A of what you're hearing in your head to point B of the execution and making sure everyone who listens to it is hearing what you hear in your head," says Paris. "It's like having a big marble block and carving out a statue, and we really took the time to develop it exactly as wanted to. We're really pleased with how the album came out."
"The Greatest," a song that The Current has been playing off We Are King is about Muhammad Ali. But that's not what inspired their name years ago. "It started off by us saying, 'We're going to do this ourselves.' We shut out all other influences and outside sources," says Paris. "With that we decided we are KING. We're going to be the king of the business elements, king of the music." "On the other side of it, we wanted to invite people into our musical kingdom."
Songs Performed
"Hey"
"Supernatural"
All songs off KING's debut album We Are King, out now via KING Creative.
Hosted by Mark Wheat
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Mike DeMark
Web feature by Leah Garaas
