New York City-based rock band, Zr. King, announce their high-adrenaline single, aptly titled, “Welcome to Bearizona,” to welcome their  upcoming album, Musically & Morally Bankrupt, due out May 17, 2019.

Zr. King have left a big impression on the local scene, receiving support on BBox Radio, Radio Free Brooklyn, and playing at acclaimed venues in the Northeast.

In this interview spotlight, I chat with Zr. King about the new release, technology, challenges and more.

Full Q&A along with links and music below.

Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)

Zr. King is firmly rooted in New York City, as that’s where the Lotti brothers, Griffin (vocals & guitar) and Brandon (bass & vocals), grew up and cut their teeth – playing on notable stages including CBGB, The Continental, Luna Lounge, Webster Hall, and The Knitting Factory with their prior group, Social Hero.  Rounding out the band is Matt Thompson (guitar & vocals) and Medley Shabazz (drums & vocals) – who have their own shared history in New Jersey rock juggernaut The Minor Lift.  

The music is carved from rock – big guitars, loud drums, thunder groove bass lines, and a whole lotta vocals.  Everyone brings their own spin on that though and our tastes are wide, ranging from the heavier metal and progressive end of the spectrum to more pop and Americana sensibilities.  We don’t really know how else to categorize it other than that it sounds like us.  A new fan previewing our upcoming release commented, “You guys just turn left whenever you feel like it, and it works.” 

What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to stay the course?

We are really great friends, and have a blast hanging out and making music together.  Band practice is basically just scheduled time every week to hang out and have good times.  As long as it stays that way, we’ll keep doing it. If we weren’t musicians, we’d probably be running a froyo stand, or maybe a video store. Or we’d be dragging our desktop computers to the local caffeinery in a wagon, or a wheelbarrow, to work on screenplays.  Did you know if you send 5,000 screenplays to Clifton Collins Jr. he’ll block your email address? We mean hypothetically, of course. Sorry Clifton. 

How is your new release different than previous ones? Did you set out to accomplish anything specific?

We had a lineup change in the middle of it (founding drummer Derek “D-Pain” Skylar left the group amicably and good friend Medley was tapped to suit up).  So because of that, we cut a lot of songs that hadn’t been fully finished yet; Griffin still had to write all the vocal parts and lyrics.  In that way, we really zeroed in on making the instrumentation as big and tight as possible, and it sounds it on the record.  Once all the vocals were ready, we had to make sure they were just as bombastic, so we ended up with an album that has a really huge, relentless sound.  Like a melodic jet engine, chewing up geese as it screams through the sky. 

Do you face any challenges as an indie musician in a digital age? On the flip side, how has technology helped you (if it has)?

It’s a double edged sword.  The prevalence of technology means you can accomplish a lot on your own. Creating and releasing high fidelity recordings is in your reach regardless of your budget if you’re methodical enough.  But that also means you’re competing with a much larger pool of people doing exactly that, and there’s naturally a lot more noise you have to cut through as a result to separate yourself and build your audience.  But you just work hard at it.  

In the old days, you needed somebody with the keys to the kingdom to open those doors for you, and usually the cost was selling a major piece of yourself to get in.  Look at how many of our heroes got destroyed by the industry and the awful deals they signed.  People have approached us and offered similar types of contracts – “we’ll sign you and put out your record but we want a piece of your publishing and your songs and your masters and rights in perpetuity.”  No thanks.  Technology has opened doors to fans we probably wouldn’t otherwise have (people stream our music in Australia and Germany – that’s pretty rad).  

While all this technological advancement allows you to capture your music and disseminate it more easily than ever before, you still need to practice your craft and write good songs that you can go out and perform.  If you use a computer to create a flawless recording but then you can’t play it live, what’s the point? That’s a weight class of musician we don’t want to be in. At the end of the day, we’re a live band.  That’s what we live for.  

Where can we follow you online and hear more music?

We’re on Spotify, iTunes, Bandcamp, Pandora, and our music is streaming on our website: www.ZrKing.com.  You can connect with us on Facebook and Instagram too (@zoctorking).  

Anything else before we sign off?

The first single from our upcoming album is titled “Welcome to Bearizona” and released on 3/20.  The full record, “Musically & Morally Bankrupt” will be available on 5/17!

Huge thanks to Middle Tennessee for interviewing us and to all of you for reading.  If you are interested in learning more, please do connect with us! Or send us your screenplay 5,000 times.  We won’t block you.