Getting to Know… The Rockit King | Interview 🎤

O n the 213^th interview on The Musical Hype, we learn about the background and musical craft of Michigan rock band, The Rockit King. 

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he Rockit King is a straight-up, four-on-the-floor, Michigan Rock ‘N’ Roll band.  Everyone sings and plays their asses off.” Rock TF on, The Rockit King 🤘! Vocalist 🎙 Jes Beveridge doesn’t stop there, elaborating on the band’s craft and touting their new album, 💿 Fourth Turning: “It’ll peel your face back.”  Hell yeah! Beveridge isn’t the only representative of the Michigan rock band on the 213^th interview on The Musical Hype. Guitarist 🎙 Anthony Mannino gets in on the action as well, providing insights into his personal musical influences.  All in all, The Rockit King allure with their answers and entice us to check out their music.  Hopefully, this intro is enough to entice you to check out the full interview! So, without further ado, here is 🎤 Getting to Know… The Rockit King: Interview No. 213!

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Starting things off, for those who may not be familiar with you, what would you say makes your band distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off? 

🎤 Jes Beveridge (Vocals): The Rockit King is a straight-up, four-on-the-floor, Michigan Rock ‘N’ Roll band.  Everyone sings and plays their asses off.  Lots of guitar. And we make records on tape, no computers.  The songs are personal and melodic.  Check out our new album, 💿 Fourth Turning.  It’ll peel your face back.

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Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did The Rockit King form and what were some of the goals or the visions you had early on? 

🎤 JB: TRK started as a kind of West Michigan supergroup.  We were all in other bands within the scene and got together in November 2001 for the express purpose of starting a 70’s Rock ‘N’ Roll band in an era of NuMetal and ‘NSync.  A cross between Thin Lizzy & Boston.  Guitar Rock with three-part harmonies.  From there it was simply a natural progression.

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Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now? 

🎤 JB: The number one goal of making great, indelible music has always been there. Given that we came into being near the end of the “music business” as it was, we’ve always had to be very DYI.  At this point we want to make as much music as possible and hit the Summer Festival circuit.  We are in down and dirty Rock mode these days.

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Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Who would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential? 

🎤 JB: I grew up playing drums in a Honky-Tonk/Southern Rock/Blues band and gigged all the time from fifth grade onward.  I really dug SRV and Dickey Betts, T. Graham Brown and Delbert McClinton.  At some point I discovered Faith No More and Metallica and Living Colour and old Aerosmith.  Then Grunge hit.  Then we all discovered Pantera.  I probably saw Pantera fifteen times. The 90’s sat well with me.  Just a ton of great music.  I didn’t really connect with the “80’s” except for those early Ozzy albums, Van Hagar & Bon Jovi.  

🎤 Anthony (Mannino, Guitar).  If I had to pick people, the list would include…Randy Rhoads, Eddie VanHalen, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Steve Morse. As of lately I would add Kiko Loureiro due to his talent and general approach he takes with his fans.  But more than specific people…Music is really mood driven for me. One day I may say Pantera is a huge influence because I’m feeling aggressive…Another day it’s Van Halen because it’s the weekend and I’m ready to party and then I’ll wrap up with Nine Inch Nails because a dark cloud came over me.   This “mood driven” list is ever changing.

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Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative. 

🎤 JB: We played a gig in Montague, MI.  Gig was killer, after which we, and everyone at the gig got invited to a house party.  Imagine a procession of 25+ vehicles running back roads when the lead vehicle, a Chevy Tahoe, drives straight thru a T so that its front and rear tires are on either side of a county ditch.  Everybody’s blood pressure starts to rise as we realize that we’re sitting ducks on a dirt road, and everyone involved is some shade of goofed up.  🎙 Kenny Roberts (drummer) says “I’ve got a Tahoe, I can get you out” to which the owner of the vehicle jumped in the passenger seat and said “Great, we got to go!”  Problem was, he forgot to shut his door which was promptly ripped off by a tree!  He screamed, “Fuck it, Dude!  Let’s GO!!”  Next, someone (who will remain nameless) ate way too many drugs and clung to a seat belt in our van all night like they were Indiana Jones over a snake pit.  Things ESCALATED from there.  What a night 🤣.

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Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special? 

🎤 JB: Oh, man.  I love different songs for different reasons.  Speaking to our latest album, I like 🎵 “Lie Becomes” because of how much it drives and how it sits with the bridge.  I like 🎵 “Take My Hand” as it is an exploration into our pop sensibilities.  I like 🎵 “No Matter What” because it’s about my daughter.  Four studio albums into our career, there is a lot of material, if you know what I mean.

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Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits? 

🎤 JB: That we’ve never barked up the wrong tree, per se.  We’ve always made the music that we’ve wanted to make for the right reasons and in a way that makes sense to us.  The Rockit King is as real as it gets.

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Closing things out, what are you currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure.

🎤 JB: Currently we’re pushing the single 🎵 “Take My Hand” after which we’ll push another single off 💿 Fourth Turning (there are a few contenders.)  We hit the studio in December to record a couple of tunes for a 7” that is set to drop in April of ‘22.

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Getting to Know… The Rockit King: Interview No. 213 🎤 [📷: The Rockit King, Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype]

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