By: Robert Cavuoto
A new powerhouse trio is about to turn the rock world upside down with the release of their self-titled debut – KXM. The band is comprised of dUg Pinnick of King’s X on vocals/bass, George Lynch of Lynch Mob/Dokken on guitars and Korn’s drum maestro, Ray Luzier.
KXM takes its name from the combination of the members other projects: K from Korn, X from King’s X and M from Lynch Mob.
The self-titled debut CD which was released on March 11th is already receiving critical acclaim. The songs are powerful, precise, and transcend beyond the boundaries of the imagination.
In today’s overpopulated music arena, true gems become harder and harder to find, but KXM’s unified vision rises above the normal and creates its own space.
From the opening drum riff of “Stars” to the final chord on “Human Friction,” KXM is an album that is sure to resonate with fans from the band’s original projects, while garnering new fans who can be expected to embrace this new combo.
Songs like “Gun Fight,” “Faith Is A Room” and the first single “Rescue Me” are sure to be instant favorites among fans.
I had the good fortune of sitting down with one of the hardest working guitarists; George Lynch about KXM and the importance of staying relevant in this ever changing musical climate.
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Robert Cavuoto: Tell me how you connected with Ray Luzier and dUg Pinnick for KXM?
George Lynch: Very casual, we met at a party and got to talking. Ray had a studio at his house and one thing led to another and it started rolling. It was as simple as that. I’m still pinching myself about it, that it actually happened. Sometimes it can be difficult to put things like this together.
Robert: How did the band approach writing for this CD, did you come up with ideas prior or did you all just jam until something good came out?
George Lynch: Jam ‘till something good came out. The sound that comes out of the three of us being together is what it is. We didn’t know what would happen until we got together. We assumed it might be pretty cool, but you never know.
It might not have worked, though I can’t see why. The first day we started playing together was like, “Wow, this was pretty cool. We’d written a song or two the first day. By the second or third day we started getting excited about it. I could see it on the other guy’s faces.
They were starting to go “This is badass.”
“This is worthy of our attention.”
It just started adding fuel to the fire in a positive way. The writing was just off the cuff. Ray was playing rhythms all day long. “Wow, that’s cool. Okay, can we do that a little slower?” Or dUg would say, “How about this bass line? Something more like this but with an odd timing? ” The riff on “Rescue Me,” was created by dUg.
I was initially thinking to myself the bass player shouldn’t write songs. That’s kind of retarded. [Laughter] Of course, when I played it I went, “Ah, you know what? Maybe I can learn something here.”
There’s something to be said about simplicity. It was just a three-way effort, very democratic and no egos. The best ideas rose to the top. Nobody’s feelings were hurt. It wasn’t a contest; it was just a beautiful experience.
Robert: How long did it take you to write and record from the start to finish?
George Lynch: We spent 10 days at Sound Mountain Studios with engineer, Chris Collier, who is called “The Wizard.” So basically it was a little over a song a day. We’d start from scratch, find something that we liked and work on it and then get it tracked. We actually recorded 13 songs in 10 days.
When that was done, we all got busy and had other things to do. Then I’d come back do my solos and any other stuff we needed to put on top – double rhythms and little ear candy parts or and work on the ranges a little more. Then dUg would do his bass and vocals, independent at his home studio. Then we had The Wizard mix it all up when he had time.
As far as inception to completion, the amount of time we actually spent on the record was 10 days initially and then the mixing and additional tracking time, which wasn’t a lot. Even studio time, inclusive of mixing, is like 20 days. A very quick record.
Robert: You’re one of the hardest working musicians out there. I’m always see your press releases and listening to your latest musical projects. Is it difficult to gel with different musicians as quickly as you do on these projects?
George Lynch: It’s actually not difficult. It’s actually the opposite. It’s very easy, because what I find difficult is long-term bands like Dokken and Lynch Mob. Everybody overthinks everything; everybody is involved, and then we can’t make a decision. Records take six months to do and cost a fortune. And every move you make is like a monolithic move, it’s like rolling a boulder up the mountain.
I like being nimble and just getting in there and doing it. I’m a big fan of lots of walk and little talk. The time for talking is when we’re doing the interviews, when the work is done – but do the work. I can’t stay in the whole Hollywood thing, “Let’s have lunch; let’s talk about it until the fucking cows come home.”
Let the music do the talking.
I’ve got a project called the Infidels. We spent four days in the studio and created something, completely different from KXM or Lynch Mob or any other projects I’ve got. It’s the rhythm section from War and Sen Dog from Cypress Hill. It’s like Band of Gypsys meets heavy funk. It’s a lot of improvisation.
On one song is like 16 minutes long and it’s beautiful. I love it, but it’s a completely different animal. Again, I never played with them before. It was just, “Hey how’s it going, Sal? Good to meet you. Hey, Poncho. This is cool; we’re playing together. Okay, mike everything up? Let’s go.” [Laughter]
Pretty much the same way we wrote the Shadow Train soundtrack double record that’s coming out with the film Shadow Nation and the project with Michael Sweet which I just finished co-writing with him.
Robert: I’m really excited about that project with Michael. What can you tell us about it and if there is a name for the band?
George Lynch: There is no name yet. I never played with Michael before; in fact I never actually heard his voice until I heard what he did on the music we were writing. He has the voice of an angel. We got in the studio and wrote 10 songs. Michael finished it up with the lyrics and melodies, and did some arrangement work. I finished up the guitars so it’s in the bag for me.
Brian Tichy, James LoMenzo and Michael recorded the stuff at a studio back east, where they live and sent the material back to me to fix the guitars. So I sent them a kind of demo version, and they sent it all back to me fleshed out. It just opened my eyes; I went “Wow.” These guys really got it. There’s elements of Dokkenish stuff in there, which I allowed myself to go to, considering Michael’s style of singing is melodic hard rock.
Then there’s, of course, harder elements. Maybe a song will sound a little Van Halenesque, or Judas Priesty. It’s all a little bit more from that era.
We’re not trying to recreate a past era; it has those kinds of elements in the context of 2014. Black Country Communion has some of that. It sounds like older stuff. There are good things we liked about the older music. Good riffs, interesting changes and beautiful melodies.
Robert: I assume it’s always exciting as a musician when you’re changing, growing, and evolving with all these different people and bands?
George Lynch: Absolutely exciting. As we get older, it takes a lot more for us to get excited these days. It’s almost like a thrill sport. It makes you feel more alive. Every second seems longer because it’s a new thing that you’re not used to, so your brain just kind of has to wake up and make different connections and think about solving problems in different ways. It’s challenging to work with other people but in a good way – there’s a different chemistry there.
Robert: Sounds like you enjoy constantly reinventing yourself on every project and CD?
George Lynch: I’m doing a project right now, it’s a post-apocalyptical, industrial type thing, sort of a Nine Inch Nails, Prodigy-ish with guitar. It’s with Mandy Lion from WWIII and a production team. I’ve always loved that kind of music, Crystal Method, Lords of Acid, Prodigy and Nine Inch Nails. I never hear it with the kind of guitar that I would imagine that I would do on it. But I don’t run in those circles.
I was fortunate enough to make connections with some of the guys that are involved with the production of some of the Nine Inch Nails and Zombie stuff. So, we’re working tentatively on this record and we don’t know what it’s going to be called, or when it’s going to be released.
My main problem with this project is trying to play economically and think in a different way. I have to be constantly referring to other kinds of music to force myself to not make it a guitar driven record like with Lynch Mob or KXM.
I got to let the other instruments do their thing and build songs in a different way. It’s not your typical, traditional formula that I’m used to. So, I have to think differently.
But working with these kinds of engineers and programmers, who force me to think that way. And I rely on them. I’ll say, “Stop me. I’ll sit here and play guitar solos and riffs for an hour.” [Laughter] Don’t be rolling tape out of respect. I’m like “Just figure out what we need, and I’ll create that.”
Sometimes I need to explore ideas, and I’ll play for awhile, trying to find something that will fill the hole we need rather than reams and reams of information. So it’s a learning process in finding our way. It’s really fucking cool, man – a whole different animal.
Robert: Is KXM going to hit the road anytime soon?
George Lynch: We’re going to do a tour that’s I don’t even know how to classify. I got this idea from a Bay area band back in the early ’70s called The Residence, where they would just show up at limited places around the world unannounced and film the show for posterity, so people who weren’t able to see the show can get the vibe of the band live. We’re not able to go out and do a whole lot of touring, because Ray’s is busy with Korn and we’re all doing a lot of other things.
Robert: With all these projects, does the financial success come from the CDs or from touring?
George Lynch: Well, both. I’m not a rich rock star. I do okay because I work my frigging ass off. The days of being in one band and doing a record every year-and-a-half, touring for six months and living the gilded life, those days are over.
I’m okay with that. I like working, and I love what I do, but we’re readaptable. It’s wrong that people file share your material – absolutely wrong – especially given the economic system that we live under. Try doing that with any other commodity or product. You’re going to fail.
Until we live with a society where we have a barter system and everything is free. It’s just blatantly wrong.
I don’t even know why there’s a fucking argument about it. If people understood how hard we work to produce these things of value that people “supposedly” appreciate, and then complain about having to spend $10.
Maybe if they understood the blood, sweat, tears, and insanely hard work that goes into them. I’ve had friends ask me, “How the fuck did you live like this?” There’re all these 16-hour days. I haven’t taken a vacation in years, I don’t stop, and because I love what I do, when people hear that fucking record, they have no fucking idea what goes into it. They just don’t get it. I would love someday to have somebody follow me around with a camera for a year and put that in a documentary – “A year in the life of”.
Robert: There’s another project for you, a reality show [Laughing].
George Lynch: I’d love to have somebody following me around waiting for the magic to happen. They would see at the epicenter there’s nothing glamorous. It’s a lot of hard work, physical work, mental work, creative work.
In our business, you got to have 10 things in the pipeline and hopefully, if you work really hard, maybe one will come to fruition. It’s a kind of a miracle that it actually happens.
I have my endorser work with Randall, U.S. Music Corporation, and ESP. They send me on these clinic tours to South/Central America, Europe, in the States.
I design and develop gear. I build my own line of Mr. Scary guitars. I make 10 of them a year. I sell every single one. I build them in my back yard by hand.
I’ve started a pickup company, Mr. Scary Pickups, which I work with Arcane Pickups.
There are 12 other things I have been working on that doesn’t happen. You do a lot of work and it may fall apart. People don’t see that!
