FEW GUUD THOUGHTS| King Isis | ‘Scales’ EP| Interview + Review
Often times, music could be used as a vessel for self discovery, love and awareness. Oakland native King Isis recently released their debut EP ‘Scales,’ which serves as a sonic force for an coming of age story. King Isis’ first EP is a stunning and introspective voyage of personal growth and validation. Their remarkable vocal range captivates listeners, seamlessly transitioning between vulnerable and powerful tones across the EP's six tracks.
The artist skillfully weaves in themes of natural elements and equilibrium into their music, using them to delve into these concepts with a remarkable depth of feeling that belies their relative youth. The chord progressions performed by Isis serves as the soul for their body of work. The EP takes listeners on a dynamic and immersive journey, exploring the highs and lows of self-discovery with a raw honesty that is both poignant and uplifting. “taste of u,” one of the many stand out tracks, displays Isis tranquil energy despite the driving force behind the pen being resentment. Or even on, “141827 (the only one,)” where Isis breaks away from feeling reclusive in their thoughts and embraces their truth. King Isis' debut is a remarkable work of art, showcasing a rare talent that promises to leave a lasting impact on the music industry.
How’d you get the name King Isis?
“So I'm really bad with names, whether it’s names for a song, project, etc.; I'm not good with them. I wanted to incorporate my name somehow, but there was already a band called ISIS at the time; I think they still make music. My great-great grandmama, her name was Omega King. She was one of the first black opera singers in Chicago. I wanted that family tie to my name, so I combined our names. But also just kind of like, fuck gender!”
How would you describe your music in two words?
“Fairy grunge”
Where are you from?
“I'm from Oakland, California.”
How has your city influenced your music?
“I feel like a bunch of different types of creative people always surrounding me. I feel like the artistic community in Oakland is really small and super collaborative. It's also the birthplace of the Black Panthers. So I feel like for me, music is a tool of expression, but also of activism and resistance. I want to be able to incorporate that in my music too.”
Is the community very supportive as well, or is there a gatekeeping system?
“I feel like it's definitely really supportive. People are putting each other on and going to each other's shows which is awesome. In Oakland, there’s just a lot of inner collaboration.”
How’d you get your start in music?
“My mom is a huge fan of music. She doesn't play music herself, but she put my sister and me into music lessons at an early age. For me, piano and my sister guitar. We were like five.”
(Cont’d) “So growing up, I learned and played a lot of classical music on the piano, but that was my start. It wasn’t till high school that I started playing the guitar, which is kind of what I play with more so now. Less piano, more guitar.”
What made you gravitate towards the guitar more than the piano?
“The program I was in for piano was kind of a lot for a kid. The classical world is very strict… You have to do this, you have to do that, and it just wasn't for me. Picking up the guitar allowed me to figure out different types of music.”
Is it safe to assume you’re playing the guitar on all the tracks?
“Yeah, pretty much. Like the harmonies and stuff or the, the other parts of the guitar, I'm not playing, I'm playing like the main line for most of them.”
How does it feel to be so hands-on with your music?
“It feels real and authentic for me to be hands-on in the process. I'm more of an introverted person, for sure. I like to spend time alone; therefore, I spend a lot of time alone(chuckles.)”
How would you describe your creative process?
“I feel like either the creative process for me starts in my room, by myself with like a good acoustic guitar and a notebook.”
Would you consider making music more of a personal thing for you?
“Music has been a big part of my life. It’s provided healing and growth, and I’ve learned things about myself through making music. So for me to not be hands-on would, would feel a little bit inauthentic. Like even when I do sessions with other people, I still like to start from scratch so that we both contribute from an authentic place.”
When I listen to your music, you remind me of a modern Tracy Chapman mixed with 80’s Prince, and the Soulquarians are behind the boards; Who are some of your influences?
“My mom always played Erykah Badu and Outkast in the house, so Badu is definitely a big influence on my music. But then theres Nirvana; I had a moment when I was really into Fall Out Boy and Paramore during middle school, and I feel like that finds its way into my music. I love Amy Winehouse, and King Kruel is my favorite artist of all time.”
You first came on my radar with “4leaf clover,” what’s the meaning behind the song?
“So I wrote that song, again, in my room alone. It was kind of like the middle of quarantine, and I was feeling like I was kind of in a loop of doing the same shit and feeling stagnant…not being creative or finding inspiration to write. So I was trying to, like, break myself out of that loop with “4leaf clover,” and that's what came out.”
On “in my ways,” you start off the song with “I'm still afraid, in my head. What does it take to ascend? Closed behind all of these open doors. I still hide where I was trapped before” and I feel like that connects to the stuck in the loop process, do you mind unpacking that?
“Like I struggle with anxiety…overthinking, and doubt more specifically. So for me, this song is me saying, “Hey yall, I am afraid I'm stuck in my head sometimes, and I wanna get out of that cycle. I want to get past this cloud that keeps appearing.”
My two favorite songs off of ‘Scales EP’ is “the only one” and “taste of u” - how would you describe the creative process for those songs?
““taste of u,” like always, started alone in my room and stuff, but I actually was trying to experiment more with production using Ableton and Logic. A lot of that stuff didn't end up on the final track, but it felt good just trying shit out.”
(Cont’d) ““the only one,” which I'm still figuring out that title, started in the same way with a guitar and my notebook. I think that’s the oldest song on the project. I wrote that maybe two years ago during the quarantine. I believe I was still in my old apartment at the time.”
How long did it take you to make this ep?
“I'm going to say it took about two years. At first, I was thinking about releasing two short eps, three tracks each, but after I started working with Dirty Hit and No Matter I kind of scratched that idea. It's been in the works for a while, but I'm honestly happy it's all coming together. It tells a larger story and paints a better picture.”
So was this your first time releasing music, or have you released music in the past and you took a pause?
“Yeah, I released songs before independently. I released a three-track ep at the beginning of 2020. I also released songs under my old name that's buried. It’s buried!”
I must ask, what was the old name?
“It was OG ghost ta, and you can see why I changed my name (chuckles.) I feel like these new songs are more representative of me as a person and artist.”
What’s the meaning being the EP title ‘Scales.’
“There are a couple of meanings. The first meaning is balance; you know, scales are balanced. Scales are like the beginning, or a warmup for instruments, or even for your voice you have to do some scales, you know, to warm up. Since this is the first ep I'm releasing officially, this is like my warm-up or even an introduction to me.”
What is one thing you would like for listeners to take from your music?
“That's a big question… hmm, I would say try shit, and it's okay not to be okay sometimes.”
If you weren’t this fantastic talented musician, what would you be doing instead?
“I would probably be a teacher like I want to eventually teach music in like a history class form of learning. To be more specific, I would actually be living in the forest while also teaching music in the forest.”
Why the forest?
“I love nature. I love trees. It's literally like my happy place”
Last three albums you listened to?
Let’s Start Here. by Lil Yachty
God Saved the Animals by Alex G
The Bends by Radiohead
