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An interview with Kaki King

If you have given Kaki King‘s new album, Junior, a spin, you probably thought — based on the first track, “The Betrayer” — it was going to be more accessible than her previous efforts. Although there are a handful of songs that have more of a pop sensibility than any on When We Felt Red or 2008’s Dreaming of Revenge, there’s still an air of distance coming from the out musician. She doesn’t want to be “gotten.”

Known for her finger-picking, fret-tapping and overall guitar skill-set, you are likely interested in Kaki for her musicianship rather than the fact she’s a lesbian, which, of course, is what most musicians hope for — they want fans of their talent, not of their personal lives. However, fans, at the core, are people interested in feeling connections, and the person or persons playing the music and writing the songs are where these connections begin.

It might not surprise you that Kaki King is a bit stoic in real life. She will quietly talk about her work, rarely smiling despite making sarcastic remarks or telling a story about “gray hairs” (AKA older fans who show up to her performances). But it’s with Junior, her fifth album, that it would appear her label (or possibly even Kaki herself) is interested in putting her out with a more “fun” image. Kaki tries to promote her show as “a dance party,” a description her shows circa Dreaming of Revenge would certainly not lend themselves to (at least not well).

She’s also not playing by herself, and her two bandmates have not only become a mainstay on tour, they were also a large part of her songwriting on the album. King used to play all the instruments on her own, where now she has multi-instrumentalist Dan Brantigan and drummer Jordan Perlson in more of a collaborative effort.

“With Dan and Jordan and I, we just really locked into rehearsing together and I’d come in with a simple idea and we’d play it and they’d go ‘Oh why don’t we change the beat here?'” King said backstage before her Chicago show at Park West. “It was really helpful to have other people go ‘What you’re doing is cool, but this idea’s better.'”

Also on Junior, King worked with a deadline from her label, which she says can “certainly motivate you.”

“I had to take time off to write two other projects, so then it was like ‘Oh I have to write an album,'” she said. “You’re not always liberated to do everything on your own agenda.”

One thing that remained the same from Dreaming of Revenge is the development of King’s lending vocals to more tracks. At the beginning of her recording career, King stuck to her instrumental abilities. Now, she sings with a wavering mezzo soprano tone with which you can hear every single lyric clearly. This is especially true on the song “Sunnyside,” which is just an acoustic guitar and lines like “I wake up every morning, stretch my arms out wide / Splits my chest right open and I put my heart back inside.” She even notes, “This metaphor has gone too far.”

“I think there’s one particular song on the album that’s certainly very personal and I open myself up to public scrutiny even more so than the past,” King said of “Sunnyside.” “It’s about me breaking up with someone and I felt like, uh – it wasn’t a difficult thing to write the song, because you write a song for various reasons, but it was difficult to play on the record because it’s me having my own personal pity party moment. But people can universally connect with what I’m saying.”

“Sunnyside” is the most straightforward track on the album, as King has a penchant for abstract vocals and names for songs like “The Hoopers of Hudspeth” and “Hallucinations from My Poisonous German Streets.” As for playing the songs live, King notes it can be difficult for her to sing and play guitar at the same time.

“A song like ‘Death Head’ is difficult because it’s all just riffs and singing over it at the same time – Even ‘Falling Day’ I have play seventh and eights and sing at the same time,” King said. “But after I trudged through that in Australia, I think by the time we were done with that tour, I was able to play guitar, playing – not more complicated riffs, but singing at the same time … Pretty much anything can be worked out if you want it to … But some things are just not doable.”

One difference fans may have noticed from King is the look she sported in promo shots before the release of the CD. Past photos have featured the artist in short dresses with messy ponytails or laying in a bed of tussled white blankets and sheets while she coyly stares at the camera, her guitar laying at her side. But this time, some images were in stark black and white, King sporting a crop cut, a black blazer and a stern masculine look.

I mentioned to King that fans take notice of such things, especially in the queer community, where some love to play up the different gender identities. I asked if she was putting on a new more “butch” look consciously, as some fans had noticed the change.

“Those people need to get a life,” King said. “I guess I mean, I just don’t want people to cut their hair like me. That’s not the point. I have a short haircut, who cares? Hair needs cutting. It’s not the plan. It’s not what being gay is about. It’s not haircut or your clothes. It’s not even about being proud. It’s being honest. So I never have been dishonest and I feel happy about that. I think people miss the point when they think it’s about a haircut or a style of clothing. I mean it’s bound to happen to whatever subgroup you belong to. I don’t have any butch or femininity. I never have.”

King says she thinks that her queer fans find out about her through gay media outlets, but they don’t like her just because she’s a lesbian.

“I think this is a time when the queer press is wondering ‘Are we still relevant?’ Because people just want to be who they are, they don’t feel they need every copy of Out or Bound or whatever,” King said. “Seriously it’s amazing sometimes. I look out into the audience: Moms bringing their daughters, old dudes into guitar, straight college kids and cute gay boys and cute queer girls. It’s so diverse. They’ve always been — my fans have always turned me on to so many different things. That’s the appeal. It’s not like, ‘She’s going to get up there and be queer.'”

On the same token, there’s nothing inherently “queer” about King’s new album, which is most likely what she planned (or didn’t plan to plan on). And if you’re interested in Kaki King for anything other than her guitar playing, you might want to find a queer hero elsewhere.

“I think there are journalists and fans who want to know more about your private life,” she said. “I’m really turned off by that and the idea that’s what interests people.”

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