KINGSMEN // The Freshest Revenge In America

Rhode Island metalcore usurpers Kingsmen have been making a racket in their charming home-state and they are ready to lay waste to some foreign lands as soon as this plague has come under control.

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With new album Revenge. Forgiveness. Recovery., the band have sired a cathartic warhorse of a record, all battle-scars and tribulation. Speaking to frontman Tanner Guimond in unlucky times, he talks about the inauspicious beginnings of the band.

“Everywhere has got its story,” says Tanner. “You know, everyone comes from different backgrounds, different cultures, different geographic locations.

“I mean, lyrically with this record we really spoke from the heart,” Tanner continues. “A lot of us were going through some pretty tough times and all of us have been in bands prior to Kingsmen – nothing too big, just local stuff – and we all came together. We knew each other as friends in the music scene, and then it was kind of odd with all of us going through something; someone dying, someone losing their job, someone losing their girlfriend, their wife, family got sick… everyone. It was just a plethora of pretty terrible stuff, and we kind of just kind of just decided to go back to music and just turn this pain into progress. That’s kind of where the record kind of started off it started off from; truly just a pretty terrible place for most of us.”

We’re probably going to be releasing some stuff early next year, just to kind of elevate 2021 a little bit.
[ Tanner Guimond ]

These decidedly rough beginnings had their own ironic fate, as the first recordings which captured this early, raw-form catharsis from one of the toughest newcomers on the North American metalcore circuit have disseminated into the world and since disappeared.

“I mean, there are some demos. Man, I don’t even know where they might be because I myself have searched for them. I’m sure if we searched through YouTube and stuff …” Tanner trails off sounding unsure. “We actually did have an EP which we had on Youtube and we had it public, but we never really promoted it too much. We took it down because we realised we wanted to re-record these tracks and work with a better producer. At the time we just assembled it ourselves. So, we did release something for people to find but I’m honest-to-god saying I can’t find it myself, so for anyone ever looking for it: if you find it, send me a message.”

For anybody keen to assist Tanner in finding old Kingsmen demos, be aware that the search is complicated somewhat by their name, which they share with both a popular hyper-violent comic/film franchise, and a very famous 60s garage rock band.

“Oh man, it’s funny,” Tanner begins with a laugh, “we talked to those guys. Everything’s pretty cool now, but they were a generation ago–two generations even, you know–and their name was different. They’re ‘The…,’” he says with a wry chuckle, “We’re just ‘Kingsmen.’”

“It worked out pretty well, because for us the Kingsmen name was very important to us. And it’s not only them, there’s the Kingsmen movie too,” says Tanner, his tone changing slightly. “But Kingsmen just meant something to us. A ‘kingsman’ is always someone that protects the king, right? So, we all kind of protect each other in a way. When we were going through all that stuff, we came together and learned that in the background of our lives – in the stuff you don’t see on Instagram and Facebook – there was some pretty tough stuff we were going through. This band, Kingsmen, were much more than just band members. We regularly have barbeques and invite our families to hang out with one another. We’re connected in that sense. The ‘kingsmen’ thing to us was protecting each other; creating a family vibe. That’s why we really wanted that name.”

It’s not all heartache and semper fi-solidarity for Kingsmen, living in one of the most beautiful corners of North America and having opportunity to travel, and the guys are keen to make it—down to the Antipodes.

“Rhode island is kind of the seafood state. You know, we claim to have the freshest stuff around and, honestly, I’ve done my fair share of travelling–haven’t been out you know your way yet– but yeah… pretty good seafood compared to a lot of places, I got to say.”

“We’ve done our fair share of travelling for reasons other than touring – but music related; just when we were trying to find the right record label and stuff like that, we did a lot of travel. As far as my personal background , I’ve actually toured the country, (guitarist) Tim has, (drummer) Mike has, I’m not sure if (bassist) Adam has… I’m pretty sure he’s done most of the country. We’re just talking bar to bar to bar every night.”

“My friend Daniella a very long-term friend of mine–she moved to Melbourne a while ago and she’s been sending me pictures for years,” Tanner sounds wistful as he thinks about travelling to our shores. “You know, the beauty of that … I just I gotta get out there. I’m excited, trust me. I’m looking forward to playing shows and checking out the country.”

In the meantime, the band are making the most of the downtime created by the COVID pandemic.

“I feel like every band is doing it,” Tanner starts. “We pretty much have a whole record written just from this. I mean, we’ve had some other stuff written since we recorded Revenge. Forgiveness. Recovery; you know, in between that time and when all this COVID thing happened. But as soon as this started, we wrote another ten tracks. So, you know, we’re ready to go. We’re probably going to be releasing some stuff early next year, just to kind of elevate 2021 a little bit.”