Buzz Blog

Local indie pop-rockers King Niko electronically released their second EP today titled The French Accent EP. I sat down with lead singer Ransom Wydner at their Downtown Music practice space to discuss the details.---

CW:The artwork for this EP is really unique, what’s the story behind it?

RW: The artwork is by the same artist we used last time. Her name is Mariana Palova and she is actually related (in some way or another) to our guitarist Benjamin Mofatt. She did a gallery in Salt Lake sometime last year and we thought her work was amazing. This time around we were looking and could find no other artist that we liked better. The tracks have been done for months and it was just a matter of picking the artwork. We all sat down and looked at various pictures and decided on this particular one.

CW: It’s been a year since you dropped your previous EP, The Gorgeous and the Gory. How does this one differ?

RW: The Gorgeous and the Gory had six songs. This one is shorter, it's only three tracks. Because of its shortness we got to spend a lot of time them. I think the result was that it came off sounding more polished. It’s more mellow and grittier than our last one, but somehow more entertaining and fun.

CW: Describe the tracks for me?

RW: “Kink” is very bass-heavy and high energy. “The Comedown” is more dulcet and morose. And the very last track, “French Accent,” has lots of drums. It kind of builds up and is a lot about the atmosphere.

CW: You named the EP after the song “French Accent.” Tell me a little more about this track?

RW: It was written about a year ago. Corey O’Brien aired it on X96’s "Xposed" recently and it did really well. He (O’Brien) described us and the song as being very "The Strokes meets The Cult."CW: What was your favorite part of working on this EP?

RW: Working with the same sound engineer Mike Sassich. (I can’t pronounce his last name.) He is really good at capturing the band’s sound. He recorded us all together, no click tracking. It felt really natural. When you hear it, it almost most sounds like you’re at one of our shows.

CW: Is there anything you want people to know about this album?

RW: It’s a broad representation of us, a kind of King Niko spectrum. It’s the sort of thing you can listen to on your morning commute. It tells a story, albeit a short one, but it does have a beginning and an end. That’s something I feel like the previous release lacked.

The Gorgeous and the Gory and the new The French Accent EP can be found on iTunes or at just about any online music venue. The new release is just $3, which seems like a small price to pay for something that will make you want to dance your socks off. (When no one is looking, of course.) There are more shows and a release party in the works. For more information head to their website or facebook.