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You showed a creative talent at a very early age. Can you expand a bit on how you went from “singing and writing songs for all the flowers in the yard by the age of 4” to making the move to LA to where you are today?
Pollux King: Oh man, those flowers sure got an earful. After the flower serenading, I moved on to theater. My mom runs the community theater in town, so I was in and out of there my whole life. We all had a lot of fun in there over the years. My two favorite parts were the plant puppeteer for Little Shop of Horrors, and a sassy nun in Nunsense. We had a blast. I kept wondering if I was going to catch fire wearing that habit. When I was 18, I moved to LA to attend a performing arts conservatory. Once I graduated, I moved back to my home town for a few years and dealt with some really intense panic and anxiety that made it hard to do much of anything. Once I was able to function a little better, I moved back to LA. It took me a long time to find the right people to write and work with. But once I did, everything started moving pretty quickly. I met my producer Chris Kooreman, through some friends in 2019, and we started writing together immediately. As soon as we were ready to start releasing, the pandemic hit. Everything got paused while we tried to figure out how to make all of this work from our homes. We found a rhythm eventually, and now we’re so stoked to be releasing this song and video. It’s such a personal song to me and crazy vulnerable. I can’t wait for it to be out in the world.
Your forthcoming single, “Anybody”, is a rallying cry for those who feel themselves to be on the outside of society. Can you explain how your personal experiences fueled that song?
PK: I felt so outside of everything my entire life. I so badly wanted to be special in any way. To be accepted and feel like I belonged somewhere. I wanted to write a song to let people know that if they’re feeling like that, they’re not alone. That there are so many of us going through this with you, and you are loved. You found a family with us.
It’s also a song that weaves together many musical styles, is this a conscious creative approach or is it just the way that things evolve once you start writing?
PK: It’s really hard for me to stick to one genre. I like EVERYTHING and I want to shove EVERYTHING into every song. I think it’s a chaotic parade putting so many different styles together. I love figuring out what’s going to work and what’s going to sound good. What is the most we can get away with before it starts sounding horrible and goes off the rails?
If you weren’t making music, where do you think you would be and how would you be expressing yourself?
PK: My ‘run away from reality’ dream is to move to a small town and open a flower shop. Have a big, old farmhouse just outside of town. Make friends with all the little wildlife buddies. “Rose the flower shop owner”. I could have fun with that.
Given that the last year has seen musicians isolated from live performances and recording music in the traditional way, how have you coped and remained creative through these strange times?
PK: I definitely didn’t remain creative throughout the whole year. I had lots of depression and MONTHS of no productivity, like a lot of people. I don’t feel very creative when I’m sad. I wish I did! There were a LOT of nights on FaceTime with Chris, figuring out how to continue writing and getting things out. We got a system down finally, but it sure took a minute. We’re both very tactile people, and we love being face to face with whoever we’re working with. It was definitely an adjustment, but it was somewhat comforting to know we were all adjusting together and doing our best.
Is there anything that you have learned during the restrictions of the pandemic which has felt like a silver lining, either about yourself or perhaps something which has a bearing on the way you move forward with your music?
PK: I spent the year doing intense therapy and healing. That was HARD. But worth it. I feel more confident in what I’m doing, and much more clear on the message I’m putting out.
And finally, with live performances returning, what are you looking forward to most and what is next for Pollux King?
PK: I’m looking forward to playing shows, getting sweaty with everybody, and hugging every person in there for 2 hours straight. It’ll be so nice to be able to be with people and have that energy, instead of doing everything from home. Next up will be some fun surprises. I’m trying to see how many different genres I can get away with on one album. We’ll see.
Thank you very much for your time and good luck with everything in the future.
