ELLE KING
Continued from page 20 ty for me to really dig deep within . I ’ ve gotten so accustomed to my schedules on a tour that that routine , that cycle and pattern have become my comfort zone . And now I ’ m like , “ Hey — what do I DO ?” So I ’ ve been writing a ton of music , I ’ ve been painting , and I ’ ve been writing poetry . This really opened up my creativity — it ’ s been a very teaching experience .
IE : What was the turning point , when fear morphed into inspiration ? EK : Well , I was kind of getting a little wrapped up in the fear , and I was letting the fear of the unknown consume me . And I grew up with the Christian faith , so part of me was like , “ Oh , my gosh — is this the end of the world ?” Because at the end of the day , Mother Nature will take over and will bring change upon us . So I just reached a point where I thought , “ I can ’ t let this consume me anymore .” So I started changing certain routines in my life , and moving my body more and trying to exercise my brain . And it ’ s been really great — I actually feel really good . Now I meditate . I do yoga . I box . And boxing is genuinely the most amazing thing , because it ’ s such an incredible release of energy , of emotions , frustration , anger , and it ’ s a very loving thing that you can do for yourself . And there ’ s something to be said about when you strengthen your body , and you know that you ’ re doing something good for yourself . So how can you not feel good about that ? This is an introspective time , a time of solitude and isolation , and everyone has a different opportunity to push themselves . So I didn ’ t want all this fear to consume me , so , like I told my nieces and my nephew , “ I ’ m also going to push myself and try to better myself , so that when this eventually grinds to a halt and we become a world again , I want to be really ready to re-enter that .”
IE : Have you got a thwappity-thwappity speed bag at home ? EK : I do ! Yes , I do . And I get very , very loud , and my neighbors are very close to me , so they can all definitely hear me boxing .
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IE : In your new photos , you look like you ’ ve lost a lot of weight . EK : Thank you . But those are good angles . But I really have been trying hard to — - well , not even lose weight , but about two years ago , I went through a really heavy depression , and sugar is a heavy addiction of mine , along with many other things . So I was trying to fill this hole that I had in me , and I felt really unhealthy and I felt like I struggled to sing , and I just didn ’ t feel good in my body . So I wanted to get myself free of that , and now I just feel so much better , you know ? So it ’ s not about numbers on a scale or anything — it ’ s just about how you feel .
IE : And you ’ d already battled the drug and booze demons while you were making your last album , Shake the Spirit ( 2018 ). EK : 100 %. And that was a period of my life where I called her ‘ She ,’ and she is a part of my past , but she ’ s no longer someone that I have to carry around with me . I honor her , and I respect her , and I recently listened to a bunch of songs off Spirit , and I just felt like … like I loved her — she was really trying . But I just feel so separate from her now . And I don ’ t usually talk about myself in third person very often , so I do think it ’ s strange . But it ’ s just something I feel . And when I listen to her , I hear the pain that she was trying to get through . So I wish I could go back and give her a hug and tell her that everything that she did got me to where I am . So that was a huge transition in my life , and it didn ’ t happen overnight . And my process of writing records is really very cathartic for me , and it changes — it ’ s an ebb and flow , and I can ’ t really control it . And that ’ s where my problem has been — when I ’ ve tried to control what my outlet has been and what my thoughts were . When you ’ re trying to control that , the truth doesn ’ t ever really come out , because you ’ re not actually listening — you ’ re just letting your ego get in the way of everything . But Oh , my gosh — if the teenage me could hear the way that I ’ m talking now ? But I ’ m in my thirties now . Thank God I ’ m out of my twenties .
IE : What else have you learned about yourself recently ? EK : I ’ ve learned a lot . And I think that the biggest thing that I ’ ve learned is that I don ’ t know anything . And I think that ’ s the most beautiful place to start .
IE : It ’ s almost like you created this wild decadent monster in early anthems like “ Ex ’ s and Oh ’ s ” and “ America ’ s Sweetheart ,” with a reputation you felt like you had to maintain . LK Well , here ’ s the good news . I will always be fucking crazy . That will always be a part of my music . I just no longer need all the drugs to stay up , which I didn ’ t realize back then . So I still am an insomniac , and I still will play music and hyper-focus for hours and hours on end . But I ’ m , uhh , just a little more clearheaded now . continued from page 28
not getting much in this alternative-facts era . RN : Yeah , and that was one of the reasons . People ask us , “ Are you guys political ?” And we ’ ll do the song , but I said , “ Let ’ s use John Lennon ’ s lyrics — let him take the brunt of this , rather than us saying what we really thought .” I met the Orange Man years ago . I did The Joan Rivers Show with my son Miles , and Ozzy Osbourne and his kids were on , and Miles was 14 or something like that . And went to New York , and Joan put us up at the plaza . And I walked in there — and I ’ d stayed there before with Cheap trick — and here ’ s Trump and Marla Maples , and they turned around and looked at me , and he gave me that same kind of look that Mr . Bishel gave me , that dirty fucking look , like from the gym coach that you hated . And I thought , “ What ? My money ’ s not good here ? How dare you !” So I had met him years before . And later , I was the editor and publisher of Cracked magazine — I was the editor and publisher for two issues . I liked it because it was Mad magazine ’ s cheap sister . But one of the artists was actually FROM Rockford , and they had gone bust , so he was trying to sell it . And I loved the content , so I bought it , and I had Trump on the cover of one , and I was on the cover of the other , playing my five-neck . And somebody in New York liked what I had done with my two issues , and they bought it back from me for ten times what I paid for it . But then they ran it back into the ground . And I had no idea what I was doing , of course . But I just liked the content , the cartoons — it was like guy art , with the girl that ’ s over-endowed . They were just stupid , they weren ’ t mean and nasty , and it wasn ’ t like Hustler magazine or anything . It was just PC-incorrect art . But I ’ ve been PC-incorrect my whole life . So I hated ( Trump ) back then , and I couldn ’ t believe what ’ s been going on lately . So I thought choosing “ Gimme Some Truth ” was right , because how do you express yourself without every other person — because half the country , right — hating you ? And I ’ m in a band , so half the people hate me anyhow . So things have gotten so far from the truth . And during his first election , I said that day , “ We ’ re doomed .” It was just awful stuff . And as we traveled around , Everybody in Europe just laughed at us , like , “ You ’ ve gotta be kidding ! How did you get THIS guy ?” He was hated way more around the world than he was here .
IE : Everyone wants to save the planet . But the planet will be just fine once we ’ re off of it . And that teetering-on-the-brink-ofextinction theme seems to be all over this record , on everything from “ The Party ” to “ Another World ” and “ Another World , Reprise ,” to “ So It Goes ” and “ Final Days .” RN : In a way , yeah . But we make it , so it ’ s kind of fun . Like fiddling while Rome burns — hey , one person ’ s having a good time ! But if you think about our first album , it was like , “ Here ’ s Cheap Trick . But are they a rock band ? They ’ ve got this song ‘ Mandocello ,’ and that ’ s too nice for this !’ I got in trouble with “ Taxman ” — the only people that really listened to the lyrics were the people at the I . R . S . because I got audited every year for about five years .
They didn ’ t like that song . So we have happy stuff . But I had to change “ The Ballad of Richard Speck ” to “ The Ballad of T . V . Violence ” because we were worried that the family of Richard Speck was gonna sue us . So I was just trying to tell the truth about that . So telling the truth is a dangerous thing sometimes .
IE : Given that , “ I ’ ll See You Again ” sounds like a graveside farewell . RN : Well , it kind of was . Julian Raymond — his wife ’ s brother died , and he was a big Cheap Trick fan . So we just put together a song for him , not knowing it was gonna be on an album . We did it so they could have it , Julian ’ s family . And “ Final Days ” was kind of a blues song that we were doing , but at the end , we have Jimmy Hall playing harmonica on it . So it ’ s a blues song without being a blues song . Like I said — with Cheap Trick , we ’ ve never tried to be something that we weren ’ t . And we ’ re not a blues band . But we know how to play the blues in our own way .
IE : You always swore that you respected only two punk bands — The Sex Pistols and The Clash . So how did you track down Steve Jones for this record ? RN : Well , we ’ ve known him because we were fans of the Pistols , and I like the way he plays guitar — he ’ s such a good rhythm player , and I ’ m a rhythm player , too . And I ’ m self-taught , so I don ’ t know what the chords are , and I ’ ve never really practiced , like , “ Here ’ s my solo !” I don ’ t know how to play a solo — if I were really good , maybe I would . But I ’ ve never really worked at that — I ’ ve worked at writing songs . And we had done Jonesy ’ s Jukebox , and we played some Sex Pistols songs . And I think he liked the fact that we knew what we were doing . And at another point , we were The Who for Roger Daltrey because we knew all the Who songs . So we ’ re not session guys , but we fit in with a lot of that kind of stuff because we play with attitude . So with Steve Jones , we did that , and then we came back another time to do his show ; it was Robin and myself , and we said we were gonna be doing “ Gimme Some Truth .” I brought a guitar , and he had a guitar there , so we played it live , and he had that same kind of sloppy feel like we had . So we said , “ Do you wanna play on the record ?” And he was like , “ Yeah !” He jumped at it . So we sent the track to him , and he played on it . And it ’ s not like some virtuoso part — it was the feeling that he had that we enjoyed , and he liked us enough to say yes .
IE : The songs just keep coming , though . It ’ s pretty amazing . RN : I agree with you . And I ’ ve said this , too — I don ’ t think we ’ ve ever progressed . And that ’ s a good thing . I still like my Yardbirds . I still like The Who . On one hand , I wish I would have practiced guitar . But then , I don ’ t know … I got invited to play with Hall and Oates . I got invited to play with John Lennon . And they wanted me for me — they didn ’ t want me like a Steve Lukather or Joe Bonamassa . They liked the feel that I have , so that ’ s why I got hired for these things . So I ’ m proud of what I did , but I ’ m also proud that I got thrown out of band . I wish I could have done it a better way , so my parents weren ’ t so humiliated . But that ’ s the way it was — I told the truth . CHEAP TRICK