Local rock trio gathers a killer lineup for album release party at The Casbah
By Logan Broyles | SDUN Reporter
After a brief battle over naming rights, the band formerly known as the Bunny Gang has returned to release a full-length album under the new moniker Boy King.
Boy King consists of Adam Eidson on drums, Dustin Lothspeich on guitar and Megan Liscomb lending her pipes for lead vocals.
All three have deep roots in the local music scene and have played in multiple bands: Lothspeich with Old Tiger, Liscomb in Owl Eyes, and Eidson was a member in Of Sons and Ghosts.
The group has been slowly gaining recognition in the year-plus since they got together, including San Diego Music Awards nominations for last year’s Best New Artist and this year’s Best Hard Rock Album categories.
“Definitely some of the big influences are Led Zeppelin [and] the Yeah Yeah Yeahs,” Liscomb said of their popular sound. “We have sort of a Blues foundation but we’re also a little bit of hard rock, and it’s heavier but it’s also a little bit experimental.”
Their simple setup works because each member has a defined roll that allows them to bring out the best in each other. Liscomb goes for broke with her singing, while Eidson’s drumming provides a foundation for Lothspeich’s heavy and experimental guitar riffs. Lothspeich mixes and matches the tracks, while Liscomb writes the lyrics for them.
The trio’s willingness to experiment and take this trial-and-error approach to music has helped Boy King establish their own unique identity, and gives their new album “Master” a lot of promise.
“The new album is interesting to me because I feel like each song is really different from one another,” Liscomb said. “The tone and lyrical content tie them all together, but everything else is us experimenting and trying different things. At its core, it’s good rock.”
The trio has a busy month in front of them. To kick off the release of “Master,” the band is hosting a CD release party at The Casbah on Saturday, Aug. 17.
“We’ve been together for a little more than a year now, and our first album was really minimal,” Liscomb said. “This new one that we’re releasing on the 17th is a lot more complicated. There’s more dynamics going on; we’ve added a lot more to our sound.”
Playing on the card with Boy King that night will be The Burning of Rome, Hills Like Elephants and Gloomsday, all local music-scene names in their own right. It was important for the Boy King to hold their release party at The Casbah, a center of the local music world. Liscomb said the venue will be the perfect location for the band’s big night.
“The Casbah is great. They always put a good bill together and they have a great stage, the crowd’s always awesome and so are the people that work there. It’s just a great venue all around,” Liscomb said. “Since it’s one of our favorite venues we just asked them if we could, and they let us.
“The other bands on the bill are ones we’ve either played with around town or wanted to, or they’re our friends, so it’s going to be a really fun show.”
Boy King will also be playing at The Whistle Stop Bar in South Park on Sept. 13 as part of the sixth annual San Diego Music Thing. This year’s San Diego Music Awards will be held at Humphreys by the Bay on Oct. 9.
“We’re not really looking that far down the road, we’re just kind of enjoying each step as we get to it,” Lipscomb said. “I think a lot of bands want to be the next big thing, and get really disappointed if they’re not and become bitter people. We feel its better to live in the moment so that’s what we try to do.”
The “Master” release party on Aug. 17 is 21 and older, with doors opening at 8:30 p.m. The Casbah is located at 2501 Kettner Blvd. Tickets are $8 and can be purchased at casbahmusic.com.
