The Diva Kings
Sacramento, California, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | SELF
Music
Press
Rock:
-Blue Oaks, www.blueoaks.bandcamp.com
-The Diva Kings, www.facebook.com/thedivakings
-Drive-Thru Mystics, www.facebook.com/DriveThruMystics
-I'm Dirty Too, www.facebook.com/imdirtytoo
-The Kelps, www.facebook.com/thekelpsmusic
-Lite Brite, www.litebriteband.com
-MindFlowers, www.facebook.com/mindflowersband
-Odame, http://odamesucks.com
-The Three Way, www.facebook.com/thethreeway
-Walking Spanish, www.facebook.com/walkingspanish - Sacramento News & Review
Sacramento State welcomed The Diva Kings and their embellishing rock rhythm to the Redwood Room inside the University Union Wednesday October 30.
The show was presented by UNIQUE Programs as part of the ongoing Wednesday Nooner series. Students handed out free popcorn to guests during the hour long free show.
Officially together for three years as a band, Christopher Twomey (vocals/guitar), Lucas Thompson (drums), Nathan Bisig (guitar) and Daniel Rau (vocals/guitar) have all been playing individually longer than some people have had a license to drive.
Overall the Diva Kings sound like an all-American band whose influences come through in waves of blues, rock, country and more than anything, the singer-songwriter appeal with a pleasant band feel.
When asked about the origin of their double headed name, the band lets out little blurts of laughter.
“So there’s a temple in Japan and it’s protected by the Diva Kings and we have nothing to do with that,” Rau said. “We like the ridiculousness and irony within the name; you have the masculine, the feminine, the ying and the yang, plus we’re just goofballs and we think it’s funny.”
The name begins to make sense on the bimodal side of things, as the band transitions between Rau and Twomey on lead vocals.
Twomey says he likes to sing and harmonize, which they both execute well, but are distinguished by the styles in their voices.
“That’s one of our strengths and possibly one of our weaknesses,” Twomey said. “We have two different souls singing these songs; we just try to have as much fun on stage as we can and hopefully that cuts across all the ‘meh I don’t like his songs.’”
Chances are if you don’t like one song, you’re going to like the song that follows. There’s an honest balance that gets overridden by the lyrics in the songs which are friendly, upbeat and a nice dose of romantic.
“A lot of our stuff has a romantic quality, but romance doesn’t necessarily have to be physical romance,” Rau said. “It’s more of an emotion and conviction behind the songs and lyrics.”
Like many good artists The Diva Kings want to connect with the audience every opportunity they can. It’s something they keep in mind when putting together set lists right before shows and when they tell the stories in their lyrics.
Much the same as their two of a kind vocal leads, Rau and Twomey share the duty of writing lyrics on their “Squeeze Me Sober” album that was released last year.
“Thankfully I haven’t written anything that they haven’t liked yet,” Rau said with a laugh. “He (Twomey) has a lot more songs under his belt and I just had a bunch that needed to get out, so it allowed me to get a lot of songs on there, but it’s a pretty good fifty-fifty mix.”
The album’s title is contemplated from a lyric in a song and the fact that some of the members drink a lot, according to the band.
“It has this innocence to it, I guess, but it’s also asking for help,” Twomey said.
“Go to bed tipsy and wake up fresh, the way of the world,” Rau carried on. “It’s a romantic way of saying let’s go have some cocktails and take me to bed or lose me forever.”
They’re currently in the process of writing their second album, which includes two songs they played at the Nooner, one of which features Rau singing in Spanish during an intro borrowed from the movie “Desperado.”
“The muses are still working through us,” Rau said.
As they’ve all grown up in the Sacramento region the band tends to play many shows in the area.
Twomey, Thompson and Bisig are in fact current students of Sacramento State. While Rau is now an alum, he is very eager to point out that David Toise in the English Department was his favorite professor.
The Diva Kings have a show Friday, November 8 at the Boxing Donkey in Roseville.
They will also have a show in Sacramento at Marilyn’s on K Street November 29, the day after Thanksgiving.
For more information and links to purchase or listen to The Diva Kings visit their page here.
- KSSU news
The Diva Kings song "The Honey and The Bee" was featured on warpedmag.com. Check out the interview with the band. - warpedmag.com
Daniel, Christopher and Nathan sit down with the guys from Sactown's Local Lics for a podcast interview. Mother Nature wasn't cooperating with our decision to hold it outdoors, so we apologize for the sound issues. - Sactown's Local Lics
Discography
"Squeeze Me Sober" - The Diva KIngs 2012
Tracks:
1. Cloudbreak
2. Thanks for the Ride
3. Gnutella
4. Numbered Day - Airplay on Jango.com Internet radio
5. Strangers - Airplay on Jango.com internet radio
6. Toe Truck
7. Take It Out On Me
8. Interlude
9. Blackjack - Air Play on v103 Rock - Sacramento, CA
10. We All Fall Down
11. The Honey and The Bee - Featured in Warped
Magazine Fall 2012
- Airplay on Jango.com
12. Pascagoula
Photos
Bio
The Diva Kings were formed around dual Sacramento singer/songwriters Christopher Twomey and Daniel Rau. Stemming from a previous project, 2Me, Christopher Twomey and guitarist Nathan Bisig had been performing together for nearly a decade across the United States. Rau would occasionally join the band on stage and appeared on 2Mes final 2 albums. The Diva Kings were created as a platform for Rau to unleash his songwriting and vocal abilities on the world, while serving as a vessel for Twomey to continue his legacy. Drummer Lucas Thompson, already a long time friend of the guys, was recruited by the band, which kept everything in the musical family created by 2Me and Thompsons other band, Out of Place, in the early 2000s.
The music has been best described as Americana/Rock because it has a country rock feel without the twangy vocals, but still possesses the intimacy of a singer/songwriter. Subtle, country/blues guitar licks, creative chord arrangements, driving beats, and 3-part vocal harmonies all help to create The Diva Kings sound. They have been compared to artists like Van Morrison, Ben Harper, Wilco, Jim Croce, John Mayer, and Paul Simon.
The versatility in the music gives The Diva Kings the ability to rock a crowded venue or serenade a concert hall. The band likes to focus on their original music, but they are also armed with a large arsenal of cover songs to surprise the crowd with. They often have surprise guest musicians join them on stage in the cities they visit, creating some memorable improv jam sessions for the crowd and the musicians. The Diva Kings are an act you definitely do not want to miss!
Band Members
Links
