You’ve seen them on North Penn’s Morning Show, and now, I got them to put down their instruments long enough to get the inside story. Read on to find out about King Cold–their inspirations, goals for the future, and love of Mumford & Sons.

Why don’t you go around and introduce yourselves.

AB: We shouldn’t be playing guitar while we do this, right?

We can do that later.

BK: I mean, that can be one of the things at the beginning, like “oh, while they were talking, Pat was strumming his guitar.”

GH: Or you can just hurry up.

Or you can just say your name and what you do in the band.

BK: Or I can say I am Ben Kloss and I play the guitar.

PF: Patrick Farrell, I sing and also play guitar

AB: Alex Bauer, spelled B-A-U-E-R. Percussion.

GH: And I’m Grayson Holladay and I play bass.

Cool, so how did the band get started?

PF: Well, that leaves it to me and ‘Big G’ over here.

AB: That’s Grayson.

PF: Yeah, me and Grayson, met up. Met in gym class.

GH: Swimming.

PF: Excuse me. And this guy was a bass player and I was a guitar player seeking to start a band. And we just thought, why not? Went over his house one day and saw that he had a fully band capable basement. Drum set, PA, and what not. The reckoning day was when I showed you ‘The Trooper’ on bass, right?

BK: ‘The Trooper’ being an Iron Maiden song.

And how long ago was this?

GH: Tenth grade. And I knew Alex from a previous band I was in and we heard that Madtown broke up and we recruited Ben Kloss…

BK: And in the wake of classic rock band Madtown…

You guys are ruining my questions. The next one was have any of you been involved with any other bands before King Cold.

AB: We actually performed in a proficient manner. It seems like we practiced that. Two birds, one stone.

PF: Benji right here was also in a band.

Benji? Do you prefer Benji?

BK: I prefer Ben.

GH: He prefers Ben-Jammin’

BK: Ben Kolossus.

GH: It’s Ben-Jammin’ Kolossus.

Oh. Ben-Jammin’ Kolossus Okay. I just want to make sure I get it right.

PF: Aliases.

BK: Klenn Boss. Ben Kilometers.

PF: No one calls him that.

BK: They do call me that.

AB: I’ve never heard.

GH: What was the question?

How would you describe your sound?

GH: Beautiful.

BK: Various.

AB: Good.

PF: Well, the style we emote changes with each our songs.

GH: You should say our acoustic shows–we sound very mellow and melodic. And during our rock shows–we’re very straightforward rock.

BK: You should say our sound is a conglomeration of all our various influences.

Who are your influences?

GH: I am very inspired by Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And Victor Wooten–he’s a solo bass player.

AB: Dave Grohl. Dave Grohl, especially because I started off playing guitar, and I was like, eh, no thanks, so I switched over to drums, and Dave Grohl was the drummer for Nirvana, and did an excellent job with that. And now, he’s the front man for Foo Fighters on guitar and vocals–I just think he’s a phenomenal musician all around.

PF: I’ll range from early swing, like jazz inspirations, like late-50s Miles Davis stuff, Death Cab for Cutie, Band of Horses, Coheed and Cambria, most definitely. I’ll vary, like many of us–folk to jazz to fusion to alternative to whatever–whatever sounds good.

BK: Three of my influences: Radiohead, Bob Dylan, and Jeff Beck, the guitarist, who I find very intriguing.

We’ve heard about your musical inspirations, where do you get your lyrical inspiration?

PF: Well, for my lyrics, people that have come into my life and left an impact–bad or good–and whatever reaction that stirs out of me. Or whatever goes on in my life–bad or good. It’s not so much me controlling music; it’s more the music controlling me, and getting portrayed on the instrument. It’s whatever comes out first.

BK: I get lyrical inspiration from everything. It flows through me…like a river of music…. I don’t know.

Should we skip this question?

BK: No, I’m going to try to give a real answer.

GH: You had your chance.

If you can handle it…

BK: I can. I don’t know if anyone else in this room can handle it.

It’s that deep?

BK: Yes, it’s that deep.

It’s not a river. It’s an ocean now.

BK: Okay, next question.

Okay, who writes the songs?

GH: Well, Pat and Ben write songs, but everyone in the band writes their respective part.

PF: It’s a team effort. We add constructive criticism so we can have the best possible song.

GH: What starts as a song written by Ben will eventually become a song written by King Cold.

So, what’s more important: the music or the lyrics?

PF: Music is the poetry. It’s more sonorous. Music with lyrics, you can take it any direction.

AB: I feel they are both equal. They are the yin and the yang. The lyrics are the eyes and the music is the brain. If the brain has no way of seeing something, there’s no way it will work. But if there’s no way to process the sight, the eyes are useless.

That was a lot deeper than I thought this was going to get. I thought maybe some bickering… instead we have that.

AB: I would say I’m right.

BK: I’m going to take a more definitive stance. I say music is more important. There. Someone had to.

PF: Do we call ourselves musicians or poets? Or both.

AB: Or confused.

PF: Or both.

BK: I mean honestly, most of the time I can’t understand the lyrics. I just like the music.

Besides being in this band, are you involved in any other musical endeavors?

GH: I am in band, chorus, and Chamber Singers this year.

AB: Wind Ensemble, chorus, Chamber Singers, indoor drum line, outdoor Marching Band.

PF: Chamber Singers, with Big G and Alex. Trying out for Jazz Band again this year. I’m in CMT–Comprehensive Music Tech, AP Music Theory, you know, just all the must classes you can take. I go to jazz gigs around Philly, jazz jams. Anything.

BK: Chorus, Music Theory, trying out for Jazz Band, as well.

PF: Oh, it’s on.

BK: Okay.

Did I hear correctly that you’re doing Career Study with music?

BK: Yeah, I’m doing Gifted Mentorship. I get to play guitar–my mentorship is with my guitar teacher.

Obviously, you’re all pretty busy with stuff outside the band then, but what are some of your goals for the band? Whether they are long term, short term.

PF: Superstardom.

BK: Number one single.

GH: I just want to play shows.

AB: Yeah, I’m with Big G. As much as I’d like to rub it in Katy Perry’s face… Play more shows.

PF:  I think that’s what we are all about… expressing ourselves musically.

BK: If we could ever have the possibility of going on tour, that would be really cool.

PF: But right now, we’re just kids enjoying being in a band.

Have you done any shows besides appearing on the Morning Show–which is what most North Penn students are most familiar with?

BK: We’ve done some YMCA shows, Saxby’s, Virago on Main Street.

PF: Some random church. A graduation party.

Are you available for Sweet Sixteen’s’ and Graduation parties?

GH: Absolutely. If you find us on Facebook, you can find my phone number and the band email. Just hit us up.

BK: Any gig, we will take it.

How are you preparing for these shows?

GH: The string section is currently practicing every day for an hour, at least, at my house. And we meet up with Alex as often as possible. Eventually, we will probably be practicing three times a week for a couple of hours.

PF: That is our main goal for practice time. Getting as much time playing together, as possible.

So you’re playing some local shows. How do you feel about the local music scene? Or today’s music industry, in general?

GH: I think music today is too much image. They get a pretty-looking guy and turn him into a superstar. I could be Justin Bieber in my basement on the computer; I just don’t have the looks.

AB: With a local music scene, I mean, there’s always going to be a local music scene.

GH: You can find somewhere to play, but the enthusiasm is dying out.

BK: There aren’t specific music venues around here.

PF: You have to alter and change to adapt to [the music industry changing.]

GH: I don’t know if I can make a living playing bass, I just do it for fun.

PF: Exactly. It’s not about the money.

GH: When I think of the future–playing bass–I don’t think of being a millionaire in a mansion, I just want to play shows. The dream is to just be in front of people playing music.

PF: The question isn’t where do we see ourselves playing in venues, it’s where do we see ourselves playing in general. Are we just going to do it, or are we going to do it in front of a million people. I don’t care.

AB: It’s going to be the same music either way. Whether we have a thousand people listening or five, the music is going to be the same. We are going to have a message. And if they listen, or if they come in numbers, I’m still playing.

 So you said it’s not about the money, it’s not about the number of fans, as long as someone’s there. But tell me, what’s the ideal day for King Cold?

GH: Lots of concerts in front of lots of people.

BK: A different concert on every continent.

PF: Like Mumford & Sons. They played 300 shows in one year. That is amazing.

AB: Mumford & Sons, you should definitely add that to our biggest inspirations.

All: Yeah, yeah. They’re awesome.

AB: They don’t just have one percussionist, which is something I can respect. The lead singer plays guitar, sings, and has a bass drum with a pedal and a mounted tambourine.

PF: The innovation, it’s incredible. That’s another thing about being a musician, being innovative. That’s how you make good music.

BK: That’s the exciting part–no matter how many times you play the same progression over and over, there’s still new ways to tweak it, innovate it, make it exciting for a new audience.

Back to innovation, are you planning on recording an album?

PF: We have been looking into recording. We just need to sit down and figure out exactly what we want to do.

With that, what can people expect from your setlist if they come to a show?

BK: We are trying to stray away from cover songs. More originals. If people come to hear us, they’re going to hear King Cold. If they want to hear Foo Fighters, they can listen to their iPod.

Why should someone come out to a King Cold show?

BK: It’s fun and electric.

PF: What’s not fun about going out to see a local band play? Good music.

GH: We work really hard to make sure people enjoy our shows. We don’t just go out there and strum some chords, scream into a microphone.

BK: We practice so much. We are prepared when we play.

PF: This is what we want to do. Come out to our next show.