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About six months ago, we at the Sound Faction were introduced to a band by the name of The Kings Royal. We were all pretty intrguied by them and started to listen to them on a regular basis. The old school sound comes through loud and clear and will hook you all from the first listen. We got the opportunity recently to have a phone conference with the lead singer of the band about the music, his inspirations and some advice for a new band that is just starting out.

"Song writing is what I love to do, I think thats my main contribution for the band."
- Benny Marchant

First off, Roll Call, for those who don't know tell us who you are and what you do for the band?

I'm Benny and I'm the singer and Rhythm Gutairist for The Kings Royal. And I'm also one of the song writers, and thats pretty much it.

How did The Kings Royal come about?

Originally, David Holman (our producer) and I were working together on writing the solo record, and for me, as we were in the studio, and how the music was turning out, we both decided it needed to be a band oriented thing. That it was really leading in that direction and we went from there. A few of the studio musicians who we were working with introduced us to some players who were great guys, which was Sean and Adam. They loved it, we didn't really have a try out. We just met and our personalities were amazing and we just started playing. We just clicked, they loved it and wanted to be a part of it.

Before you got into TKR, you were recording a solo album, how has your previous experience helped you when it came to this band?

I think because I spent most of my time before TKR in the actual studio, a lot. It really helped me. Song writing is what I love to do, I think thats my main contribution for the band. Three to five years in the studio, just writing and writing and trying to find myself, just really helped, and is really a wonderful thing because the studio was like my second home. Being able to work with Dave Holman was a whole other thing in itself.

As a band, or even as an individual, what is your creative process for creating new music?

I don't really know. I think it's the only thing that keeps me sane. It's like I'm venting and releasing energy and angst, and releasing stuff so I don't implode. Its really strange and I was finally able to understand that in Nashville, and so I finally was like okay this is what I've got to do with my life.

You kinda knew at that point that this was it for you?

Yeah, exactly.

How have your life experiences impacted your music?

Well it does impact it, at first I never thought it did. You get writers block every once in a while, and once you start getting new things.. and with life experiences with break ups and happy times, or anything like that you find yourself writing in that kind of feeling. How you're feeling in the moment, is the kind of style I'm going to write. When we're recording, I actually write a lot of angst music, I'm always trying to one up anything that we've written. I never really realized it but life experiences are really what drive me right now.

This being your first tour together as a band, how does it differ from your other experiences?

*laughs* Huge! I've never been a front man before, so that in itself is pretty extraordinary. Being with Candlebox has just been amazing. THe fans have been awesome, they have welcomed us tremendously. They've just been great, especially for a new band, not really knowing the material but really just dancing and enjoying and cheering and just having a great time. I can't name one place where they haven't welcomed us. As a first tour, I'm very thankful and very lucky.

It really helps to be able to focus on making the band better, when people just enjoy it.

Has anyone been singing along to your songs yet?

We have, there have been a couple, where we've had radio interviews and have had radio play. Some radio stations have been great with playing our stuff LIke in Atlanta. I got off the bus and people knew who I was, which was a weird experience, because i've never had that before.

Who are your biggest influences?

I'm going to say The Doors, THe Kinks and The Who.

Are there any that people are surprised by?

*laughs* That would have to be Third Eye Blind. I love their first record so much, I mean I grew up in that time, Pearl Jam and Sound garden, I grew up in the Grunge period, and TEB kinda broke me out of that grunge period. I mean I wouldn't listen to it in the car with my buddies but I would listen to it when I was alone.

If you were in charge of the music industry, what would be the first thing you would change?

I would change the points that they take away from Artists, so that the artists could make a lot more money.

We recently did an interview, where someone said they would kill the internet? What do you think about that?

I think the internet takes a lot away from the mystique and the mysteriousness of bands. One of the greatest things that Zeppelin had going for them, besides that they were one of the greatest rock bands ever, was the fact that people were scared of them, people thought they were into black magic. They were very mysterious. I think thats kinda gone. I mean we love doing interviews and we're going to keep doing it, but we do try to keep mysteriousness a little bit.

I mean you do have to hold some things back.

Yes. But, our main goal right now is to record in the simple ways they did back in the say.

I just have to say that my favorite song would have to be Beautiful Storm.

That is actually the first song that David and I finished writing together and finished recording. It was the first song I ever sang in his studio. THat song is the one i'm always going to remember, I was so nervous, I mean I had this guy who is so knowledgeable and staring at me like 'are you going to sing this right'.

Music has impacted so many people, how has it impacted you? I know you said you found yourself through music, has it had any other impact?

Well, yes I think before I got into music, before I started playing guitar or anything like that, music is what got me through everything. I mean the stages I went through of listening to music, like starting with Zepplin and like David Lee Roth, Skyscraper was one of my favorite records. And then moving through the heavy metal stage when I would listen to Slayer and Iron Maiden and all those bands, like Metal Church, then going through the hippie stage, then grunge. stage. Its just amazing, the way that i've grown and the way i've gone through life and with friends and everybody, but how music has always been that staple of whats been a part of our lifes.

It helps you basically grow and get through the stages of life.

Yeah, it changes the way you wake up in the morning, you can change the way you feel by just putting on a song. Thats what I love about it, and I just hope to do that, and I hope that I can do that for people some day. I hope my music impacts people some day, because it impacts us and the people in the band. We're very truthful and honest with our lyrics, and we love telling stories. We're always going to be striving for more and more because I think writing and song writing is like one of our favorite things to do as a band. I mean touring is amazing and everything, but we want to write that song.

Now you've been in the music industry for a while, what advice do you give to someone who is just starting their first album?

Surround yourself with people that you trust and love. Keep it very tight knit. Like with this tour, and with everyone i've surrounded myself with, like when I moved to LA I kept it very simple and I found some people who I wanted to work with. Cause I learned the hard way, where I have worked with people who were just there to take money from me, producers out there who didn't really care about what it sounded like. I mean when your putting your heart and soul into something and it gets ripped away, and nothing comes of it. My best bet is do your research, figure out who you want to work with and work your ass off to convince that person to work with you.

The Sound Faction is made up of six staff members who are random at best, love to laugh and make others laugh. We try to ask all of our interviewees five random questions at the end, so here goes.

If you were a scented candle what would you smell like?

I would smell like Chamomile. I'm very laid back and very relaxed.

Who would you wanna win a date with?

Oh, my girlfriend. I've found the one.

Your favorite five letter word?

Hold on let me look around. I like the word LIGHT.

If you could be the champion of anything, what would it be?

Alright i'm gonna brag here, i'm gonna be pompous, when I was in college I played lacrosse and we won the national championship. I've already been there and done that.

If you could be any rock god for a day, who would it be and how would you abuse that power?

Oh man, you know what, I would be Kevin Martin from Candlebox. I would abuse it by, oh man I don't know, he's such a good guy. I don't know if I would want to abuse power. But I would want to be Kevin Martin because my range would double, cause I sing in a baritone voice and to combine it with his range would be amazing.

Thanks again to Benny for talking with us, and if you want to check out The Kings Royal, check out their MySpace here.