Drums and Guitar Played by One Person Simultaneously in Queens & Kings New Single “Earthquake”
Unlike the singles we’ve seen previously from Toronto-based rock duo Queens & Kings, where Alissa plays drums, and Brendan plays guitar (although they sometimes swap), Brendan tackles both instruments at the same time in the duo’s latest release, “Earthquake.” This is the way it is played live and the way it was recorded. Being a very DIY type of band, the duo is always looking for ways to accomplish what they need to with just two people, and this song was no exception. Alissa wanted to do a song where she could sing up front without playing anything, so the pair quickly devised this solution.
Alissa expands:
“I loop multiple instruments and vocals in my other project, and Brendan is a professional photographer, videographer, and web designer. So we are both used to wearing many hats, musically or otherwise. And we are both also used to problem-solving and finding solutions and ways to do things with limited people or resources, so we concocted this plan, and it actually came together quite quickly! You’d never guess both instruments were being played by one person by listening to it. It’s always fun to play and still gets a great response when we do it live! And there is much more where this came from! We are so happy to finally be sharing the studio version!”
The music video for the song drops in exactly one week, on May 5th, and was filmed in two abandoned locations, one of which has since been demolished.
If you haven’t had a chance to see this song performed live (or even if you have!), you should definitely catch the single release party that will be held on May 6th at Bovine Sex Club in Toronto, featuring performances by Neon Bloom, Gaijin Smash and Second Wife. You can grab advanced tickets at the link below!
Listen to “Earthquake” below and learn more about Queens & Kings via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
We are Alissa and Brendan from the Toronto-based rock duo Queens & Kings! We’re known for our high-energy, dynamic, and in-your-face stage shows.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
Our latest release, “Earthquake,” is a special one for us. Normally, I (Alissa) play drums in the band, and Brendan plays guitar (although we occasionally swap instruments), but in this song, Brendan plays BOTH guitar and drums AT ONCE! But you’d never know it. It fully sounds like two or more people playing it. I wanted a song where I could just go up and sing and go wild and not play anything so we devised this plan. We are definitely two people who always try to find solutions and ways to do things with limited people and resources. It’s a rock song that is basically about standing up for yourself and standing your ground. We have a music video coming out for the song on May 5th, where you can see how Brendan plays it. It was filmed in two abandoned locations, one of which has since been demolished and we are so excited to finally share it!!! This will be the last single we release before dropping the full album. That is coming soon!
Where do you tend to pull inspiration from when writing?
For this project, the two of us generally get our inspiration just from rehearsals or jamming. One of us will start playing something, and the other will join in, and it just sparks inspiration and creativity, and we see where it takes us. We’ll get excited and pull out our phones and start recording audio clips and just keep building from there. We probably have hundreds of song ideas on our phones. Enough material for many albums to come!
Do you have any upcoming shows you’d like to tell us about?
Yes!!! We have our single / video release party coming up at the Bovine Sex Club on May 6th, the day after the music video comes out! We are really excited to celebrate this release and have a killer lineup with our friends Neon Bloom, Gaijin Smash, and Second Wife! This is a big one for us, and all are invited!
We also have some single-release tour dates coming up after that, Nickel Brook Brewing Co. in Burlington on May 12, The Red Papaya in Guelph on May 20, NXNE at The Bovine on June 16th, and Doors Pub in Hamilton on June 23rd to name a few.
What’s your goal for 2023?
We are very focused on finishing the last details of our album and getting it ready for release. We just did our photo shoot in Brendan’s mother’s 200-year-old house (it actually has a heritage plaque on the front) for the album art and are putting that together now! Brendan is a professional photographer, so we just did the shoot ourselves and are in the editing stage. We plan on putting that out and then doing some touring. This has been a long time coming, so we are excited for what’s to come!