“I’ve been very lucky with riffs in 2020 – maybe because I can’t go anywhere”: Kerry King
King reveals that he’s written “two records’ worth of music” while in lockdown.
Photo by Scott Dudelson / Getty Images
While Slayer may have officially ended their touring career back in 2019, a recent interview with Kerry King suggests that we might be hearing some new music from the guitarist in the near future.
According to his Q&A session with Dean Guitars, King has conjured up enough material for “more than two records,” while writing in lockdown. In fact, King believes that it may be because of isolation that he’s been able to write music more effectively.
“I’ve been very very lucky with riffs in 2020 – maybe because I can’t go anywhere,” King said when asked about his process for writing new riffs and solos.
Now sitting on a surplus of musical ideas, King expressed excitement at the prospect of curating records out of his best new material.
“Looking forward into the future, what that means for me is that I’ll be able to cherry pick the best stuff,” King said. “I’ve got more than two records’ worth of music, but to be able to go through that and pick the best 11 or 12? That first record should be smoking.”
Although King doesn’t know for sure who he’ll be performing his new material with, he did reveal that the next step in his music-making process would be to start attaching lyrics to his songs.
“I’m the only lyricist, because I’m the only one writing music. I’m not positive who everybody is that’s going to be playing with me. I’ve got to pick those songs and start trying to put lyrics on them to move the process forward.”
The full interview below:
King officially joined Dean’s artist roster back in October 2019. The first signature instrument to come out of the collaboration was the highly-exclusive Kerry King V Limited Edition electric guitar – which was priced at $8,666 and limited to just 50 pieces.
However, in an interview with Stay Metal Ray in December 2019, Dean Guitars CEO Evan Rubinson hinted at the possibility of more affordable versions of the model making it out to stores in the future.
“My idea is good, better and best,” said Rubinson. “So we have the USA, of course, it’s kind of on its own. We have the limited run that we’re starting with, but then we’re also going to have regular-production USA guitars.”
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