Fresno Famous

Sometimes, you get lucky and get to be, like, a real music writer. 

Like, maybe you get an email from Bekah, who does promotions for Sub Pop records and she says that King Tuff is coming to town (Nov. 30 in Visalia and Dec. 11 in Fresno) and that she hopes you can help with some coverage. So, she sends over some press clips and a download of the new album and, "Hey would you like to set up an interview?" She doesn't know you've been talking with the promoter about the show for weeks and, "Uhm, of course!"

And then, a week later you're on the phone with Kyle Thomas (the King himself) and you don't know what to expect because everything you've seen and read about him makes him seem like some kind of wild, off-the-wall rock-and-roll star (but not in a pretentious way) and the only question you can think to lead off with isn't really a question at all: 

So, ah, tell me about King Tuff.

"I could tell you about as much as you can tell me," he says. 

You give an awkward laugh.  

What you were able to gather from the interview: 

• Thomas likes Slurpees, especially the elusive root beer Slurpee. If someone could find and bring him one, they would be richly rewarded.
• He's not trying to do anything with the band other than capture songs, though he doesn't know where the songs come from.
• King Tuff is influenced by all music, ever made. When pushed on the issue, Thomas concedes his main influence is rock-and-roll (or that's his answer most often anyway), but not the genre of music. "It's a lifestyle," he says.
• Dead Phish would be a great name for a Grateful Dead/Phish tribute band. You agree. If such a tribute band exists/existed, Thomas would love to see them. 
• Magic Jake plays bass at King Tuff shows and seeing that you will either be turned on or extremely turned on. This makes you both laugh.
• Not everyone from Los Angeles (where Thomas stays, though he's originally from Vermont) is "Hollywood" and the area is having a bit of a renaissance in terms of cool, inspired rock-and-roll bands. If you know where to look. "Underneath the bullshit, there is always the interesting shit."
• King Tuff is for sure some interesting shit.