It’s been over a decade since Jason Thomas Gordon, singer/drummer of the LA rock band, Kingsize, climbed to the roof of the iconic Tower Records on Sunset Blvd, and unfurled two 17-foot banners from both sides of the building. An urgent message from the band now facing the city streets:

SAVE YOUR RECORD STORES!

Since that fateful day, even more record stores have been forced to close their doors. But guitarist/bass player Cary Beare, alongside his lifelong friend JTG, are just as romantic and deviant as they’ve ever been. And that theme defines the sound of their new album El Secundo.

Kingsize have always combined ramshackle rock ‘n’ roll, with a mixture and post-punk and new wave. But with their last two EP’s leaning more atmospheric, the band laid out strict rules for their return to rock:

No song could be over three minutes and change.

The record had to speak directly to the times.

And it had to kick more ass than anything they’ve ever done. 

The duo released The Good Fight EP in 2008, their debut album All These Machines in 2012, along with a string of brother/sister EPs over the years. They’ve landed the theme song to the CBS sitcom Gary Unmarried, as well as placements in the video game Rockband 3, TV shows like Shameless on Showtime, and films such as Freelancers with Robert DeNiro and 50 Cent.

And on Sept. 5th, Permuted Press/Simon and Schuster will be releasing The Singers Talk. A groundbreaking collection of interviews that JTG conducted with over 70 of the greatest singers of our time, discussing the one thing they’re never asked about: their voices.

The book features conversations with: Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, Mavis Staples, Stevie Nicks, Roger Daltrey, Brittany Howard, Thom Yorke, Chrissie Hynde, Nick Cave, Lionel Richie, Chuck D, Michael Stipe, Karen O, Perry Farrell, Brian Johnson, John Lydon, Patty Griffin, and Robert Smith, to name a few.

All the writer’s royalties will benefit the kids and families at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which was founded by Jason’s grandfather, Danny Thomas in 1962. After his passing, Jason created Music Gives to St. Jude Kids, which reaches out to the music industry to join the hospital’s life-saving mission.

“The Singers Talk is a direct result of our beginnings as a band,” explains Jason. “The music scene here sucked,” states Cary. His trademark long hair, making him look like part 70’s rock god, part Tolkien character. “I was ready to hang up my dreams and move back to the mountains in Idaho.”

But Beare made the mistake of getting together and making some music with JTG before he actually left. The songs they wrote convinced Cary that the dream was far from over. “Jason immediately wanted to form a band with him on drums, me on guitar. But I loved how his voice sounded with the stuff we were writing, so I said, ‘I’ll only do this if you sing your own lyrics.’”

JTG spent the next week sick to his stomach. “It really felt like a life-or-death decision for me,” recalls Jason, “I was serious about forming a band but not as the singer! But I wanted to be in a band with Cary, so I sold out on day one.” After realizing there was no resource to find out how singers do their brutal job night after night, “I said, ‘I’m getting some answers, man.’” And The Singers Talk was born.

After seven years in the making, the book is now ready for release, along with El Secundo. The album’s title isn’t just a nod to the fact that it’s their 2nd full-length album, or that the band was conceived by the duo. Their mysterious and cinematic album cover shows two worlds that look just like ours, staring back at one another, which seems more like a hint about the state of the nation right now.

“Yeah, it definitely feels like we’re on two different planets,” adds JTG, “El Secundo sounds like we’re singing to both of them. With a black eye and a bloody lip.” So, spit it out and ring the bell…

Because it’s round two for Kingsize.