Email interview with Mason Wilson, vocalist of Fit For A King. Get to know this up-and-coming band below. Don’t forget about the free download here.
First off, since you’ll be new to most of our readers, can you give a short back story of the band.
Well the band started in September of 2007 with 6 guys looking to have some fun playing music that glorifies our King, Jesus. Aaron and Jared E. are the only original members left. Aaron, our bass player now used to play guitar for the band, and we used to have a keyboardist, and the original guitarist, bassist, and vocalist are no longer in the band. After the bass player, Juno, left I (Mason) was asked to join the band as the new bassist. Eventually Aaron and I swapped positions and I became the guitarist and Aaron the bassist. Eventually I became the vocalist after Alex our original vocalist was out. So then Justin, our newest member and current guitarist joined the band, completing our six-piece line up. In the summer of 2009 the band took the next step and started to tour full time and take our ministry more serious. Our guitarist at the time Jared M. was still in high school and was not able to continue on because of school, as well as our keyboardist, Jed who was perusing college. Since then we have been a four piece band and have been touring/writing our butts off haha.
Who are the various members and what instruments do they play?
Mason Wilson-Vocals, Aaron Decur-Bass, Justin Hamra-Guitar, Jared Easterling-Drums/Vocals
What led you to pick the name Fit For A King?
Well at the time I, Mason was in a band with the guys right before FFAK began and we wanted to change the name so I was reading through the gospel of Luke one day and read this verse that said, “fit for the kingdom of God”. I thought it sounded cool that we needed to be Fit For A King, the king being Jesus. The guys liked it and when they started the new band they used the name.
Describe your overall sound.
I guess you would say it’s a cross breed of Metal with lots of ambience. More screaming than anything but also some singing. We like to think of it like it really heavy yet really pretty at the same time.
Who are your bands biggest influences musically?
Underoath, Impending Doom, The Receiving End of Sirens, For The Fallen Dreams, and Dredge. Lyrically I find inspiration and influence in worship music with bands like Hillsong United, Danyew, Phil Wickham, and Leeland.
You have released 2 EPs and 1 single to date, correct? Are they all still available and where can our readers get them?
Correct, we are actually about to put a new single up as well called “Messenger Messenger”. All of these songs can be purchased on iTunes, and our Awaken the Vesper EP can be purchased on our Big Cartel.
How was the overall response to your latest EP, Awaken The Vesper?
It was really good. We made a ton of new fans and a lot of doors were opened for us after we released it. We have sold over 3,000 copies independently to date
You also recently recorded new material. Where did you record? Was that your first time with that studio?
We went to Tonal Records. It is actually the studio that we recorded the self titled EP at. We highly recommend it to anyone looking to sick recordings.
Was “Messenger Messenger” one of the tracks recorded or was that done awhile ago?
We actually just went up there a few weeks ago and recorded it.
Are there any plans to release a new album soon?
We are hoping to release a full length as soon as we can!
Let’s move on to songwriting. Is there one member who writes the majority of the music or is it a group effort? How about the lyrics?
Justin and Jared write the majority of the music, they get a skeleton of a song and then the band gets together and we decide what we like and don’t like. Then we go from there and build off of it until we can all agree on a final product. Lyrically I write the majority of the lyrics, but Jared and Justin have wrote a good portion of lyrics as well.
It would appear that FFAK is a part-time gig for you guys, so what do you do other than the band? Would you go full-time if the opportunity presented itself?
We are actually a full time band haha. We are just on a break at the moment writing for a full length. We all just do odd jobs to try and make a little cash to survive on the road but other than that the band is all we do.
You guys are from Tyler, Texas. Is there a decent music scene there or do you find yourself traveling for shows?
There is actually a really awesome scene here. The kids are freakin amazing and its always the coolest place to play for us.
Have you been able to do much touring? Do you have any tours planned or in the works for 2010?
We have been touring since last summer. During that time we went out on 6 tours. It has truly been a dream come true! For right now we don’t have any tours planned, as we continue writing
If you could pick 3 current bands to tour with, who would make the list?
Underoath, Eveytime I Die, and out best buds A Bullet For Pretty Boy
Do you consider Fit For A King to be a ministry or just a band made up of Christians?
We are definitely a ministry. We have devoted our lives to serve our risen Savior so we use FFAK as an opportunity to spread the gospel of Christ.
What are some main goals you’d like to achieve with the band?
We really just want to seek God’s face and help further the Kingdom of Heaven. Everything else will fall into place if we put Him 1st.
Anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
We love you all! Come hangout at a show, we love making new friends
Don’t forget to check out the exclusive free download of Fit For A King’s song “Buried” right here on IVM!
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