King Of Hawaii

The Continental: How long have you been around?

Mark: As a four-piece band since June of 1996. Yet, Bart Bauer (Drummer) and I had been working with it since 1994-95.

The Continental: Where and when was your first show?

Mark: August 1st, 1996 at Bauhaus Books and Coffee (Seattle) playing for about 100 people.

The Continental: What are your favorite songs to perform live?

Mark: Hopscotch, Nino Del Cielo, Villa Vee, and a surf medley cover.

The Continental: Where is your favorite place to play in the NW?

Mark: The Tractor Tavern or The Crocodile Cafe.

The Continental: Do you do any covers?

Mark: The Surf Medley is made up of covers which include Pipeline into Paint it Black (by the Stones) into Detour. If we are playing a really long set we might slip Sleepwalk in. For the most part, it is all original material.

The Continental: What was the first song you came up with?

Mark: That would be Mohair the CD's opener. I wrote that in the summer of 1994. I didn't have a four-track so I would take two boom boxes and bounce tracks back and fourth. It was pretty crude but essentially it works and was a great learning tool.

The Continental: Describe your transition from a 2-piece to a 4-piece band.

Mark: Well, as I mentioned, I started out working on ideas with Bart. When I had enough material completed, I decided to release a CD. The problem was that all of the songs that I had written were for a four-piece band. I thought that it would be easier to play all of the parts on my own (minus the drums), release the CD and then get musicians. So, that is exactly what happened. While the record was being mastered (April 1996) we auditioned a lot of bass players and guitarists and really got lucky. We put Steve Davis on Bass and Steve Lerner on guitar. They have to be two of the greatest musicians I have ever known and two of my best friends.

The Continental: Will the new members be helping out with the songwriting duties?

Mark: The way that we work it is that anyone can bring a new song in and present it to the group. From there, we will work through the arrangements.

The Continental: What kind of gear do you all use?

Mark Klebeck: 62' Fender Jaguar reissue, 79' Stratocaster, Fender Dual Professional amp, wah-wah pedal, and two lexicon reverbs and delay.

Steve Lerner: Gretsch White Falcon, Gretsch Tennesseean (I think that is the name) a 58' fender custom shop Strat, and boss digital delay and a Fender Vibro-King amp. Occasionally plays a Crumar Toccata organ.

Steve Davis: Fender 1962 P-Bass reissue and a SWR Bass amp.

Bart Bauer: 1966 pearl drum kit.

The Continental: What groups are you all into?

Mark: The Smiths, The Gun Club, Gene Vincent, Martin Denny...B52's, The Shadows, The Aqua-velvets, Hoodoo Gurus, Laika and the Cosmonauts, Pepe Romero, ...not necessarily in that order and to name very few out of a "VERY" large selection.

The Continental: Tell me of any unusual occurrences you've had at your shows.

Mark: Fog machine prematurely "emitting" fog throughout a restaurant/bar an hour before our show; a stalker who stocked a go-go dancer of ours - we dubbed him the stalker; a drunk idiot who wouldn't shut up about how Brian Wilson was the biggest genius that ever lived (I nearly punched him); getting caught in a military coup while playing outside of Mexico City...just to name a few.

The Continental: What do you think of the instro scene in Seattle?

Mark: We think that it is great. The camaraderie among instro bands is pretty loyal which is nice because it is a small minority that is becoming huge. This helps to set up shows. A lot of people are just catching on and are really digging it.

The Continental: Where do you see the scene going in the next year or two, either in the NW or worldwide?

Mark: It will only get bigger and bigger. I mean look at the grunge thing. I would never compare our music to bands that helped put Seattle on the map but if you think about it, back in 1983 or later these bands were essentially the minorities in the so called "scene.' Eventually a lot of people caught on.

The Continental: What is your favorite Frank Sinatra song?

Mark: Strangers in the night. That Old Black Magic... Why???

The Continental: What is your favorite cocktail?

Mark: Old English 800. (40 oz)

The Continental: What's coming up for King of Hawaii? Any new releases?

Mark: We are currently writing and recording the second King of Hawaii CD due out hopefully by Christmas. This one is off to a great start.

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