BY MIKE METTLER – SEPTEMBER 21, 2018

You can’t keep a good band down — just ask Kingdom Come. To refresh your memory (and/or create new ones), this internationally flavored hard-rocking German/American metal band initially made instant impact on the music scene with their self-titled March 1988 debut, with key tracks like “Get It On,” “What Love Can Be,” and “Living Out of Touch” finding rabid audiences on both sides of the Pond.

Kingdom Come continued to make their mark by taking part in the infamous Summer 1988 Monsters of Rock tour that found them rubbing shoulders, guitars, and many raised fists and longhorns with the likes of Van Halen, Scorpions, Metallica, and Dokken. The band’s momentum carried onward with 1989’s quite appropriately titled In Your Face and ball-busting tracks like “Do You Like It” and “Who Do You Love.”

Yet, as it often happens, lineup changes ensued in the intervening years, with founding German powerhouse vocalist Lenny Wolf often being the man who led Kingdom Come’s charge well into the new millennium. But now, the majority of the band’s original core-era lineup featuring guitarist Danny Stag, guitarist Rick Steier, bassist Johnny B. (“JB”) Frank, and drummer James Kottak — albeit sans Wolf, who has nonetheless given his official blessing to this collective — have reunited for Kingdom Come’s 2018-19 30th anniversary tour. Taking over the vocal slot is the quite capable and quite impressive Keith St. John (Lynch Mob, Ronnie Montrose), who told me, “I’m really, really proud to be a part of what we’re doing. It’s gonna be a good tour. We’re working up what I think is a pretty beefy show.”

Kingdom Come’s month-long tour kicks off on September 27 in Seattle, and you can see a list of all the current dates on the band’s official site, www.KingdomComeBand.com. If all goes well, says Stag (a fellow Pittsburgh native, BTW), more dates will be forthcoming. “Well, I’m always confident, you know? That’s definitely the plan.”

The SoundBard got on the horn late one evening last week with both Stag and St. John to discuss the band’s recorded legacy, the music that influenced them the most, and what we can expect from the KC setlists ahead. After hearing
their natural chemistry firsthand — or rather, first ear — there’s one thing I can absolutely tell you for sure:
Kingdom Come’s will shall be done.

Mike Mettler: First off, I have to say this: Welcome back! Danny, what’s your current perspective on Kingdom Come’s 30-year recording legacy?

Danny Stag: Well, I would have to say I think the first album [1988’s Kingdom Come] sounds better to me now than it did then. It’s actually aged like a fine wine, or something. (chuckles) It’s gotten better over time. It doesn’t sound super-dated at all.

What we did was we put more of an emphasis on the actual music and musicianship. It wasn’t just about “the show.” It wasn’t about lighting ourselves on fire and jumping around onstage. You could listen to the record and not need to “see” anything to have a great experience, you know? That’s what I think our legacy is — it’s in the depth of the musicianship on both records [i.e., Kingdom Come and 1989’s In Your Face].

Mettler: I would say in working with producers like Bob Rock on the first one and Keith Olsen on the second one, you had two top-shelf producers who both knew how to get the best out of you guys in the studio, and then get it onto the records.

Stag: That’s true. That’s right, yes.

Mettler: Do you still have that ’62 Strat you used on those albums?

Stag: I do not!

Mettler: Oh man, that’s a bummer. . .

Stag: It is a bummer! (both laugh) Who knows — maybe somebody will have mercy on me and bring it back. Sometimes, though, there’s too much emphasis put on a particular guitar. I think it’s more about the player. I’ve been through those periods where I felt I needed to have this guitar or that guitar, but I’ve had this said to me many times: “It doesn’t matter what guitar you play — you’re still you.” It’s in your fingers, right? That means you can do what you do on any guitar. Some of the best stuff that’s ever been recorded has been recorded on cheap stuff, you know?

Mettler: That’s true. And it’s funny you said that about fingers, as I had that in my notes here about you. To me, one of the best examples of that is the song “Brothers,” the last track on The Vaughan Brothers album [released in September 1990], where Jimmie and Stevie Ray trade the same guitar back and forth between them, and you can instantly tell which guy is playing which riff — and that’s all down to what their fingers are doing in the moment.

Stag: That’s cool. That’s exactly it.

Mettler: What Strat are you playing now?

Stag: I have a Strat that has a mahogany wood body, a neck from a pawnshop guitar, and some pickups that I put in it. It’s sort of like a FrankenStrat. It’s really light — super-light — and I really like it. I was going for the same sound as a ’62, and I think I nailed it.

Mettler: Can’t wait to hear you pull that out live. You were talking about songs aging like fine wine. What songs in the set sound just as good, or even better today, than they did 30 years ago?

Stag: Well, I’ve always loved “What Love Can Be.”

Mettler: I really like the deep blues roots that are embedded into your playing on that one.

Stag: Thank you. When we did the Monsters of Rock Cruise a couple of years ago [in 2016], I had tears streaming down my face when I played that song! (chuckles) I just love that song.

Mettler: I also happen to be a fan of “Stargazer” [the final track on In Your Face]. If that one could get into the live set, that would be great.

Stag: Oh really? Cool. Well, you may be pleasantly surprised.

Mettler: Yeah? That’s good to hear. I also have to say, I really like that we have a nice, fat speaker cone on the cover of In Your Face.

Stag: That’s great! It’s just iconic, you know? It’s the perfect image for that idea. You know — it’s In Your Face, right with that speaker.

Mettler: What’s the brand of that speaker, do you know?

Stag: Oh, I think it was probably a Celestion. I wouldn’t be surprised.

Mettler: That’s what it looks like to me, so I think you may be right. Now I have a question for both of you. What’s the very first record each of you guys bought when you were growing up, one that you still consider to be important to you today?

Stag: Uh oh, I’m going to date myself! (chuckles) You go ahead, Keith!

Keith St. John: Me? Oh, umm, well, I kinda “stole” a few things from my parents for when I played music in the basement when we lived back East. I’d go through my dad’s records in the living room, I’d find something that looked semi-cool on the cover, and then I’d go downstairs and play it. But the first thing I bought on my own, believe it or not, was a KISS record, [November 1976’s] Rock and Roll Over. (chuckles)

Mettler: That’s not such a bad start!

St. John: The cover was awesome. And I was playing drums at the time, so I’d put on “Calling Dr. Love,” and I just went nuts. Some of the other stuff I got from upstairs would have been The Beatles and all kinds of Stones records my dad had, and a little bit of Hendrix; all the typical stuff.

Stag: In my house, the first record that my aunt bought for my brother and me, as we had to share it — and this is going to date me, because I’m 114 years old (all laugh) — was Meet The Beatles [released Stateside in January 1964]. We also had Introducing. . . The Beatles, on Vee-Jay Records [also released in January 1964].

But the first record that really, really blew my mind — and the one that made me into a guitar player forever — was Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced [released in May 1967]. I still listen to that stuff today. If I need a little jumpstart to my heart, I’ll put that on, and I’ll just remember what I’m doing here.

That music actually took me to a place. I would lay between the speakers, with the left speaker on one side and the right speaker on the other side with my head on the pillow, and I’d listen to it loud. It would take 45 minutes to play, and you’d literally be transported somewhere, to some realm. It was unbelievable.

Mettler: I agree. [October 1968’s] Electric Ladyland was the Hendrix album most like that for me, especially when I would listen to it with the headphones on. Keith, a lot of the songs that will appear in the Kingdom Come set are clearly in your wheelhouse as a singer, wouldn’t you agree?

St. John: Oh yeah, man; I’m really excited. Obviously, whenever you change around any bandmembers in a band, you’re going to be coming out with a whole other vibe, but you have to honor the songs and what they were written for. But at the same time, you’ve gotta transform a little bit into, hopefully, a bigger vibe. So whatever our “thing” is, hopefully it’ll be a win-win for everybody.

We’re working up what I think is a pretty beefy show. And the original rhythm section [i.e., JB and Kottak] is unstoppable. Hearing these guys playing these songs again — just them hitting one note — it was so good, it’s like, “Why even rehearse?” (all laugh) I think it’s gonna be (slight pause) . . . unexpectedly amazing. I think it’s fair to say that.

Mettler: How long of a set are we talking here?

St. John: Contractually, it’s a different length at different places, and we’ve got one or two opening gigs. We’ll see how it goes. We’re definitely gonna give the people what they want, I think.

Stag: It’ll be a minimum of 45 [minutes], and a maximum of about 90.

Mettler: I’m more for the 90-minute set length, because I’m greedy. I want to hear everything. (chuckles)

Stag: Yeah! Me too!

Mettler: Keith, are there any early favorites for you in the set so far?

St. John: There have been some really cool ones. I was late getting to a rehearsal the other day, and when I dropped in on the guys, they were actually working on a song that I had been pushing for, because I had heard it on the second record [In Your Face] — a song called “Perfect ‘O’.” I hadn’t seen it on the setlist at first, and I love the guitar riffs and the rhythm section in that one. I think it kicks ass. It really kicks the set’s vibe up too, so I’m really digging that song.

And obviously, there are certain songs everyone knows we’ll be doing, and those songs are a blast for anybody to play or sing. The songs are really well-written, and they feel great to sing.

Stag: It’s all rock & roll, man!

St. John: It is, and it feels just as great as playing my favorite Bad Company or Stones songs. The most popular songs we have to play are great, and the ballad is a really great one for singers, so it’s gonna be a lot of fun every night. And I’m glad to hear from Danny that “What Love Can Be” is one of his faves too.

Stag: Oh yeah, it always has been!

St. John: We’ll all just get together and weep up there.

Mettler: There won’t be a dry eye in the house, and there’ll be a lot of “Blood on the Land” too, so to speak. (all chuckle)

[The SoundBard notes: That cited title is a reference to a deep cut on 1991’s Hands of Time album.]

Mettler: After this first round of touring ends in October, will you do more shows?

Stag: That’s definitely the plan, yeah.

St. John: Like everything you do in art, it’s a work in progress. As for the going-forward plan, we’ll see how it goes. But, I am gonna say it looks like we’re gonna pass “Go” and collect 200 dollars. (all chuckle) I feel pretty good about how things are shaping up. How about you, Danny? How are you feeling about it?

Stag: Well, I’m always confident, you know? I know we’re going to kick some ass, but I’m thinking more along the lines like — Keith, you’re the youngest guy in the band and we’ve only got so many orbits left around the sun before we move on, so I want to do as much as possible between now and the time when, you know, I get my new body made out of light. (all laugh)

Mettler: I think you guys need to make a new record of your own. Finally, any thoughts to having the original, first three Polydor catalog albums reissued on vinyl [i.e., 1988’s Kingdom Come, 1989’s In Your Face, and 1991’s Hands of Time]?

Stag: That’s all owned by Universal, I believe, and hopefully with us out there touring, interest will be rekindled in doing that. Kingdom Come did do a lot of vinyl in those early days. We did picture discs, color vinyl with red ones and white ones — we had lots of fun with vinyl. But there are no plans for anything like that, either reissues or new recordings, happening — yet.

Mettler: Well, I vote for both things happening, but that’s just me.

Stag: We’ll have to see what happens. Put a plug in for us! (laughs) We’re not ruling anything out.