Crowned King is a band on the rise. After releasing the album Break the Silence back in 2003 and supporting it with non-stop touring all over the world, the Vancouver based group are at a crossroads in their career. Buoyed by the international success of Break, Shaun and the boys are currently on hiatus from touring to record the new album, re-define their sound and re-establish their foothold in this trendy world of rock. Judging by the crowd response to their set at Warped, the new album can’t come out soon enough. I chatted with vocalist Shaun Frank right after the show at their band tent while the other guys signed pictures and T-shirts for the long line of fans waiting patiently for a souvenir from the last show they will play before they go off to record the new album. Here’s how it went…

Punktv.ca: Scott Fleck for Punktv.ca right here with…
Shaun Frank: Shaun from Crowned King.

PunkTV.ca: So killer show out there. How was the crowd response?
Shaun: Crowd response is always great in Calgary. Honestly it’s just like I told the crowd today. They probably think I say it every night but it’s both Calgary and Edmonton. Alberta is the rock n’ roll capital of Canada. It’s an amazing, amazing place to come and play music.

PunkTV.ca: And how are you finding Warped tour in general?
Shaun: I love it. We’ve been doing this for six years on and off. It’s a tiring schedule, it’s so hard. We’re up at seven in the morning after driving all night. It’s harder for the smaller bands like us. You know what though the payoff is really good, we meet so many cool people and the fans are great. It’s just a great event, a great community.

PunkTV.ca: What kind of a buzz does that give you when you are singing and you look into the crowd and they are all mouthing the words back to you like they have listened to the album a million times?
Shaun: It’s better than drugs, man. Crowned King is an interactive show. If you don’t get the kids involved with you and if they’re not one with you it’s boring. I watch a lot of bands that don’t even look at the crowd. No eye contact. They seem like they must be nervous or something. You gotta get right in there with them because the songs are theirs, not ours.

PunkTV.ca: Is the response indicative of the Warped tour in general or is it more a Calgary thing?
Shaun: No, we’ve been having an amazing time with every show. We’ve been doing this a while now and we’re blessed and lucky enough to have a lot of fans that come to the Warped tour and make it out to our stage to see us.

PunkTV.ca: So, what is the latest album called?
Shaun: The latest album actually came out two years ago and it’s called Break the Silence and we’ve been touring like crazy. We just got back from Japan, Indonesia, and Australia. We’ve been all over the world with this thing. We’re just in the studio now making a brand new record, it should be out in the New Year and we’re really excited about it, and then we’re going to hit the road again and go all over.

PunkTV.ca: What does the new material sound like? Is it in the same vein as the previous album or are there any musical departures?
Shaun: It’s a little bit of a new line-up for this record; we made a couple of member changes. We used to have a three-piece horn section and now we’ve only got one horn. The new stuff is way more rock ‘n roll, we’re listening to a lot more classic rock, and lately I have, and this is going to sound weird to the punk rock fans out there, but I have really gotten into great songwriters like Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and all the great songwriters and lyricists like Neil Young, and tried to take that and bring it back into rock ‘n roll. Those artists have such great lyrics and relatable songs, doing that on a rock ‘n roll level, on a heavier level is going to be magic.

PunkTV.ca: And how about the trombone there does that kick our ass or what?
Shaun: Yeah man, he’s loud and obnoxious for sure.

PunkTV.ca: Now is that from some Ska roots, or just adding another element to your sound?
Shaun: We started out in high school as a Ska band, but that was like eight years ago. We haven’t been a Ska band for five years; we’ve just been trying to do our own thing with the rock ‘n roll. Johnny our trombone player is one of my best friends, I’ve known him our whole life and on the new record he’s going to do a lot of singing and a little bit of trombone playing, and we’re probably going to have him play some other instruments. Crowned King is not about the trombone it’s about the songs, the trombone just kicks your ass when you come and see him, you know?

PunkTV.ca: Definitely. And so next stop on the tour is going to be?
Shaun: We’re done man! This is going to be the last show we play before we have the new record. We don’t want to play anymore for a while, we want to get the new record out and just do this all again.

PunkTV.ca: So when are you hitting the studio and when do you anticipate the new record?
Shaun: In August we get together with producer Gavin Brown, he did the Billy Talent record, and he’s doing our new record. We are signing a new record deal with Boom Boom, so we are going to get in there and hopefully it’s out by Christmas.

PunkTV.ca: One last question, what do you think our readers would find most surprising about you or the other members of the band?
Shaun: Geez that’s a tough question! Your killing me here…well, two weeks ago I was on a stage in front of 70,000 people in Bali. People probably don’t expect that from us, but over in Asia we’ve been having this crazy response. We go to Indonesia and we open for these insane bands.

PunkTV.ca: And how do you get hooked up like that? Good manager, good label?
Shaun: Well I’m the manager. When we were in Australia this label from Indonesia just asked us to come over and play in Indonesia, the album came out there and it was just like fuckin’ wildfire.

PunkTV.ca: So D.I.Y. all the way?
Shaun: Well no, this sounds kind of cocky but we’re kind of big stars in Indonesia. It’s so weird. It’s the weirdest shit man we never expected it.

PunkTV.ca: Just goes to show you can never predict what’s going to happen. Probably the last thing you thought out of all the countries out there…
Shaun: It was probably the last country I expected to go to in my entire life, and now I can’t even walk down the street there.

PunkTV.ca: What are the other bands on this tour here that you really love?
Shaun: The Living End is the best band on the tour. They are my fucking favorites. They are amazing, amazing, amazing. I just married an Australian and they are from Australia, so I love it.

PunkTV.ca: Where do you see yourself personally and where do you see your band in five years? Ten years?
Shaun: I want to own a house, a studio, and I want to be touring 12 months out of the year. Well, maybe 8. I want to be playing to as many people as possible, and I think it’s going to happen. The next record is going to be a hit I think.

PunkTV.ca: You’re never leaving music you’re addicted.
Shaun: I’m addicted.

PunkTV.ca: thanks man.
Shaun: Thanks dude. Peace.

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