Kings Kaleidoscope

Kings Kaleidoscope
Background information
Origin	Seattle, Washington
Genres	Alternative rock chamber pop[1] indie rock[2] Christian pop
Years active	2011 (2011)–present
Labels	Tooth & Nail, BEC, Rainbow Records
Members	Chadwick "Chad" Gardner Daniel Steele Zach Boyd John McNeill JJ Kim Beserat Tafesse
Past members	John Platter Zack Walkingstick Zawadi Morrow Blake Strickland Jared Buck Nadia Essenpreis Lindsay Gardner Julianne Smith Andrew Nyte Mark Palfreeman
Website	kingskaleidoscope.com

Kings Kaleidoscope is an American rock band based in Seattle, fronted by Chadwick "Chad" Gardner. Their music features an eclectic range of electronic, woodwind, string and brass instruments, with a musical style described as indie rock meets hip hop production with a sprinkle of Disney. Kings Kaleidoscope has recorded four EPs and six LPs, as well as a series of live studio sessions.

Background

Based out of Seattle, Washington, Kings Kaleidoscope formed in 2010 at a Mars Hill Church plant on the campus of the University of Washington, where Gardner was a worship leader.^[3] Drawing on a variety of influences from math rock and hip-hop, to the dense sound of Canadian indie outfit Broken Social Scene, they recorded their first live EP, Sin, at a Good Friday service in 2011.^{[citation needed]} A year later, they released the studio EP, Asaph's Arrows, followed by a Christmas EP, Joy Has Dawned.

In late 2013, Gardner and the band announced they were leaving Mars Hill,^[4] where they had served as worship leaders and artists on the church's label. Their fourth EP, 2014's Live in Color, was released by BadChristian Music. Working with BadChristian Music and well-established indie label Tooth & Nail Records, they released their debut LP, Becoming Who We Are, on October 27, 2014. Their second studio album Beyond Control was released June 24, 2016, and was the band's most commercially successful release to date.^{[citation needed]}

On August 17, 2017, the band released a mixtape, The Beauty Between, that includes several collaborations with hip-hop artists and producers, including Propaganda, Andy Mineo, Beautiful Eulogy, Derek Minor, Beleaf and DSTL. Their third studio album, Zeal, was released on April 5, 2019.

After taking a touring hiatus due to the 2020 COVID-19 worldwide pandemic, and in response to the increasing politicization of the American church during the election year, they dropped the three-song "Power Perfect" EP on October 30th, 2020, which contains the rousing "W.D.Y.K.A.G?" featuring frequent collaborator Propaganda, a call to "Burn Babylon Down", referring to the co-opting of the government world systems or "Babylons" that sometimes influence the church more than Jesus does, and will be destroyed at His second coming (Revelation 18:21).

More than two years later, Kings announced that they were working on their fourth studio album "Baptized Imagination", a work that they crafted and edited while on tour throughout 2022, finally culminating in a November 2022 release. The following year they released their fifth studio and first self-titled album "Kings Kaleidoscope", also drawing from the 2022 tour creation process.

Band members

Kings Kaleidoscope is a project led by Chadwick "Chad" Gardner with a large rotating cast of collaborators. During the band's early years as a worship band, the band featured local college students and church volunteers, some of whom included Mark Palfreeman, Beth Vander Pol, and Eric Shoubridge, who all contributed to the Asaph's Arrows EP.

By Becoming What We Are, the band solidified into an 'original' line up of Gardner and 9 core members - Andrew Nyte, John Platter, Zach Walkingstick, Nadia Ifland Essenpreis, Lindsay Gardner, Julianne Smith, Zawadi Morrow, Blake Strickland and Jared Buck.^[5]

After The Beauty Between, the band underwent a major transition, as most of the original band members - many of whom never originally intended to be professional musicians - needed to exit touring and full-time membership due to family and time commitments. A new core lineup was formed in 2019 with Daniel Steele, Zach Boyd, John McNeill, JJ Kim and Beserat Tafesse.^[6]

Beyond these members, Brian Eichelberger and Zach Bolen of Citizens have extensive writing and performance credits on Kings Kaleidoscope songs. Eichelberger mixes most Kings Kaleidoscope releases and performs violin live occasionally. Maxwell Gaver of OLY has contributed to multiple albums from Zeal onward and performed with the band, including on all three Live from Kamp Kaleidoscope albums. Jess Alldredge has toured with the band multiple times and appears on multiple albums, and Ryan Ponten and Lauren McShane have credits on multiple projects as well. Family members of the band are often heard on recordings. The door also remains open for old members to return; Platter and Morrow have returned often.^[7]

Other significant collaborators include Matthew Warren, who often directs visuals for the band, Propaganda, and Andy Mineo.

Current members

• Chadwick "Chad" Gardner - vocals, guitar, keyboards, production, tambourine
• Daniel Steele - drums, synth, programming, vocals
• Zach Boyd - guitar, cello, sampling, mullet, vocals
• Beserat Tafesse - trombone, trumpet, euphonium, vocals
• John McNeill - bass, synth, vocals
• JJ Kim - guitar, bass, keys, vocals

Part-time and touring members

• John Platter (drums, percussion, cello)
• Andrew Nyte (drums)
• Zack Walkingstick (bass)
• Nadia Ifland Essenpreis (keys, violin)
• Lindsay Gardner (cello, keys)
• Julianne Smith (violin, accordion)
• Zawadi Morrow (piano, flute, violin)
• Blake Strickland (trombone)
• Jared Buck (guitar)
• Maxwell Gaver (keys, production)
• Brian Eichelberger (violin, mixing)
• Jess Alldredge (violin, drums)
• Drew Crystal (drums)
• Ethan Bieg (merch, melodica)

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

Extended plays

Live recordings

Notes

References

This page was last edited on 20 February 2024, at 17:49