King Tuff | Interview with Lyndsey Parker (LPTV)

Hey there, this is Lindsey Parker at Licorice Pizza Records for LPTV. I'm here with the king himself, King

Hello. Hi.

How should I address you? Should I address you as Kyle, Mr. Tuff, Tuff King, King Tuff? What do you prefer?

Uh

Kyle Thomas is your real name. All of them.

All of them at once.

Well, I mean, you have an you deserve a title. You have an illustrious discography.

Tuffy, you can call me Tuffy.

Tuffy, okay. I will do that. So, so Tuffy,

Yeah.

you you deserve the title because you have an illustrious discography and your new album Mood is about to come out.

It's your sixth album and um I have been studying up on this and it seems like this is kind of a full circle thing. You're like maybe you weren't like super comfortable with how the last couple records were and you wanted to go back to your roots and uh I just would love for you to talk about. I think you even like recorded it on like old equipment from back in the day.

Yes. Um well, I I I I I do like the the last previous albums I've made, but uh the I was kind of, you know, experimenting with my sound a little bit and when it came time to playing those records live, it was hard to pull off cuz they had strings and pianos and stuff on them.

And when I'd be playing live, I would just kind of wanted to play the rock songs, my my earlier songs. So, I was like, you know, I'm just going to make an album that's fun to play live and it's kind of also just the music that comes most natural to me is just a a fun rock and roll kind of music. So, I just decided to lean into that and yeah, I went back to my uh Tascam 388, which is the tape machine I recorded on uh a lot of my early stuff on.

Your debut album from 2008 was recorded on that, right? Does it still I'm sorry, I don't not I don't know much about Did it still work like

Well, it didn't work for about a decade.

That's why I hadn't been using it, but I finally got it fixed and uh yeah, instantly I just uh kind of felt like myself again when I started working on it.

Is there something about that old equipment that like the newer stuff just can't Sometimes like older equipment is just better, it lasts longer. I mean though it broke for a minute. Like it just is more sturdy, if you know what I mean?

Yeah, I mean it's a pain in the ass to keep keep it working. Um but it just has a sound to it, whereas a recording on the computer, you have to work a little harder to make it sound cool cuz it's so clean and high-def that you have to kind of put effects and plugins on it to make it sound cooler. Um whereas the tape machine it just kind of comes You put something in and it comes back sounding cooler.

S-

So, what made you want to experiment on Small Town, Start Us In, the other I think those were the the fourth and fifth records where you say you know, you were doing strings and things like

Yeah. Um uh just, you know, boredom, really. I mean, you know, like I you you do something for a while and then you want to try something else. And uh you know, I have a lot of different musical influences and I think a lot of artists want to see how far they can take their sound or you know, really I just write songs and they come out the way they want to come out and they certain songs ask for certain things.

So.

Were those albums well received by your fans or were they like, "Hey, Tuffy, get back to your task, hey."

Some people definitely were like that, but a lot of people are like, "Those are my favorite albums." So, it's like you can't please everyone. So, you just have to make something that is exciting to you. So, I just try and make the songs that I want to hear. So.

Are there any other ways in which Moo is a full circle moment, like in terms of the lyrics, what you're writing about?

I mean, definitely it's full circle in that also moving back to Vermont. Um

and yeah, just the the spirit of it like falling back in love with a lot of the stuff I listened to as a teenager and in my early 20s. Um like 70s punk stuff and

Oh, tell me more about that.

Just uh I mean my early influences were you know like a lot of Modern Lovers and Television and Ramones, you know, that the classic stuff. And I hadn't really listened to that stuff for a while and then I I got back into it and uh I started dating someone and we were making each other mixtapes.

Aw.

And it's so fun. I was like, I forgot how fun this is.

So much better than the playlist. Here, I sent you a Spotify playlist. Not the same.

Yeah, you got to make all the artwork and everything.

That's very cute. Well, cassettes are back. I mean, they've been back for a minute. I've been kind of surprised that like I don't know if you release your stuff on cassette, but a lot of people I guess after the vinyl revival, people started to look for cassettes. CDs will probably be next.

I love CDs.

Are you into the cassette thing though other than the mixtapes? And what was on the mixtapes? I got to ask if it's not too personal.

Um that's a good question. I don't remember. But

Sure it was a great mix.

Yeah. Um I've made her quite a few at this point.

That's very sweet.

Yeah. Um But yeah, I think I I go into making albums like that too where I want it to be like a mixtape where every song is good and it's its own thing and it just kind of goes and you can listen to it over and over again. And that's what I like about cassettes too is like you know, they're like it's like a record where it has sides. I think that's the one thing that you know, streaming doesn't have. I'm into sides.

It was the sequencing for this Is that very important for you when you're doing Moo or any record the sequencing? How do you belabor that?

Definitely. I just I mean, I don't have any like real method to it, but I do think about it a lot and I it makes a difference.

Do you mentally in your head, even if it's not on vinyl or cassette yet, like do you have a side A? Like where is the side going to end? Where would you flip over the tape?

Yeah, I mean, usually I like to treat each side as an A side. So, like you could either put on either side and it would sound like the beginning of a record or sound exciting.

So, like the first song on side B should be like sounds sort of like a beginning again.

Very true. Very true. Otherwise, and you also have to end side A strong. Otherwise, back in the day if side if it was already feeling like the album was front-loaded and running out of gas, uh not your album, just me in general, like you might not be motivated to get up and flip it over.

Indeed.

Absolutely. Uh I'm sure we've all had I like your whole like both A sides kind of K-Tel compilation situation vibe you have because uh did you ever have experiences growing up where you bought a record because you liked one or two singles and then you get the album and you're just like, "Oh my god, those were the only those are the only two songs. The they this whole album was made just to sell those two songs."

Yeah, it's weird when a band just has like one song that's so good and then you're like, "What happened to the rest?

What happened here?" So, you know, I I want it to be like candy. I want every song to be like candy that I want to eat over and over again.

Did you write a lot of songs for this record or was it just like the songs you wrote are the ones that ended up on your

Pretty much. There's maybe a couple extra ones. Um but yeah, it all came pretty quickly and uh

More quickly than usual?

Way quicker. Yeah, and I think that was partially due to working on the tape machine. I work a lot faster on that cuz you kind of just have to make decisions and you can't labor over them. Um and yeah, I I had a clear vision. So I just was like

What was the vision?

Fun rock and roll.

I like it.

Good songs.

I like it. That's a that's a very clear vision. Keep it simple. You mentioned Vermont and returning to Vermont. I know you used to live in LA. I don't know how long you've been back in your home state of Vermont. You're in Burlington? Are you in Burlington?

Uh no, I'm I'm east of Burlington in the Northeast Kingdom as they say.

Which is suitable. Indeed. The kingdom of Tuff. Indeed. Is it named after you now?

No.

Well, we'll work on that. Get the like what do you call the the the tourism board, you know, to create a sign like King Tuff was here.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I've only been back a year. So give me some time to uh you know.

What made you go back? Cuz you were in LA for over a decade.

Yeah. Um I'd been thinking about going back ever since the pandemic really. I really started to miss nature and and the seasons, the extreme seasons. Um and

also the person I'm dating is also from Vermont. So the fires last year kind of put us over the edge and you know, it just felt like a good time to go back.

So how did Vermont inform this album? The reason I asked I thought you were from Burlington cuz I used to have a roommate who was from Bur- Burlington and he was total hippie and I don't know much about Burlington other than him and I know Ben and Jerry are from there and they make fabulous kind of I I guess I got the impression it was kind of a hippie town.

Yeah.

Maybe from him and Ben and Jerry.

Vermont in general.

Okay.

It's quite a hippie place. But it's got you know, it's got all kinds of people.

You should get your own ice cream like Jerry Cherry Garcia

I'm working on it.

King What would be in your like King Tuff King Taffy?

That's pretty good. That's pretty good.

Tuff. We got to make this happen.

Um Yeah, that's a good that's good. Working on it.

Tell me about like Vermont informing the move back to your home state and informing this record cuz there's a lot of like full circle starting over themes here.

Definitely a lot of the the lyrical content is I was kind of manifesting the move back, I think. There's a lot quite a few songs where I'm talking like East of Ordinary, Backroads, um Landline. I have to have a landline now.

I just got rid of my landline last week finally. Like the landline I've had for like 20 years. I'm like I do not need this and here you are.

Well, I actually do need it now.

You like somewhere remote?

Yeah, and my phone doesn't actually work most

Be nice though after being in LA for so long where it's like, you know, LA obviously has its pockets of serenity but it's a big city.

Yeah, it's I basically traded a social life for trees, you know? Um

Lyric actually.

I'm uh I'm fine with that, you know? I I kind of had gotten to the point in LA where it wasn't leaving my house too much anyway. So I was like I might as well be surrounded by trees if I'm in my house all the time.

So I wanted to talk about we're sort of talking about old equipment and going back to the past. So as one does as I was researching for you, I went to your website.

Okay.

thought I had stumbled upon the Space Jam Warner Brothers website if you know that or like a Geocities site. I mean this all I say this with love. I say it in the best possible way. Like I expected like flying toasters to be going by at any minute. It was like a total like early 90s internet animated gifts situation. I loved the aesthetic and I want to know what made you want to I assume you haven't had that website since like 1995. I assume this was a choice.

it's a new website.

Okay.

And uh yeah, I just I mean I I love the that aesthetic and you know, I think you can treat a website like an art project kind of. So I I a bunch of random stuff on there, like um

Grandpa's Complaint Corner.

ask you more about that, but go on.

Um and uh yeah, some of my photos and just artwork. I was really inspired by Wendy Carlos's website. Uh where she has a bunch of just random stuff on her website and it's

kind of like '90s aesthetic? You know the Space Jam site I'm talking about, right?

Uh

The movie Space Jam had a was one of like the first movies to ever have a website and it still exists, but they just never updated it and it looks like it looks like yours in the good way.

Yeah.

I'll have to check out Wendy Carlos's though.

Definitely.

So, your site is fun and like you said, it's kind of random and you have a section called Grandpa's Complaint Corner and you are a grandpa.

Yeah.

And I'd love to ask you about some of them if you don't mind. Not necessarily all of them, but I did write them all down.

I loved the fact that you wrote about uh well, you called it cursive voice, but also avocado baby boys.

Yeah, yeah.

Which is basically people singing like they're from Iceland or something when or I don't know, just like kind of doing weird vowel stuff. You can explain like why this is something that grandpa is complaining about in the corner. I agree with you.

It's just I mean, it's a style of singing that has seemingly just infiltrated every corner of music. And it's just I don't know. It's it's disgusting to me. I I cannot listen to it.

I mean, if that's how you naturally sing like if you're Bjork, that's fine.

Sure. But it's a different thing. I mean, you know, maybe I'm just old and I don't get it, but it's it makes me want to die.

I understand cuz I you I don't know. You probably do not watch American Idol, but in later in recent years, a lot of the singers, usually female singers like are doing that to and there was one woman who was singing an Amy Winehouse song this season and she was singing it in this kind of garbly way, which came naturally to Amy, but it seems so obvious and one of the judges stopped and said, "Is that your real voice?" And she's like, "Yeah." He goes, "Sing happy birthday." And then she sings it like a normal person. He's like, "That's your voice. What the hell?" So, yeah, it does feel affected a lot of the time and I'm not exactly sure where it came from, like where the origin is of avocado baby voice.

Which is what I call it.

Yeah, it's I just hope it ends soon.

Okay. Well, that was really one of the few uh actually well, the one of the other things you mentioned that you complained about that was music related was the idea of being perfect in the studio, which I guess sort of ties into all the things about the making of Mew. So, can you tell me why that was on your list of gripes?

Yeah, I think especially with rock music, it should not be perfect. Um

when and I think that's this also goes hand in hand with recording on computers is you can make things perfect and that just makes them boring. And it's similar with using autotune or something. It's like it kind of makes everyone sound the same. And for me it's like all about personality. Like I want to hear the personality in someone's voice even if they're singing out of key. Like that is what I am drawn to is just somebody's true personality. So, it's like it's just boring when it sounds like a a robot.

You're also not a fan of bright LED lights.

Is anybody?

I don't know.

I don't like overhead lighting.

Oh, yeah, none of that.

A lot of lamps.

All right, is this lighting here okay for you? Is it too bright?

this is fine, you know, it's for the the purpose.

Yeah. It'll it'll look great in post. I is I I hear you though. I hear you though. Like I hate to go to a convention center or an office building. I'm not

I'm trying to push this idea of a lamp-lit supermarket.

Ooh.

Can you imagine how relaxing that would be?

It would You would actually go to the grocery store to relax.

Yeah.

They just want you to get out though. I think when it's like bright lighting like that, they don't want you to relax. They want you to just get your groceries and leave.

Yeah.

Maybe.

I don't know. This This world could be a lot nicer. And we need more lamps.

Well, speaking of groceries and we also were talking about ice cream, I felt your pain cuz randomly in your grandpa's complaints you start talking about discontinued desserts. I don't have a discontinued Well, no, I do have a discontinued I'm really sad Zima doesn't exist. I really like I feel that way about Zima and I feel that way about several beauty products like lipsticks that got discontinued. But your thing that you're upset about is I don't know these. Good Humor Toasted Almond Bars and Friendly's Watermelon

Watermelon

Watermelon roll. So, these were like, I don't know, nostalgic desserts for you that were much like NYX glitter goals lipstick got discontinued for no reason.

I have to buy it on Poshmark now. But unfortunately, you can't really buy ice cream on Poshmark or eBay.

No.

So, why did you choose very This is a really specific complaint. You're not just like, oh, I hate chewing loudly. You did actually say that.

I do hate chewing loudly. Oh, yeah.

But these are specific complaints and I love the fact that while other I was fascinated cuz like you said, other artists websites are just like, here's my bio, here's my tour dates. And I was like deep diving into these like random sections of your dark web and I was into it.

Yeah. Um well, again, it's like I want to show people who I am. I want to share, you know, what I'm thinking about. And uh you know, that's that's what's interesting to me what to learn about other artists and stuff. Um But yeah, the desserts Friendly's, that's like an East Coast chain. Um incred- The watermelon roll, it was incredible. It was like watermelon sherbet. Not sherbert. Uh with chocolate chips in it. And then the rind was lemon lime sherbet.

That's I'm trying to imagine chocolate chips with watermelon and lemon.

It sounds weird, but it was incredible. And then they sort of it's sort of as exists they changed it into a different form and it it sucks now. And I'm just mad about it.

with your favorite brand of cheese as well. I really took time.

Yeah, yeah.

time I'm going to ask you about your complaints, but yeah, basically you had a brand of cheese that I've never heard of called seriously sharp cheddar cheese that no longer is seriously sharp.

Well, Cabot cheddar is actually close to where I live. Um and I am a lifelong devotee. I still I still love Cabot. Shout out Cabot.

You got to get a Cabot and a Friendly's endorsement and a petition to get these things happening again.

But they have this cheese called uh seriously sharp and I don't know what's going on, but it is not sharp anymore. And I I wrote to them I wrote to them I said, "What's going on here?" And you know, I got back a pretty like bland response. And

Well, much like the cheese.

They're just like, you know, every uh every batch is different. I'm like, "No. No, it's not. For for decades it was the same and it was sharp and it was good. And it's still good, but it's not sharp anymore."

Who do we have to escalate this to? We need to speak to the manager.

I might just have to go down there.

I mean, hopefully if you're watching this people from Cabot Cheese like get with the program. I feel your pain because I started a petition to bring Zima back. And like 900 people signed it, so I wasn't alone.

I mean, I was too young to try Zima.

Um

only young people I don't think it was like a a refined drink for, you know,

But I do remember I remember some kids sneaking it onto a field trip.

I mean, it was alcoholic 7 Up. I don't understand why anyone would not want that.

the bottles. Did the bottles have kind of a ridged glass?

Yep.

It's a nice bottle.

It would It People would make dumb jokes like it tastes like [ __ ] with a Z. I'm like, "No, it's not true." They just had bad marketing, but this is good marketing. We'll get these products at me again. But I don't want to make it all about your complaints. If you people want to see your other complaints, they should go to your website and check out Grandpa's Complaints Corner. You like a lot of things as well.

Oh, yeah. I love

down the things you like. It was also very random. You can just interject if you want to talk some of the things you like, besides of course playing music, drawing and painting, and other design work. You like driving the snow plow. I guess that's why you moved back to Vermont. Dogs, who doesn't like dogs? Bowling, the forest, again. Maple syrup, turtles, much like the YouTube kid, I like turtles.

Yes.

Making ice cream, okay.

So, you could just do it You could make your own watermelon. Eating ice cream, that makes sense. Root beer, and also pickling your own home-grown cucumbers.

Yeah.

You are a Renaissance man of Vermont, aren't you?

Yeah. Um I'm getting into some uh some some pickling. The first song I ever wrote was called Pickle Boy, so I got to live up to that song.

How old were you when you wrote that?

I think I was in fifth grade, maybe.

And so, it was probably a very literal song about how you like to pickles or was there some other meaning to that?

No, it was It was just my love of pickles.

You like the county fair blue ribbon pickle

I'm I'm I'm I'm still working on my recipe, but uh I might I might get into some of that.

I mean, you're into so many cool like we're talking a lot about food and we're talking about like I feel like I don't know if this is something you do, but like a lot of artists they have like, you know, Hanson have their own beer. It's called Mmmhops. This is That's true. Or like lots of artists have like wine or hot Al Skroob has like a hot sauce. Like

Yes.

Do you can think about going into that sort of

space?

Yeah, I'm sure not I'm sure not making money from music, so I got to start a pickle company.

Or or an ice cream company.

Yeah, probably both.

Is that one of the reasons you also left LA? I don't know if it's lot cheaper to live cuz it's gone crazy expensive like you.

cheaper in Vermont. My car insurance went like less than half.

And you probably have a house that either the rent or mortgage is like a fraction of what LA is.

yes, and the gas is half. It's like it's it's much more manageable.

Is it a better space to create because of all of those things?

Definitely, and there's no distractions. I'm not like I don't have to you know, when I lived here I was like I would wake up and be like I guess I better get out there and meet some people or do something and now I'm just like there's nothing going on.

But is that ever a concern that you need to be where the action is, networking or whatever?

Not you. You're a friendly guy. I feel like you could work a room pretty well.

can come I can come to the city when I need to, get it get my fix and uh then retreat back to uh the wood.

Well, since you're uh back here for a day or two, what when you come to LA what are the things that you miss or like oh well I'm in LA I got to go that restaurant or check out that

Pretty much just tacos.

There's pizza records obviously.

Yes, record stores. Tacos.

Mhm.

I mean Vermont it's got a lot going but it doesn't have uh great Mexican food.

I imagine that would be on Grandpa's complaint corner too, you complaining about the lack of Mexican food in many parts of the world.

Yeah, yeah. Um

Which What's your favorite taco place in LA?

I mean got to got to shout out Leo's.

Leo's in the Super Bowl.

Yes, I got very excited uh when I saw that, but that was close to where I used to live. Um I got a the my my OG that I I first loved when I first came to LA was Taco Zone.

Okay.

So uh the asada mulitas at Taco Zone.

That is that is one of the reasons I I love LA. I'm from here, but that would be one of the reasons it would be hard to leave. I go to other parts of the world or the country and they're like, "Oh, there's this great taco." I'm like, "No. It's not great."

Yeah.

I don't believe you. So So I hope you get to have some tacos. What else uh do you have going on? I know you have a lot of besides all your website and all your other diverse interests, what else are you doing besides getting ready to put out Moo?

Um I've just been doing a lot of artwork uh and making all the music videos.

Cool.

Um

Shoot them and direct them, you said?

Yeah. Yeah, for this record I've started doing that and it's it's been fun. And uh and just uh getting ready to go on tour for the record.

Do you do the artwork for your albums as well? Cover art?

Yep.

How does what the chicken or egg situation, which comes first, the artwork or the music or do you think about the artwork while you're making the music?

I'd say it's always different, but a lot of times one will kind of inform the other. Like I switch back and forth a lot. So if I'm in a songwriting mode, sometimes I'll get ideas for a painting and then I'll start painting and I'll think of songs. So it's it's it kind of goes back and forth that way. Our Renaissance man.

King of Vermont.

I do what I can.

Game tough. Uh you got you got your pickling. You got you got your hands in a lot of things. This is very cool. You know

You got to live. You only live once as they say. So you got to experience You got to experience all you can.

I think that's a lovely note to end the interview on. Thank you so much for coming to give your comments, complaints. Don't complain about Liquor Pizza on your website.

ever. Say good things. Put in your things I like such as

Okay.

I liked doing this interview. It was a lot of fun.

So much fun.

Thanks for coming by. Thanks for watching everybody.