Daily Inspiration: Meet Zaire King

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zaire King.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I did not choose music, music chose me. I never intended to be a musician and as a child, could never see that being something I would pursue and end up loving so much. My stepdad bought me a right handed blue guitar that probably collected dust for 2 years until suddenly I got the urge to play it after reading a “Who Was” book about Bob Marley (and trying to find an outlet as a shy, quiet kid). I picked it up and took a liking to it, despite me playing it backwards because I’m left handed. My journey is always surprising and truly a blessing from God due to how quickly I was able to latch onto music (especially jazz) and improve. By 16 I was releasing my first album, “The Expressionist” and making my mark as a freshman at California School of the Arts SGV. A year or so later I came out with my sophomore album “The Sire” and performing at Temecula Wine and Jazz festival with the great Michael Paulo. As time went by, my catalog grew (I now have 4 under my name) and my performance experience. Now, through hard work and really trusting on God, I attend USC for jazz studies.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I think what’s been the hardest thing for me (and still is something I work on) is understanding and accepting that my music is “unconventional”. There’s been moments where I would feel really disheartened and unmotivated to create or write music because there was a voice in my head that said people wouldn’t listen to it or like it simply because it was so weird and all over the place. But to be honest, I’ve been starting to notice that people actually want to hear things they’ve never heard before or hear familiar concepts and styles but spun in a different way. I think the music scene and just the world in general could benefit from more singular, unique voices. And there are definitely some, people such as Louis Cole, Mk. gee, Solange, etc.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and artist. What I mainly focus on is my work as a solo artist. I have four albums under my name (Zaire King) and am currently working on a 5th one as we speak. Each album has been a sonic marker that captures where my head was at musically and actually in real life. I’ve always played multi instruments and when I was younger would spend hours trapped in my room making songs with all the instruments available to me. So when I started my sophmore album, “The Sire”, I brought back this side of me and tracked bass, piano, synths, guitar (acoustic and my 8 string), drums, marimba, and folk string instruments). It was also the first time I self produced an album. In my opinion, this album laid down the framework for every other project you hear now, except the difference is I’m trying to become more polished. I’ve always prided myself on my “sound” and how genreless my music can be. I use an 8 string to play bass and guitar at the same time while I sing, on top of that I love sound design and synths and drum beats so a lot of my songs combine my jazz experience with a myriad of other genres and sounds.
I think as of late, despite how many sounds are in my songs, I only really use 2 instruments to record my music; my 8 string and my midi keyboard. I used this approach first on “Soulseed Vol. 1” and has been something I’ve fallen in love with. The workflow is a lot easier because I’m not running around a cramped room filled with instruments trying to record everything. But also this has ushered in a more electronic sound and has opened me up to so many textures I would’ve never found otherwise.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Most of my close family and friends know this but not many other people know about my nails. I’ve been growing out nails on my left hand for about 5 years now and not only have they become such an integral part of my sound but also have become an important outward aspect of my own self expression. I first started growing nails because I was going into high school (at first) to study classical guitar and I was getting so fed up of switching every five seconds between nails for classical and pick for everything. I ultimately decided to use nails for everything and at first, my teachers didn’t approve (and were rightfully confused) but I began to hone in this style of playing that it ended up working for any gig or style.

Pricing:

• My performance price is $150 an hour

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zkingjazz/?hl=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXgF-OEfGti-uHOU6EDn98g
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3sTwIifPeJZoL3ka4gW90M?si=4isn9uhBSlG6khpi01gRMQ

Image Credits
Photo 1 (Main Photo) (Michael Negrete), Photo 2 (Fana Misa), Photo 3 & 4 (@lifethru_liss4), Photo 6 (Zaire King)