Misery Lane, a Michigan-based metal band, doesn’t want to be tied down to just one metal genre. They are doing what they can to transcend musical boundaries.
The following interview with Ken Keller of Misery Lane may or may not give everyone some insight into what the band is about.
Who is answering the questions?
Ken C Keller Jr (Vocalist/Lead Guitarist/Main Song Writer)
Band/Artist Name:
Misery Lane
Tell us about your latest project:1
The latest album is untitled but has become the “Red Balloon” album because of the artwork on the cover and a song on the album called “One Red Balloon.” The song came from a poem I wrote for my
wife of the same name.
She is a huge horror nerd and loves Stephen King, so I wrote her a poem from the perspective of Pennywise the clown and instead of giving roses he tries to give “One Red Balloon”.
The rest of the album evolved around that.
Where was your first concert as a fan? As a performer?
If I remember correctly, it was the “Monsters of Rock Tour” back in the late 80’s in Washington, D.C. Five huge bands that just blew me away. It was an awesome experience to be sure.
What is the secret to writing good music?
Music is the voice of emotion so I believe that if an artist can tap into that then they can really connect with the listener regardless of the lyrics, however, if the message of the emotion comes through clearly
then the lyrics should write themselves.
The key is to write music about what you know and not to cater to the masses. As I said if done correctly they will understand, acknowledge and enjoy what you give
them.
Do you have a bucketlist? If so, what’s on it?
When it comes to music, I only have one thing that I really want to do, and I can’t wait until it happens.
Just once I would love to walk onstage to a crowd of say 5000 or more people that are there to see me and not just my band opening for someone else. I can envision hitting a chord on the guitar and the
crowd goes crazy and right there I think this is what it’s all about.
What was the last thing that you read?
The last novel I read was IT by Stephen King. This was my favorite book when I was younger, and it is still a pleasure to read every time I pick it up. It makes me smile when I think that a story I read when I was child inspired an entire album of music. I wish I could get Stephen King to give album a listen and give me his critique.
What are you listening to at the moment?
I try not to limit myself when it comes to listening to music so what I listen to just depends on the day or mood. Ideally, I love to listen to any band that has dual guitars that can harmonize with each other and
really fill out the rhythm and tone of the song. Bands like Killswitch Engage, All That Remains, Slipknot, etc. do a great job of it.
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing?
Like Luke Combs said in his song that if I wasn’t doin’ this I’d still be doin’ this. I think it would just be on a different level. If I never found other guys to play with or if people didn’t like what I wrote I would still
be pounding away on the guitar because it’s always been a sort of therapy to me and I hate to think where I would be without music. Nietzsche said that life without music would be a mistake and I agree completely.
Who would you like to collaborate with in the future?
I would love to collaborate with Howard Jones formerly of Killswitch Engage. I love the way he’s able to sing and scream and add energy and emotion to the song without overpowering the music. Too often
frontmen overshadow the music, but Howard was able to compliment it. I’d love to have him sing or scream on one of our tracks.
What do you want people to know about your music?
I’d love for people to come in to listen to our music with no expectations. This is why I try not to be genre specific when I write because I don’t want to be locked into a box and limit our audience. I want there to be something for everyone and then those people can cross over and listen to the other songs on the album. We are not your typical hard rock/heavy metal band.
You can check us out on our website at miserylane.com
Facebook at Facebook.com/miserylanemusic or listen to the album wherever you stream music.
We appreciate you all and thank you for your continued support. Without the fans we are nothing.
Links
Leave a Reply