Fort Worth’s gritty and hard-rocking psyche-blues quintet, Royal Sons, is set to release their new album, titled Matador, on June 27. This date coincidentally falls just a day after the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Little Bighorn, a noteworthy historical event that resonates with the album’s fourth track, “Crazy Horse.” The journey to Matador has been lengthy, with the earliest song on the album crafted over five years ago. The band members often found themselves extending their self-imposed deadlines.
“We always have a deadline, and then we always end up moving it,” explained lead guitarist Chad Beck during a casual evening discussion on a local patio, accompanied by lead singer Blake Parish and bassist Marcus Gonzales. Unfortunately, guitarist Johnny McConlogue and drummer Javier Garza could not join the conversation, but the trio reminisced about the band’s inception in 2016 and the intervening years leading up to their debut album, Praise and Warships, released in 2018.
“I don’t even feel like you tell me those deadlines,” Parish quipped, prompting a chuckle from Beck, who replied, “We did. I remember telling you, ‘Hey, we need lyrics, we need lyrics.’” The light-hearted exchange belied the darker experiences the band faced during the gap between albums, marked by personal losses, including the passing of several close friends and family members.
“We lost a lot of people in a short amount of time, like in about 18 months,” Parish recounted, reflecting on the toll it took on the band’s creativity. The year 2021 was particularly challenging, as the effects of the pandemic had already hindered their momentum, followed by a series of tragic events.
“I guess we got through COVID, got a few songs written, and then that’s when my dad passed, and then we had a whole series of shit, and then Johnny’s mom passed after that,” Parish shared, revealing that he found solace in alcohol during this tumultuous period. “I was drinking really heavily, and I was just depressed. There were about 18 months that were just really dark, and I felt really isolated.”
Despite the band’s efforts to create, Parish’s battle with depression stifled his inspiration, leading him to question his abilities as a songwriter. “When you get depressed, you also have that self-doubt. I was like, ‘Everything came together so smooth in the first round. Why isn’t [the songwriting] happening faster?’”
However, after a year and a half of grappling with his grief, Parish found the strength to get sober and began writing lyrics once again. “There were some [lyrics] about what I’d been through. You know, there’s themes about addiction and darkness and bitterness,” he noted. The title track, “Matador,” encapsulates his feelings of being overwhelmed by the music scene and the toll it took on him.
The album’s title track reflects the band members’ shared disillusionment with their extensive experience in the local rock scene, which spans over a century collectively. Parish’s cynical commentary on fame and authenticity is complemented by the hard-hitting riffs and stoner-rock energy of his bandmates. Producer Eric Delegard and mastering engineer Steve Nagasaki have ensured that the album’s raw sound is delivered with clarity. Matador emerges as a potent follow-up to Praise and Warships, showcasing a more intense and evolved sound.
“The power of rock ’n’ roll is what kept us together during those dark times,” Gonzales stated, emphasizing the band’s commitment to their craft. “We never started thinking, ‘Oh, man, let’s just, you know, hang it up.’ Let’s keep showing up every Tuesday. Let’s do our practices. Let’s keep in touch, keep pushing each other.”
Even through the struggles, Royal Sons remained a source of support for one another. Parish admitted that revisiting those challenging times in the lyrics of Matador is often emotionally taxing, but he sees it as a form of triumph. “Sometimes it feels really fucking triumphant to be on the other side of it, you know?”
Pausing for a moment, he added a poignant reflection on the album’s cover art. “The bull gets stabbed the whole time during a bullfight. It’s basically torture. I mean, it’s pretty easy to feel like that these days, so I definitely root for the bull against the matador.”
Royal Sons Album Release Show
9 PM, June 27, with Freeze Sucka and Aurora James at Magnolia Motor Lounge, 3803 Southwest Blvd, Fort Worth. Tickets: $10-12. Call 817-332-3344 for more information.
