Music

MARVIN Exclusive: Krooked Kings Build Their Next Universe in Real Time

Krooked Kings walk into this new chapter with the energy of a band sharpening its edges in real time—calm, charged, and quietly confident. The five guys who make up the group move like a unit now, each one bringing a different gear to the machine, whether it’s the storyteller’s instinct, the live-wire stage presence, the steady engine room, the analytical ear, or the spark of fresh momentum. Together, they’ve turned months on the road into something tighter and more intentional, the kind of synergy you only earn show by show. Their new era feels less like a pivot and more like an ignition, sparked by late nights, long drives, and songs built to hit harder live. And as they test out what’s next, you can feel a bigger story forming. It’s the sound of a band settling into who they are while catching a glimpse of who they could be. MARVIN Magazine sat down with the guys to tap directly into that momentum—unpacking the tour energy, the new era, and the spark that’s pushing Krooked Kings into their sharpest chapter yet.

MARVIN: How has the energy on this tour shaped the way you’re performing as a band right now?

Paul: I think the Happy Fits have a really great crowd, super passionate. We heard before we went on tour with them that the crowd is super nice. I think with any shows we’ve ever played, it’s always easy to be a better performer. I think when we get a good crowd and I feel like for this crowd, they’ve been really supportive and really welcoming to us. I think for us, even as an opening band, it’s been easy to try to control the stage more and have more stage presence, which I feel like you don’t get all the time in opening slots.

Quinn: Going off that too, we toured a few times. We haven’t headlined for a while, and this is our third pretty decently sized support tour in a while or in the last year or so.  We’re just really getting locked in and morale has been high. We’re all feeling really tight and just having fun up there, rather than feeling stressed or nervous. It’s really fueling us into the headline tour, which feels good.

MARVIN: The next question is about your recently released single Parking Lot. I love the track, it’s a wonderful song. What sparked the idea behind it? What was the main muse? Inspiration?

Oli: The song Parking Lot was with a new producer named Yves Rothman in Los Angeles. I think a lot of what he wanted to focus on was talking about Salt Lake, and what makes our story unique, and what makes our path unique. For that one, it was talking about a dive bar we’ve been to in Salt Lake, and kind of getting ahead of yourself in a situationship where you’re having a night with the person that maybe you just met at a bar, but everything is kind of flashing in front of your eyes. You’re falling for this person, and you can see a future and all this stuff, but you’ve only known them for an hour or two. And so, I think that’s really what we’re trying to encapsulate.

Paul: I think it’s just like a romanticization of our lives, but very Salt Lake specific.

Quinn: You kind of said this but Yves, the new producer, he’s very much like, “I want you guys to fucking paint a picture, like I’m sitting right there in the room with you.” He really made us put our thinking caps on and try to really show who we are and where we’re from, and really dig into that.

MARVIN: How has the crowd reacted to it [Parking Lot]? Is there anything you were expecting or weren’t expecting ever since it has become an addition to the set list?

Paul: We were playing in our hometown, Salt Lake, which was really fun. Obviously there are new songs, and it’s not our crowd, so a lot of people don’t know the lyrics and stuff like that. But it was funny. You could look out into the crowd and see pockets of people singing the lyrics along to a song that came out a week ago. It’s really fun and cool to know that we have those fans out there that are into it that a week later they know the lyrics.

Oli: I feel like the song is really upbeat, and has a great melody. It’s fun to dance to, and you can kind of see the crowd really get into it. Especially even just us on stage, the chorus hits and I kind of want to jump around and stuff like that. You can feel that energy throughout the room because the crowd’s really into it.

Dave: I think when you’re recording a song and waiting for it to come out and release it, it’s such a long timeline of that. You get into this flow of you’ve listened to it a million times, and it starts to become something. I think you kind of can forget how energetic and exciting it is, but seeing the crowds jump up, dance, and move along, it’s almost kind of reminded me “oh yeah, this is kind of like a fun, upbeat song.” I’ve been looking at it so analytically. Now it’s like, it’s just a fun song. It’s been good, that perspective, for bringing the fun back into it.

Quinn: Also on the opening tour, you never really know what you’re gonna get in terms of what songs, if any, the crowd is gonna be receptive to. And I’ve noticed that Parking Lot has been a pretty big success across every show. I think part of that might be people that are here for the headliner. You see what they’re like, what their music is all about. They’re like, “oh! They just released a song!” Maybe that’s the bias where they find the most recent thing. I feel like Parking Lot has been really well received, and everyone seems to be enjoying it. Whether it’s diehard fans, like we have in Salt Lake, or just like brand new first impression people. 

Oli: Usually on our last couple records, it was kind of like building a puzzle when we made the song. And this time, our producer was like, “I really want to capture the energy you guys have.” We played a lot, recorded it with all of us playing at the same time. So I feel like that energy has translated out really well. Like Dave was kind of saying, if you listen to it so much, you forget that energy is there until you have other people that started listening to it. It’s been fun.

MARVIN: I feel like Paul kind of alluded to this in his response about Parking Lot. But what’s been the standout show or city on this tour so far? Maybe aside from Salt Lake.

Oli: San Francisco was a really big show. We played a legendary venue called The Fillmore. A lot of our parents are deadheads and that’s a huge Grateful Dead venue. That was a really fun show, sold out. I just feel like we were all just really tight and synced up together as a band. Our stage presence was really good.

Paul: I think all three of our dads were losing their minds at the fact that we were playing there. The first thing you see as a deadhead when you walk in the venue is a big shrine to Jerry Garcia. So I immediately saw what they were talking about.

Quinn: Me and Dave went to this venue five years ago or something with my family. We saw Future Islands. It was a really cool show. I remember my dad saying “you guys ever play here, I’m there.” Sure enough, he was there, and he had some beers in him. He was right up front, it was electric. It was a really special full circle moment. We were the opener but still, we’ll get there. We’ll take it. Regardless of the size, we were so happy to be there. A lot of cool history there: Jimi Hendrix, Oasis, Radiohead, the list goes on and on. All the cool people played there. So it felt cool to be performing on the stage at all.

MARVIN: Going back to Parking Lot, Ever since you released it, started performing it for a bunch of people, has touring changed the meaning of it for you as you started playing it night after night? Has playing it live given it a different sentiment?

Oli: Going off what Dave was saying earlier, I think it’s so easy in the studio to get really analytical and be focused on everything that’s wrong with the song, and be focused on the negative parts versus all the parts that you really enjoy and like. For me, it’s maybe not changed the meaning of the song, but I think it has brought new life to the song for me playing it because I’m seeing the crowd’s reaction. I’m like, that’s nice, they’re enjoying it and they’re liking it. So I can maybe be a little less critical for a second, and just enjoy the song and enjoy what we’re doing.

Quinn: Also, it’s a little early in the touring cycle of this song. So it’s like one of those things where five years from now, we’ll really have a good sense of what the song means to us. Right now, it’s just like a baby. We’re just nurturing it as best as we can. Bird Scooter is a song that we pretty much always play off our first record, and there’s a lot of songs in the first record we don’t play. So after years, you start to realize these songs that have a special meaning to fans, and then ones that maybe less so do have a more special meaning to us. Right now, it’s just vague and we’re just happy to see people enjoying it.

Matt: It’s fun and also, like a breath of fresh air, playing some new songs. We’ve been touring these songs for two years now, or whatever. So like playing something new, it’s always fun.

MARVIN: How does this tour reflect where you are creatively as a band in 2025 and heading into 2026?

Oli: I think a big part of these last two singles has been trying to create a new chapter for Krooked Kings and kind of close the last one. And so, I think this tour has been a good jumpstart on starting that new chapter and having these new songs that we can play. It’s only a short tour with Happy Fits for six states, but even seeing the crowd reaction to this new era and this new music, I think is giving us a lot of confidence and excitement for 2026. Doing what we were mentioning, like our headline tour, and really dialing in on that. Last year we didn’t do a headline tour, so I think we’re just really excited to keep building on the momentum we’ve started.

Paul: I think going into making some of these new songs too was because we’ve been touring as much as we have, and we’ve become seasoned road dogs, as we call it. There’s a lot more live sensibility in the new songs. They feel like they were meant to be played. Hopefully that’ll translate better to when we start incorporating more of these new songs into the set. They definitely feel like they were meant to be performed.

MARVIN: So now that Parking Lot has been released, you’re kind of wrapping up this chapter of the year. What’s the next chapter you’re building towards when you go into 2026?

Oli: I think it’s probably a good time to mention, but we have been working on an album this past year, and that’s gonna come out next year. So we have a few new singles coming out along the way. March 27th is the date for the album. I think we’re really excited to continue this, the momentum and the train kind of we’ve started already. Get the rest of the album out and keep building on this new chapter, this new universe for Krooked Kings. Not to be like the classic “2026 is our year,” but big things are coming. 2025 has been very much like a training ground, finishing recording, all the behind the scenes stuff, and then 2026 would be more of like a best foot forward. The public seeing the tours and shows, and actually hearing the new music we’ve been working on. So it’ll be like, finally! The work will hopefully pay off for the last year.