Kings Go Forth is a band that seems to have come out of nowhere, getting noticed before even playing its first gig in Milwaukee and nabbing a pile of 88Nine Milwaukee music awards.

But don't be fooled, most of these guys have been involved in the Milwaukee music scene for years. Singer Dan Fernandez was in Mood Groove and International Jet Set and singer and guitarist Matt Norberg was in The Elevators and Highball Holiday. Andy Noble and Dave Wake are also local stalwarts.

But regardless of the band members' resumes, what makes Kings Go Forth so popular is its alluring and instantly accessible - and wildly infectious -- mix of classic R&B and rock steady.

Add Fernandez's soulful tenor that is the perfect mix of grit and gloss and you realize it'd be more surprising if the band wasn't popular.

We recently caught up with Fernandez via e-mail from Argentina to ask about Kings Go Forth.

OnMilwaukee.com: Tell me who is in the band.

Dan Fernandez: Vocalist Matt Norberg also plays rhythm guitar and (vocalist) Black Wolf (Bilal). Bass: Andy Noble, lead guitar: Dan Flynn, keyboards: Dave Wake, trumpet: Jed Groser, trombone: Dave Cusma, drums: Jeremy Kuzniar
(and) congas/percussion: Cecilio Negron, Jr.

OMC: A lot of you guys have a long musical history together, right?

DF: Many of us have been in bands together or otherwise crossed musical paths in the past, either playing in a group together, or just meeting for a show or recording session here and there.

OMC: Can you tell us how this band came to be?

DF: In late 2006 there was a Highball Holiday reunion show, Andy was subbing for them on bass, and I sang on a few tunes. After the show -- which was a lot of fun -- we were chatting about musical ideas, and Andy brought up the idea of doing a group with three singers doing harmonies; at the time the idea was more about doing rock steady and less about soul.

I said I'd be interested but didn't think it would come together ... but somehow it did and we started practicing in early 2007, beginning with eight people and later adding Dave Wake and Ceeloe, so now we're 10 strong. That's a lot of people, but having keys and congas really filled out our sound and it's hard to imagine KGF without them!

OMC: It seems like local success has come pretty quickly, which must be pretty satisfying.

DF: The response has been phenomenal, beyond any initial expectations I had. And the radio airplay has been a pleasant surprise too. Thanks Milwaukee! It still feels a little strange to have people I've never met come up and tell me how much they love our band! I'm just trying to appreciate it as much as possible, and never take the support for granted. We'll keep working hard, and hope the fans will stick around.

OMC: Were you surprised to have won so many of the Milwaukee Music Awards this year?

DF: Yeah, man! We're proud of what we've done so far, but I don't think any of us expected this kind of result. I was probably the most surprised because I didn't realize all of the categories we were nominated for! The Lackloves surprised us as well -- they graciously gave us a mini-broom that read "Congrats on the sweep!" Nice. We're not doing this for awards, of course, but it's satisfying to know that our hard work over the past two years is being recognized.

OMC: Are you looking to expand the geographical horizons of the band or is that too hard at the moment due to life commitments?

DF: Well if you're talking about touring, it is a difficult proposition. All of us have jobs, other bands, families, etc., that make it hard for us to plan on doing any sort of extended touring. So far we've played only one gig in Chicago, where I'd love to do more shows since I live there! Myriad offers have come in to play out of town, from Madison to New York.

For now, we want to be in a position to do some limited touring, maybe a week here and there, long weekends or whatever. But the Internet makes it so easy to spread music all over the world, it lessens the adverse impact of not being able to tour much. That being said, we have gotten a lot of international support -- including spots on two compilations from Italy and Japan -- and we're dreaming about heading overseas for a mini-tour.

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Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by FunkyBrewster on April 9, 2009 at 8:24 a.m. (report)

Wild KINGdom, Citizen KING, KINGs Go Forth, Citizens of the Wild Kingdom Go Forth? Our next local musical royalty? Nah just a coincidence... Kings Go Forth is probably taken from old Vijayanagara Empire Literature... but what do I know? Sorry for the double post its just last time I saw these guys I bought a curtis mayfield record from them and now they are like curtis mayfield... kinda exciting.

Posted by girlina1970 on April 6, 2009 at 5:34 p.m. (report)

Check out their live performance back in September-ish in the WMSE studio's during Local/Live. Funky indeed.... http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1610704573?bclid=5184618001&bctid=5254441001

Posted by curlyboy1978 on April 5, 2009 at 10:07 a.m. (report)

Great band! I found several of their songs on I-Tunes check em out.

Posted by FunkyBrewster on April 5, 2009 at 8:45 a.m. (report)

88.9 plays mid 90's crap like Urge Overkill, Liz Phair all too often. Mixing in funk but usually all too familiar songs from James Brown or Marvin Gaye. Local stuff and more obscure stuff is played just barely enough to justify listening to all the mid 90's crap and played out songs Milwaukee and 88.9 can't seem to get over. Most of the DJ's are dull but I refuse to listen to the one that sounds like Kathy Mykleby. Sometimes I can't tell if I'm listening to 88.9 or 94.5 Lake... and that aint good. As far as Kings Go Forth, they can have my first name, cause they REALLY is Funky. From now on I'm just Brewster.