RAYMOND J. WHEATON – AN IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW

Raymond J. Wheaton according to his bio is “lead vocals, guitar, chief mayhem director, chainsaw master & ring leader of the guild of Kuel”. Yet he’s more than that. Wheaton is a dominant figure in the New England music scene. As a member of the outstanding band KING KUEL, he’s played with countless national bands (House of Lords, Maxx Explosion) and headlined many a show. Raymond is also one the good guys willing to assist other local bands in any possible way. He is a champion when it comes to supporting live shows throughout the area. The man just loves music in all forms.

KING KUEL is a formidable four piece hard rock unit based out of Hartford Ct. The band consists of Wheaton (Lead Vocals/Guitar), William (Billy) Yager (Lead Guitar/Vocals), CJ Kennedy (Bass/Vocals) and Fran Mynahan (Drums/Percussion). The band released an incredible debut E.P., The King’s Jewels, on 1410 Media/Awake Records in 2016.

I’ve seen KING KUEL play live and the band just rocks the house. Wheaton is captivating and a true showman. Yager is a consummate guitarist and is insane on stage and Kennedy plays a killer bass. Mynahan is a powerful drummer who has a prodigious sense of rhythm. Live this band is a steamroller. Their set always contains a good mix of originals and select covers. KING KUEL’s shows are explosive and high flying.

Wheaton was kind enough to answer a few questions about the band and life as a musician.

AMP: What inspired you to be a musician?

RJW: Going way back on this one, Ralph. My mother was always playing all type of music in the house. She played Irish music, 50’s, 60’s rock hits. Dad would play country’s biggest stars competing with mom’s rock and roll. The Beatles and Rolling Stones stuck in my head as a youngster. As a kid seeing any T.V. footage of them had me captured. As I got older and realized the power and allure of “rock music”, it became apparent that it was a great job. Once I saw Alice Cooper on the Grammys I was vaccinated by rock and roll for life. The more bands I discovered (Sabbath, Zeppelin, Ramones, Kiss), the more I wanted to do that too. My parents brought me my first guitar and that started a lifetime of acquiring guitars, amps, and making racket in basements all around town.

AMP: Give us a little rundown on the birth of KING KUEL.

RJW: The “Birth” of KING KUEL. A little history here. I was the lead singer in my previous band called Society’s Children. We were quite successful from the late 80’s thru the early 90’s. The band packed the clubs and opened for many national acts. We made multiple appearances on the now defunct Kat Sinclair radio show on WHCN called “The Next Big Thing”. I sat in with WHCN’s “The Litch” on concert giveaways and promo stuff. All great people there. It was going real well. For our first release we recorded at the Carriage House in Stamford. John Lampson and I were the backbone of the band. Even though we had several line up changes, the band was always solid and we continued playing sporadically till 2004. That’s when the beginnings of KING KUEL started. I decided to do something else. Fran Mynahan, who was Society’s drummer since 1993, and I always clicked musically. It only made sense to move forward together. We enlisted Society’s bassist Marc Deschaine and long time friend and guitarist William Yager. Yager’s brother-in-law Sean Roach was another Society’s Children alumni. Yager’s former bands were Virgin and L.A. based Bless. We just started writing songs. We didn’t care about playing out. The music started going in a new direction. It started getting heavier and more melodic. We poured it all into the songs. We started playing charity events as a way to get back out there and also contribute to good causes. Eventually Marc had to leave the group. By chance, Fran ran into CJ Kennedy who used to play with Rizzo and Dirt Cheap. He was out of the scene for awhile and was looking for a new band. CJ didn’t know what he was getting into!!! He was a perfect fit. Now we have a solid foundation plus CJ sings backups. The main thing is we all get along really well. We decided to record our songs and release our E.P. All we needed was a name. KING KUEL got the stamp of approval and here we are.

AMP: There is an underlining dynamic energy when KING KUEL plays live. Where does that come from?

RJW: Good question! I don’t know. We’ve heard that a lot through the years. We take it as a good thing. I guess the energy comes from the band’s intensity projecting into the crowd. The fans are feeling it and we make a connection. We feel that energy coming back at us and that makes for some real memorable shows. Fran, Billy and I have been playing together since 2005. It’s amazing the unspoken communicating that goes on between us when we are on stage. When we are performing we know each others cues and tendencies extremely well. It was there from the beginning. When CJ came in, he found his nitch. Like I said before he is a perfect fit. We’ve worked on certain things but we all know when it’s showtime-“ya gotta step it up”. The band wants to take people on a journey. That’s our true goal. We have people tell us that when we first hit the stage they get scared. Other say OMG!, who the hell are these guys. It’s kind of funny but we just want to make an impact. We love making an impression.

AMP: KING KUEL’s debut E.P., The Kings Jewels is a force to be reckoned with. Give us a glimpse of your recording process.

RJW: We all thank you for your kind words on the E.P. It was a collaboration of different things happening in our lives at the time. Personally, when I was writing those songs I was going through a turbulent period. Changing my musical direction and the deteriorating relationships with my old band was painful and toxic. I’m happy to say those relationships have healed in recent years. I am proud of Society’s Children’s music and what we accomplished. Also from the ashes rose KING KUEL. It has been refreshing and positive. I look forward to music once again. We all do. I wrote some of the basic forms of the songs and then the band polished them up. We all sunk our teeth into the music and came up with finished pieces. Other tunes started with Billy coming up with some great guitar riffs and progressions. The band would figure out the framework in our rehearsal space. Another time Fran came up with a guitar riff that was really catchy. It ended up being “Indestructible”. Everyone contributes. Working with Will Beale and recording at 1410 Media was a great experience. He has a wealth of recording knowledge and he’s easy to work with. An absolute true pro and a great dude. He always had great suggestions throughout the recording process. It was definitely one of the best sessions I’ve ever had. I think the whole band feels this way.

AMP: You were recently inducted in the Battlefield Entertainment’s “Top Fifty” for 2020 with the like of B.J. Zampa (House Of Lords), Izzy Stradlin (Guns & Roses) and Mike Tramp. How did that effect you?

RJW: Being inducted was quite a surprise. When I went down the list of honorees and saw my name at 41, I was like-Holy Shit!! How KUEL is that. All we do is music. Our interpretation of our songs isn’t always the same as someone else’s. But it’s a powerful thing when someone reaches out or sends a message on how much of an imprint you made in their life. That’s the real power of music. I was honestly flattered they included me with such great people. Chuck Wright of Quiet Riot, Izzy, Randy Rand of Autograph, jeez, what a group. I saw my friend B.J. Zampa on that list too. Awesome dude. Powerhouse drummer. It’s always great to see him. We’ve done a bunch of shows with him and the House of Lords over the last few years. All great guys. B.J., James, Jimi Bell (whom I’ve known for over 35 years), and Chris are all longtime friends. Always great to be in good company.

AMP: What’s next for King Kuel?

RJW: I have to say that since our last show this past November with our friends Livesay we’ve been pretty busy. Due to the pandemic we had many show cancelled but thankfully they have been rescheduled. In January we worked on plans for a new web page, KING KUEL.com. It links all our social media in one place, Facebook, Instagram and our own KING KUEL YouTube channel. The band is working together with 1410 Media on video footage shot at the Stafford Palace Theatre. We completed several live videos featuring songs from our E.P. and some cover songs. We are also fortunate to have many amazing friends who are gifted photographers. Lea Caffrey/David Zulch of Morningstar, Gail Corrow, Frank Piercy, Mike Wilson and many others have contributed great pictures of the band. We completed new branding and logo for KING KUEL. Also, we have new stage artwork and merch. More importantly, we’ve been working on new material and are hoping to have a new release soon. We are so looking forward to get out in front of people again!! All new live shows will be posted on our website and social media as soon as they are confirmed.

AMP would like to thank Wheaton for his time and energy. When the world gets back to normal please check out KING KUEL. They slay live. You’ll end up saying, OMG!!! who the hell are these guys.

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To learn more about King Kuel, check out their website

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