Small Lake City in Boise, Idaho: Krooked Kings at Treefort Music Fest  

University of Utah alums, Krooked Kings played Treefort Music Fest on Saturday afternoon. In their second year at the festival, the band talked about their gratitude for Boise and the opportunities they’ve received.

Consisting of members Matt (bass), Oliver (guitar and vocals), Dave (synths), Quinn (drums) and Paul (guitarist), Krooked Kings has been an ongoing project for five years and has only continued to grow. They recently got off the west leg tour with Flipturn and talked about how that experience changed the band.

“It was incredible. I mean we played our biggest venues ever. They were so accommodating and nice. I mean, I feel like I'm kind of still a little in shock about it,” Oliver said. “They're kind of our age, so it's fun to see, like where they're at in their career and just like trying to follow that.” Matt added, “I feel like playing Flipturn there's a lot of crossover. You could just tell fans really like our music and resonated with us really well, so that was cool.”

Playing at Treefort was similar for the band. They described their experience playing a few years before and how the festival, and the band itself has grown over time. This year, they were featured on the main stage, which they said was a huge step. “We played here two years ago and it was similarly cold. I'd say today it was brisk, relative to like two years ago, it was like fucking freezing,” Matt said. “There weren’t a lot of people necessarily coming out. It was a Sunday, everyone's hungover and it was muddy and snowing. But it felt like our own concert. It was like like probably 300 or so of our fans.” 

“If I was watching my own show, I don't know if I would be there because it was just so cold,” Quinn added.

“And then this year's cool transitioning to the Main Stage after the Hideout Stage … we're like close, a little bit bigger crowd, we got the weather getting better while we were playing, which was super exciting,” Oliver said.

Being from Salt Lake City, Krooked Kings talked about how Boise compares and the similarities they see within the music scene. “I feel like Salt Lake City is kind of like Small Lake City,” Matt said. “Everyone kind of knows each other. and I feel like honestly the touring scene as big as it is, is also small. People seem to know the same promoters. I feel like every city we go to, we have a connection somehow.” 

“It feels like Salt Lake in a way. It feels kind of like home,” Oliver said. “Salt lake is like, you got Main Street, but then it's like, you have all these different, like weird, like pockets,” Matt added. “Pockets and bars, all that shit way out in the boonies. … but here it's like you got this one huge road that no cars are allowed on. You can walk the fucking everywhere. Get drinks and food. It's a very cool vibe.”

Krooked Kings is back in Salt Lake and ready to release a full album this summer and head out for another tour. 

“Stay true to yourself. Stay true to who you are and follow your dreams,” Dave said.

Check out more about the band here.