Members of the DeKalb-based quintet King In Queen come from backgrounds ranging from a classically trained violinist to former members of Chicagoland’s Niagara Fell. Members Sean Pheanis (vocals), Jesse Fisher (drums), Jay Gemkow (keyboard) and Zack Kleiner and Michael McSherry (interchangeably bass/guitar) draw from a variety of influences. McSherry is a recent NIU graduate; Gemkow is a current violin performance student; and Fisher, Kleiner and Pheanis are communication majors. Aggressive vocals, stop-on-a-dime tempo changes and melodic hooks provide the groundwork for the up-and-coming act.

The Weekender had a chance to sit down and talk with Fisher.

Weekender: I think you sound like Iggy Pop and Karen O got together and had a kid. How would you classify your sound?

Jesse Fisher: I really don’t know. I guess it’s the energy of 1970s [pub] rock with the dancibleness of disco.

W: One Chicago radio personality said you all are the hardest rocking band in the city. Are you?

JF: Are we? I don’t know. I was really flattered when I heard that. I couldn’t think of a better compliment. We definitely try. We all come from different backgrounds, and it comes together as a fusion of various types of harder music.

W: Most of you cut your teeth in Chicago’s western suburbs. That scene has grown in the last few years with fanzines, venues and lots of new bands. Do you feel at all responsible for that?

JF: There have been bands that were before us, but we all worked hard to create a scene. I used to run a local band Web site and would get bands I liked and friends of ours to come together and play shows. We stuck together, and the kids who came to our shows now are starting their own bands.

W: So you migrated to DeKalb, and now a local scene starts up here.

JF: Yeah, it’s cool — free shows at Otto’s and NS*Radio’s local show. It was cool if it didn’t take free shows to start a scene, but most college kids would rather spend their money on beer and pizza than rock shows.

W: It would all be OK if things were free?

JF: Well, it helps. I saw a show out here at The Elks Lodge for $6, and not many people were there. But a few days later, The House had a free show, and it was packed.

W: So what do you have planned for the future?

JF: We actually have to backtrack. After our first couple gigs, we had people calling us to play shows and do interviews for radio and newspapers. Now that the buzz has settled down a bit, we can go back and finally record our album, get shirts and stickers, set up our Web site and things like that. All that stuff happened before we even had a finalized name. We skipped the basics and went straight to the rock.