One of Ontario’s most successful musical exports, Mark “Kaz” Kasprzyk, is no stranger to comebacks. With over two decades spent slugging it out in trenches, refining, reinventing and meticulously-tuning his craft, the Los Angeles transplant now arrives with “In Our Blood” — the latest full-length outing released through his riff-powered alter ego, REDLIGHT KING.
With longtime friend and collaborator Julian Tomarin, Kaz has built REDLIGHT KING into a stridently modern rock band whose music has spent considerable time on the Billboard charts, including multiple top ten appearances. It was “Old Man” — his re-imagination of the enduring Neil Young classic, where he tells a story about his own father while sampling the original — that catapulted him onto the international scene. “Old Man” propelled their debut into the number 3 slot on Billboard’s Heatseeker chart and paved the way for “Bullet In My Hand,” which peaked at number 3 on the US Mainstream chart. REDLIGHT KING would follow “Something For The Pain” with “Irons In The Fire” (2013), “Helldiver” EP (2015) and “Moonshine” (2020), both of which expanded the band’s vision, pushing the sound deep into the heart of mainstream hard rock.
Pre-order “In Our Blood” HERE.
Furthering that sonic evolution, “In Our Blood” sees REDLIGHT KING notch soaring new highs with a clutch of revved-up, guitar powered bangers. Kaz explains, “I wanted fast, heavy rock songs and I wanted it to seamlessly translate to the live show, with a full rock band — something that was well-recorded but nothing too slick or overproduced.” Mission accomplished.
“In Our Blood” opens with the taut double-barreled swagger of “Cold Killer,” showcasing the band’s serious groove rock credentials. There’s a renewed creative spark evident in the boogie-drenched intensity of tracks like “Raise The Dead,” and “Do You Wanna Live,” one of the album’s most introspective and catchiest tracks.
The first single “In Our Blood” and its accompanying video have already drawn lusty praise and there’s much more to come. Certainly there will be more tours, television appearances and down the road, more albums. But Kaz doesn’t want to plan too far into the future. “I’ll tell you this. I don’t know and it’s OK to not know. I spent a lot of years projecting that exact question and it’s set me up for nothing but heartbreak. So I refuse to say that I want to be here or there, but I know that if I’m breathing, I’m making music.”
“In Our Blood” sees REDLIGHT KING notch soaring new highs with a clutch of revved-up, guitar-powered bangers that bring forth challenging, complex themes with a defiant undercurrent of hope. The album was written and produced by KAZ at his home studio The Wheelhouse in Los Angeles with longtime collaborator and guitarist Julian Tomarin and drummer Randy Cooke. Its debut single and title track “In Our Blood” premiered on Loudwire who described it as “a song that truly speaks to the human spirit.”
REDLIGHT KING have developed a worldwide fan-base since their formation in 2009, performing over 1,000 shows with some of the biggest names in rock and being seen at festivals in North America, UK and Europe as well as late-night TV appearances on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Stay tuned for additional dates to be announced for 2023.
