No More Kings

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No More Kings
Origin Providence, RI
Genre(s) Pop/Rock
Years active 2006 - present
Label(s) Astonish Records
Members
Pete Mitchell
Beau Burtnik
Christian Wojcik

No More Kings are a Los Angeles-based rock band whose self-titled 2007 debut album focuses on well-known pop-culture and literature figures: Michael and K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider, Johnny from The Karate Kid, Smurfs, Gulliver's Travels, and Sally Brown with Schroeder from Peanuts. Well-known songs by the band include "Michael (Jump In)", "Sweep The Leg", and "Zombie Me".

The name "No More Kings" comes from an episode of School House Rock, one of many of No More Kings' inspirations. The particular episode dealt with the Pilgrims leaving England, seeking freedom and independence.

No More Kings are led by front man Pete Mitchell (born September 7th, 1973 in Providence, Rhode Island), who is responsible for writing the songs on the album along with longtime friend Neil Robins of the Louisville-based band Dirt Poor Robins. Pete studied fine art in college and has worked for Disney and the Jim Henson Company; he is an accomplished animator and also speaks Japanese. Pete claims his main sources of musical inspiration are the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Radiohead, Billy Joel, Beck, and Genesis.

The rest of the live band is made up of Beau Burtnick (bass) and Christian "The Woj" Wojcik (guitar).


Contents

[edit] Music Videos

No More Kings got much of their exposure from their 2007 music video "Sweep the Leg", which is a humorous continuation of the 1984 film The Karate Kid and features the entire original male cast except for the late Pat Morita, who portrayed Mr. Miyagi in the film. William Zabka, who played villain Johnny Lawrence in the movie, directed the video as well. Pat E. Johnson, who was the martial arts director for the 1984 The Karate Kid as well as the martial arts director for Bruce Lee, worked on this video. "Sweep the Leg" was featured on MTVu.com, Vh1.com, MySpace.com, YouTube.com, and E! Astonish Records released a special edition CD/DVD of "Sweep the Leg" in 2008.


In 2008, No More Kings followed up the "Sweep the Leg" video with "Michael (Jump In)", which was animated by San Francisco animation company GhostBot. In "Michael (Jump In)", lead singer Pete Mitchell is a hero-wannabe who attempts to help people out, but just makes things worse.

[edit] History

[edit] Origins

Pete Mitchell and Neil Robins started the band by themselves in the 1990s, and were later joined by Adam DeGraide (bass). They broke up in the late 1990s, but were reformed in 2005 with Pete and five new members for live performance: David Grant, Tim Maglothin, Josh Taylor, Beau Burtnick, and Christian "The Woj" Wojcik. They are now signed to Adam DeGraide's record label, Astonish Records in Orlando, Florida.

[edit] All The King's Men

All The King's Men is the publicity street team for the band No More Kings, which helps in bringing friends to the shows, phoning local radio stations to request the band's songs, putting up posters, and posting to band forums or related bulletin boards online. The name was picked from suggestions by the street team.


[edit] Discography


Self-titled debut album
Self-titled debut album

[edit] External links

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