Marcus King reflects on working with Rick Rubin, vulnerability, mental health and love and loss

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Marcus King’s music lies at the intersection of blues, soul and southern rock, capped with a majestic voice that brings to mind soul greats Al Green or Bobby Womack.

His solo career continues apace with the deeply personal album Mood Swings, informed by King’s struggles with mental health and addiction. The record ultimately carries a message of hope, while its soulful radiance is partly down to legendary producer Rick Rubin.

Meanwhile, the Marcus King Band ready their return. "For the first time in six years, we just got out of the studio together," King reveals. “We recorded some stuff down in Macon, Georgia, that we’re very excited about."

How did Rick Rubin shape your approach to Mood Swings?

Rick held a really high standard for what we wanted to do with this record. He really pushed me to go as deep as I’d ever been in terms of writing. Initially I played him the demo for Bipolar Love, and he wanted everything to be that vulnerable. So it was kind of an effort to do that, and I had to unlearn a lot of habits. I had to re-teach myself how to write non-metaphorically.

What kind of personal issues were you dealing with when writing the album? 

Mood Swings is a break-up record that I started writing while I was still in a relationship. It chronologically details the many ups and downs that one experiences when dealing with manic depressive episodes. And it details what a partner goes through, being with someone who's struggling with those things, and substance abuse on top of that. I had to see a lot of these songs in the rear-view perspective to be able to write them and fully submerge myself into that grief.

One of the most affecting moments on the albums is Save Me, which suggests that someone pulled you back from the brink. 

Like the majority of songs on this record, I wrote that about my ex. And it’s a feeling that I still kind of reference in my day-to-day life. When you go through a prolonged period of being suicidal or having those tendencies, it’s overwhelming when you’re afraid to die for the first time. You get on aeroplanes a little differently, because you’re afraid to lose what you have. It’s kind of a heavy feeling.

You described your previous album, 2022’s Young Blood, as a reimagining of Cream at Madison Square Garden. Mood Swings is much more soulful. 

I think it’s one of the clearest and most poignant records I’ve ever made, not only lyrically but sonically. It cuts right to the chase. And that’s another thing that Rick had a great deal to do with. My guitar has always been my therapist, or my best friend, my babysitter. And I feel like I hid behind it a little on Young Blood, because I was in such a dark period in my life and incapable of being fully present in the moment. So with this record it almost felt like I went to some form of retreat.

Considering you’re from a musical family, was there only ever one career option for you?

I was going one of two ways. The two positions in life that moved me the most, as a young man, were being in the gospel ministry or playing music. Music was always something that was around. And it was always viewed as a ‘real job’ in my household, something that could put food on the table for a family, because my grandfather and my father did it. For that reason they really encouraged that part of me, which was tremendously valuable.

When did you realise you had a great singing voice? 

Around the time I was thirteen. I’d been through a big traumatic event in my life, and I didn’t feel that the guitar was fully allowing me to have the escape I was desperate for. So I started singing and it provided me with that release. It took me a while to become comfortable, because so much of it is just confidence.

Are you okay to talk about that traumatic event?

It was to do with the first girl that I was ever really sweet on. We just had this connection. It was puppy love, y’know? One Halloween, she got in a car with these older kids, they got into a bad accident and she passed away. I still have a bracelet that she gave me in seventh grade. I was really broken up about that and it just compounded all the other abandonment issues that I’d faced in my life. I’m not trying to tell a sob story here, but there was a lot of other loss that happened after that too.

I believe you practise mindfulness these days. Do you meditate as part of that? 

I attempt to. I do it really as an effort to remain present and conscious of what’s going on around me. In some ways my stage fright and my nerves seem to have gotten worse before a show. But once I get up there, it’s worth it to go through that, because I’m able to provide a really honest performance for the audience. Performing is just like therapy, really. It’s a roller-coaster of emotions for me on a show day. I mean, every day is a roller-coaster of emotions – my record’s called Mood Swings!

You got married last year. How has that changed you? 

Life’s very different now. I’m married to a woman [singer and social media personality Briley Hussey] with a good head on her shoulders. When I met her she was in the corporate world, and she kind of came in and helped me turn my wild, crazy shit around.

It sounds like you’re in a pretty good place right now.

Yeah. Day to day it can change at a moment’s notice. But I feel really lucky to be back on the road and to be given the opportunity to be truly emotive each night with people who are equally as excited to be there as I am. When we do meet-and-greets, the gratitude runs both ways. It does so much for me and my mental health.

Mood Swings is out now via Snakefarm.