The New Royales: The Future Is Now

Please introduce for me the members of The New Royales…

CHIN: The New Royales are: Chin Injeti, DJ Khalil, Liz Rodrigues (and) Erik Alcock…

Initially, how did the four of you actually come together to form the group?

LIZ: Chin introduced us to each other.

CHIN: I introduced everyone to each other. All three were my friends (and) I just knew in my heart that we would be great together.

ERIK: We all met working on a song for Chin’s last record, D’tach.

Where exactly do each of you hail from? And, growing up, who all do you consider to be your strongest influences?

LIZ: I grew up in Toronto, (in a) Portuguese community. My influences come from a pretty wide range of music. I loved ’80’s/’90’s Hip-Hop/Pop, Brazilian and Portuguese music.

CHIN: I am from Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada), Erik & Liz are from Toronto (and) Khalil is from Los Angeles. We all have eclectic tastes (and) are influenced by anything or anyone who moves us.

ERIK: I’m from Toronto. I was in grade two when I first heard (Nirvana’s) “Smells Like Teen Spirit” — Mind blowing! Then, hearing (The Beatles’) Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour, cemented my desire to be a musician.

DJ KHALIL: I’m from Los Angeles, California. Some of my strongest influences musically are Pete Rock, (Dr.) Dre, (J) Dilla, DJ Premier, Rick Rubin and Trevor Horn.

At what stage exactly did you all seriously consider pursuing music from a professional stand-point?

LIZ: Pretty late for me, I was around 19.

CHIN: From the first time I started playing.

ERIK: I think I was about 12.

DJ KHALIL: I started taking music seriously as a profession in 1997. I had an underground Hip-Hop group called Self Scientific. We started selling tapes at shows and made a bit of money. We started our own company and pressed up our own vinyl, which led to a full album. I quit my job in 1999 and did music full-time.

Where does your moniker The New Royales originally derive from?

LIZ: Chin came up with it and we loved it!

CHIN: We just loved the name. It was the new reign of creativity.

ERIK: A bit of a joke about our different musical backgrounds. I think, Chin came up with it.

DJ KHALIL: The name started as The Royales, but there was a group with that name already. It took us months to insert the word “New,” and actually finalize the name! *Khalil chuckles*

Now Khalil you are a multi-platinum, Grammy Award winning producer with a plethora of smash hits under your belt — For those who don’t already know, can you please give everyone a quick run-down of your vast discography…

DJ KHALIL: My discography consists of…

Aloe Blacc: “The Man” (Lift Your Spirit LP)
Eminem: “Survival,” “Won’t Back Down,” “Talking to Myself,” “25 to Life” (and)
“Almost Famous.”
P!nk:  “Here Comes the Weekend.”
Dr. Dre & Snoop (Dogg): “Kush.”
Drake: “Fear.”
Kendrick Lamar: “County Building Blues.”
Jay-Z: “Mama I Made It.”
50 Cent: “Still Will Kill” (and) “Could’ve Been You.”

And then Liz, of course you are also quite well known in Hip-Hop circles for your stand-out vocal performances with some very high profile artists, namely Eminem among others — That being said, how did some of these stellar collaborative works actually come to fruition?

LIZ: All of that came together with the guys in the group. It’s very much a New Royales collaboration.

Which brings “us” to both Chin and Erik — What actual role(s) do the two of you both have or play when it comes to the overall sound/style of The New Royales collective?

CHIN: I am actually Khalil’s production partner, we do everything together. (And,) in The New Royales, I am a multi-instrumentalist singer and writer.

ERIK: I mainly play guitar and sing in the group. Writing music and lyrics and singing, is also a big part of what I do in the group.

Speaking of The New Royales, although you all have released a few solid recordings, in terms of an actual “official” lead single nothing has yet to materialize, how come?

CHIN: It’s coming very soon!

ERIK: We’ve been trying to put together our “perfect record.” We will be releasing our first single, “King Of Hearts,” soon.

DJ KHALIL: We will be releasing a bunch of new songs in the next few months. We haven’t released much, because we are writing for other projects.

Having said that, what exactly are you all currently working on and/or gearing up for at the present time?

LIZ: Along with writing and producing for others, we’re shooting a video, finishing up our “originals” record and rehearsing a show.

CHIN: Our own release, Khalil & I did the new Aloe Blacc and more things coming soon!

ERIK: Rehearsing, writing, playing and recording. Not in any particular order.

DJ KHALIL: Also, music is in a different place now, so we feel like it’s the right time. We hope to release an album in the fall.

Longevity, what do you all feel it is that will ultimately be the key to yours? And, of course, what will keep sustaining you all in music?

LIZ: Everything we do comes from a very organic place. I try not to put too many rules on what we create. We’ll see what happens!

CHIN: Songs songs (and) songs!

ERIK: I think as long as we continue to explore new styles and ideas, and have fun in the studio, we’ll be happy with what we come up with.

DJ KHALIL: Our songs are the key to our longevity. I feel that we have good songs.

Do any of you all have any other additional/outside future aspirations, maybe even completely away from music?

LIZ: Family and music is pretty much where all my energy goes. I also love working with kids, real estate and food!

CHIN: I have a solo record coming out later this year called The Reverb.

ERIK: Riding a horse seems pretty neat.

To date, what has been your biggest career moment(s), thus far anyway?

LIZ: Chatting with Bruce Springsteen at a gym in Sweden! *Liz giggles* And, singing with EMINEM at the Comerica Park concert in Detroit.

CHIN: Being a part of The GRAMMYs that Khalil and I won.

ERIK: Eminem’s Recovery winning (Best) Rap Album of the year at The GRAMMYs was pretty huge for me. That, and having the group mentioned by Rolling Stone (Magazine).

DJ KHALIL: Working with Eminem is our biggest accomplishment.

Looking ahead, say five or even ten years from now, where do you see yourselves?

LIZ: I could give you a lengthy answer, but what I really hope is that we’re a few great records in, that we’re still loving it and you’re still loving it.

CHIN: Making music.

ERIK: Doing what we’re doing now, but with nicer shoes.

DJ KHALIL: I see The New Royales performing and releasing new music. Also, we want to keep writing for other artists.

As for the immediate future, what’s next for The New Royales?

LIZ: Putting out a record and playing live.

CHIN: Releases, touring, producing, etcetera.

ERIK: We plan to release our record and start touring. Can’t wait to start playing!

DJ KHALIL: We are going to release new songs in the next few months and some music.

Is there anything I left out or just plain forgot to mention?

LIZ: Not that (I) can think of right now.

Any “message(s)” for our readers?

LIZ: Thanks for your support! xo

The New Royales Online Links…

http://thenewroyales.com
http://facebook.com/thenewroyales
Tweets by thenewroyales
http://instagram.com/thenewroyales

http://thenewroyales.tumblr.com
http://youtube.com/thenewroyalesmusic

Interviewed By: Hype Staff