We recently connected with BK Of BK & the Understanding and have shared our conversation below.

BK, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

Yes. Looking back, I wish I had pursued my BK & the Understanding endeavor sooner. I had the idea for it when I was in college, circa 2009, and at the time I was surrounded by some creative friends—one of which is the bassist and vocalist for a Nashville rock trio called The Brunswick, Caleb Hooper—, but there are many factors and influences to why I made the mistake of not pursuing my dream sooner. So, I understand why I didn’t, and spiritually I understand why I have gone through what I have gone through, but nonetheless, I do wish I could take what I have learned from my mistakes and do things sooner, better, and with good, talented people I could trust and rely on. That is what is hard to find: good, trustworthy and reliable personnel who also happen to be talented.

BK, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am BK. I started BK & the Understanding with the accompaniment of my friend JR Garcia in 2017. BK & the Understanding is an independent, DIY-band. We have put out two albums, one pending, and several singles and EPs that we tracked, mixed, and mastered out of our homes, primarily mine. Our music so far has used as little EQ’ng as possible and is very much raw and ‘lo-fi’ by today’s standards. Our music is quite unique and difficult to categorize as a result, but BK & the Understanding is an indie-alternative rock band at its core. We are currently finishing the last DIY album that was started with the first 2 while simultaneously working on our first studio project—while also trying to book more shows in the DFW-A area (and Waco), put out more YouTube content, and build a following on Twitch. I may be stretching myself in too many directions honestly.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Aside from the goal of earning a living, which has yet to happen to be frank, the overall mission of BK & the Understanding has always been to create music, to write the kinds of songs, that radically changed my life, songs that inspired me to search deep within myself and to look beyond the seen to find purpose and truth in my life. Not all of those songs were feel-good songs. Many were criticisms, some were playful, silly songs, and many were cliché pop songs about finding love or being infatuated with someone. Overall, however, music has been a spiritual tool in my life that helped me sort through my own problems, pains, and questions, and helped me progress into the better person I always truly was. Music has provided a soundtrack for my life. I hope BK & the Understanding can be that for others.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Yes. Listeners who either are not musicians or songwriters and who have never published music may not realize how damaging music streaming has been financially to the music business. The best way to support your favorite local bands and friends who are musicians and songwriters is to buy their music directly from them, even if you don’t use the media—you can always give it away to a potential new listener and then buy another copy later—, or from their Bandcamp or Soundcloud pages. Then, yes, streaming on your preferred service is nice and helpful, but essentially all of the money you are paying the streaming service of your choice is staying at that streaming service and not being shared with us who are cresting the music. So, if you are only listening to our music on streaming services, we are not being paid livable or respectable earnings if we are being paid at all. The current model is that we give our music away for free, even though it costs thousands of dollars to record it for you to hear. Understanding that will make you a better fan. Changing your behavior based upon that understanding will help us change the industry for our betterment. As things are now, your favorite local bands cannot afford to live, let alone continue to create the kind of music you will enjoy, unless you are okay with loops that all follow the same formula and sing about the same things without much variation or complexity. Just as we are seeing grotesque wealth inequality in the world that is ruining the planet, this is reflected in the music industry perfectly—the same dynamic is in place. Streaming services produce billionaire and millionaire CEOs and executives while forcing the very creators, laborers if you will, into poverty. You are being misled with how how the money from your streaming service subscriptions fees is being allocated in other words—it is paying the CEOs and executives firstly, then employees of the streaming service, and musicians and songwriters get the grains of salt that fall off the table onto the floor that the streaming service is built upon, where we creators fight for those grains of salt.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bkandtheunderstanding.bandcamp.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/bkandtheunderstanding
• Facebook: Facebook.com/bkandtheunderstanding
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@bkandtheunderstanding
• Other: https://www.twitch.tv/bkandtheunderstanding

Image Credits
BK, Rocky Lea, Josh Harms, Aedan Rivers, Arynn Tomson, & Misc. Fans (with permission)