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Exclusive: King 810's David Gunn Talks Aussie Memories, Life On The Road + More

  • Writer: Tiana Speter
    Tiana Speter
  • 12 minutes ago
  • 5 min read


Michigan crushers King 810 are officially back down under, and this time the visit is ticking off their first ever headline Australian tour. Joined by special guests The Gloom In The Corner and DREGG, King 810 ticked off two blistering shows already this week, taking over Adelaide's Jive Bar on Wednesday 4 March and Max Watts in Melbourne last night (Thursday 5 March).


Hailing from America's Rust Belt, hardened nu-metal underdogs King 810 have built a towering sonic reputation around themes of poverty, crime and the real-world experiences linked to their hometown of Flint, Michigan. Unleashing their debut album Memoirs of a Murderer in 2014, King 810's maiden LP reached #18 on the Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums charts and #8 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers charts, with the group since forging their own path as an independent band through numerous albums. Earlier this year, King 810 unveiled two palpitating releases, Rustbelt Nu Metal and K7 Rustbelt Nu Metal 2, with both LPs captured in front of a live audience in compelling and rambunctious fashion, and a promised third album in the Rustbelt series still yet to come. 


A band renowned for never holding back when it comes to their performances, King 810 surge with chaos and intensity in a live setting, balanced with raw catharsis and an unwavering audience connection driven by lead vocalist David Gunn. And while often perceived as controversial due to the reality of their lives spent growing up on the streets of a deeply troubled city, the band's balance of heavy discomfort and spiritual insight has led to them becoming seasoned festival performers, with the likes of Download Festival, Rock am Ring in their wake, along with their own acclaimed. headline shows and sharing stages with many of the scene's elite, including Korn, Slipknot and Alpha Wolf. Previously appearing at the final edition of Soundwave in 2015, King 810 also most recently toured Australia in 2024, supporting In Hearts Wake, with Everblack Media noting of their Brisbane support slot: "for a band who has not been to Australia in over 10 years, they certainly got a warm welcome back with the crowd moshing to every song". But in 2026, it's headline prime-time for the ferocious quartet; and King 810 will not be pulling any punches.


With Sydney, Newcastle and Brisbane still to go, we spent a moment with King 810 frontman David Gunn to peek into his Australian memories, the importance of routine on the road and to also check what he may be hoping to tick off his Aussie bucket list this time around (if anyone can take him scuba diving, please let me know!).


Check it out below, and don't miss King 810 this weekend!



What are some of your fondest memories from your last Australian tours. Do you remember the first time you came to Australia?

The fondest memory I have of Australia is the first time that we came because it was Soundwave, so it was a glorified vacation.You were on a plane with only people that you knew and you played one 20 minute show and then you had the whole week to…I don't want to say what we did, but it was a vacation and that was the easiest and most fun, because for every one show you played, you had six free fun days of doing whatever. And then you played one more show on one other weekend and then you had another week off. So it was a glorified vacation disguised as a show. That was the most profound. I think it was 2014? We also got to see some of our favorite bands play, Marilyn Manson was on it, Slipknot, Smashing Pumpkins. We were on the tour with Slipknot that came from here (North America), Europe, UK, then over to Australia. So, it was just being on vacation and watching some of your favorite bands play in a place that you've never been or never thought you would be. That would definitely be a standout time. I hate to give that answer because it makes it seem like I've just gone downhill as far as fun goes. But that was unique. The last time we came was just as fun, but the first time was unique in the way that we had so much downtime and played so little, but got to see so many bands. Twas cool.


Was Australia what you expected?

I try not to have any expectations. I was bummed out about how big it was because I wanted to do some scuba diving when I was there. It wasn’t that there weren’t places close by, but every time I checked at a certain specific place I wanted to dive, it was five hours away or 25 hours away or 58 hours away or some crazy shit like that. Then I just thought: someone’s playing a prank on me. God's moving the map around. And then I just went back to my hotel lobby and that was as climactic as that was!


Do you do any sort of activities while you're on tour?

If there's a good place and we have a good window of time, this tour will probably be pretty tight so we don't have much time. But the main thing that we try to do as a baseline is to keep the routine, so we have to get up at the same time every day. We all have a routine that we do together, and that helps, especially if you're on longer runs. It's not so bad in Australia where you're only there for a week, but if you can keep this same routine of this little pre-breakfast meeting, a gym session, the breakfast meeting, then the load in, the soundcheck, and then there's a small break and things like that…keeping the routine I think is more important than doing fun things. And then there's a slot to do fun things, hopefully. But I feel like if you can keep a routine, it's almost like you aren't even working or touring or anything like that. It makes everything else way easier.


Are there any spots that you hit up when you were in Australia?

I'm pretty boring, I sit in cafes mainly. That’s where I do most of my writing really. It doesn't have to be nice. It doesn't have to be artisanal. They don't have to make a shape with the foam. They don't have to do any of that. Just a sit there and it's nice enough. It's warm. There's coffee.


Do you write when you're on tour?

Every day, that’s the best part of the routine. It’s all part of it, just to keep that routine like you're at home, so you never really realise that you left. Other than that though, no. I don't care about food or fun.



King 810

With guests The Gloom In The Corner & DREGG

Upcoming Tour Dates:

Friday 6 March - Crowbar, Sydney

Saturday 7 March - King Street Warehouse, Newcastle

Sunday 8 March - Crowbar, Brisbane





BY TIANA SPETER


 
 
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