 Courtesy: xo Publicity
The Smoking Flowers - Kim and Scott Collins - last full length album 2 Guns was raucously brought into existence in a single live recorded takes over about four days. It is a ferocious musical document that eerily proved to be a foreshadowing of a battle the couple was soon to encounter: Kim was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. Now in remission due to only using holistic and alternative methods and a raw food diet (no chemotherapy, no radiation, no hormones) and in the wake of this experience, Kim and Scott took life by the reins and hit the road in their vintage Volvo 240 station wagon, touring across America and Canada for three years straight. With this life altering experience to draw upon, and three years of intense touring, the couple tapped deep into their rock, punk and folk roots for the often cinematic Let's Die Together, a raw, real eleven-track collection replete with crunchy guitars, thumping percussion, and powerful storytelling. Here the couple answer their Essential 8 and talk about the album, eating healthy on the road, drinking at gigs, and more.
Is there a story behind your album’s title? It’s a pretty long story but goes something like this: Scott and I are a married couple of 19 years, and when I went through a serious battle with breast cancer 6 years ago, he stepped up in another role besides husband that I never thought we would experience. He became my partner in helping me LIVE… another type of “duo”… and we battled the disease together (I chose a holistic approach which made things even more difficult at times). Out of this triumphant experience the songs started flowing and the song “Let’s Die Together” was born. It’s not a morbid idea, but rather the idea that we are in this together…to the end. A thought that marriage is traditionally based on, but rarely accomplished. But sometimes it takes something life threatening to give you certain eye-opening gifts or virtues. ~Kim Where do you draw inspiration from when writing? Honestly there’s no go-to formula or consistency for inspiration in my songwriting. I tend to be inspired by concepts of love and life that are more positive and divine, so you’ll rarely hear a song from me that is of the negative variety. Definitely no “woe is me” songs. I am not a victim and will not manifest it through my art. Inspiration is the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, which is every day for me as I try to breath it all in and live life to the fullest in all facets of life, even if it’s not perfect. So maybe the little world I’ve created for myself and surround myself with is my biggest inspiration. Never really thought about that until just now. ~ Kim Someone once asked Somerset Maugham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration. “I write only when inspiration strikes,” he replied. “Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.” It doesn’t strike that early in the morning for me (noon is my 9:00 a.m.), but sometimes performing the daily mundane act of sitting down and starting to work can set in motion a mysterious sequence of events that produce inspiration. A producer and dear friend we have worked with refers to it as “moment mining”. ~ Scott
What’s your favorite/”go-to” food on the road?
It’s obviously tough trying to eat healthy on the road, but being a Holistic Health Coach too, I am an extreme health nut. It’s freaky-incredible tough to follow my normal healthy diet on the road, so Scott and I make sure we plan ahead by stocking up on items to bring along with us. (We even toured when I was on a RAW food diet! Talk about crazy). We also plan ahead by noting the cities we are going through so that we can find a Whole Foods or something similar to stop for food instead of resorting to fast food chains and the like. It makes all the difference in the world when being gone for a while to make sure you’re getting the proper nutrients. But it sure is difficult sometimes, in which case I just order the fries. ;) ~ Kim How do you kill the long hours in the van? We’ve been talking about trying to get into Audible books to pass the time, but damn if every time we start a journey we just end up talking and talking and talking about EVERYTHING under the sun… next thing you know we are at the venue. I can’t believe the conversations we have touring, the good, the weird, dreams and even arguments. Guess it’s a good thing we communicate, but geez sometimes it’s nice to shut the chatter and be quiet for 8 hours. In which case I just put on YouTube audio videos of Alan Watts speaking. He’s my favorite. ~ Kim Is drinking at gigs a positive or a negative? Positive up to two drinks. Negative after whiskey. ~ Kim Positive up to four drinks. Negative after absinthe. ~ Scott What are your “must have” albums for the road? Kim and I both can’t live without Chopin Nocturnes. But also for the road, the Danny Becher Healing Crystal and Tibetan Bowl recordings. I can drive for hours meditatively zoning out/in to that. It’s the polar opposite of what we do, the polar opposite of rock and roll, but sometimes you need the yin to balance the yang. ~Scott Favorite (or first) concert you have ever attended? In 1986, when I was in 7th grade, I talked my mother into taking me and a couple friends to see The Beastie Boys at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Licensed To Ill had only been out for a few weeks. Fishbone and Murphy’s Law were the opening acts. At the merch stand there was only one t-shirt for sale; a classic black concert shirt with the original “Beastie Boys” diamond logo on the front in bright yellow. The shirt was only on display from the front. The shirt was so cool looking so I had to buy one of course. When we got in the car after the concert, and I opened up the shirt to put it on, and on the back it secretly read “GET OFF MY DICK”. Ha! I had seen a couple people walking around after the show with that on the back of their shirts but didn’t put it together until I opened mine. When I came home from school the next day my mother had thrown the shirt in the garbage. I‘ve recently seen that shirt going for $600 online. Dammit Mom!! ~ Scott What’s the best advice to give to a musician just starting out? Don’t ever quit. Don’t ever give up. Be patient. Be authentic. Be true to yourself and unafraid to reinvent yourself if necessary. ~ Scott Website/Facebook/Twitter
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