Kings Kaleidoscope

Based out of Seattle, Washington, Kings Kaleidoscope formed in 2010 at a Mars Hill Church plant on the campus of the University of Washington, where Gardner was a worship leader.[3] Drawing on a variety of influences from math rock and hip-hop, to the dense sound of Canadian indie outfit Broken Social Scene, they recorded their first live EP, Sin, at a Good Friday service in 2011. A year later, they released the studio EP, Asaph's Arrows, followed by a Christmas EP, Joy Has Dawned.

In late 2013, Gardner and the band announced they were leaving Mars Hill,[4] where they had served as worship leaders and artists on the church's label. Their fourth EP, 2014's Live in Color, was released by BadChristian Music. Working with BadChristian Music and well-established indie label Tooth & Nail Records, they released their debut LP, Becoming Who We Are, on October 27, 2014. Their second studio album Beyond Control was released June 24, 2016, and was the band's most commercially successful release to date.

On August 17, 2017, the band released a mixtape, The Beauty Between, that includes several collaborations with hip-hop artists and producers, including Propaganda, Andy Mineo, Beautiful Eulogy, Derek Minor, Beleaf and DSTL. Their third studio album, Zeal, was released on April 5, 2019.

Kings Kaleidoscope is a project led by Chadwick "Chad" Gardner with a large cast of collaborators. During the band's early years as a worship band, the band featured local college students and rotating members, some of whom included Mark Palfreeman, Beth Vander Pol, and Eric Shoubridge, who all contributed to the Asaph's Arrows EP.

By Becoming What We Are, the band solidified into an 'original' line up of Gardner and 9 core members - Andrew Nyte, John Platter, Zach Walkingstick, Nadia Ifland Essenpreis, Lindsay Gardner, Julianne Smith, Zawadi Morrow, Blake Strickland and Jared Buck.[5]

Around 2016-2018 the band underwent a transition, as most of the original band members - most of whom never originally intended to be full-time musicians - needed to exit touring and membership due to family and time commitments. A new band was formed with Daniel Steele, Zach Boyd, John McNeill, JJ Kim and Beserat Tafesse, who have remained the core lineup since. Though no longer touring, Platter and Morrow appear on many later studio projects, and other members of the original line up contributed to Zeal.[6][7]

Beyond these members, Brian Eichelberger and Zach Bolen of Citizens have numerous writing and performance credits on Kings Kaleidoscope songs. Eichelberger mixes most Kings Kaleidoscope releases and performs violin with the band on occasion. Maxwell Gaver of OLY contributed to Zeal and Power Perfect and performed on all three Live from Kamp Kaleidoscope albums, and Jess Alldredge and Ryan Ponten appear on two albums each. Family members of the band are often heard on recordings.