King's musical career began with his band Zed who released two multi-platinum albums Silencer (2000) and This Little Empire (2003). Zed toured in New Zealand, Australia and Europe playing shows supporting bands like Robbie Williams, Coldplay, The Calling and Ash. In 2005 King embarked on a solo career after Zed decided to take an extended break. Rhythm and vocal tracks for the album were recorded at York St Studios in Auckland with final overdubs and mixing at The Grove Studios north of Sydney.[citation needed] The album was partly produced by Brady Blade and mixed by Nic Manders, with new material recorded in 2008 produced by Greg Haver and mixed by Clint Murphy at Roundhead Studios in Auckland. The album was mastered by Andy VanDette at MasterDisk in New York in 2008. In June 2006 King relocated to London, England to perform and travel in Europe. He returned to New Zealand at the beginning of 2008 to record new material for his debut solo album, "The Crowd'". In September 2008 "The Crowd" debuted at #22 on the RIANZ New Zealand Album Chart before reaching a peak at #14.