The K’s Discuss Hosting Their Very Own Talent Show, Writing Music Through WhatsApp In Lockdown And Their Latest Single ‘TV’

Hailing from Earlestown comes one of the UK’s most energetic and exciting live acts on the circuit, The K’s – we caught up with them lately to discuss everything from hosting their very own online talent show to writing their lockdown ballad ‘Valley One‘ through voice notes over WhatsApp. Get the lowdown here…

Englands back in lockdown then which has also seen the return of your very own online talent show, how did that idea come about?
The thing that’s hitting us hardest is definitely not being able to interact with our fans the way we usually would, like at live shows for example, so we started a weekly live stream on facebook. We love doing it and having the chance to catch up with everyone and update everyone on what’s been going on on our side! It started off as an idea to give young up and coming musicians the chance to play to a few hundred people so we decided to put on a talent show. Before we knew it, we had magicians, fire breathers, dancers, singers, and everything else you can think of asking to come on! It was mint, cant wait to do it again!

It seems quite a good way of engaging with fans and connecting with them on a personal level. I caught up with it on Friday (6th) just in time to catch the mishap with the neon dancers, great laugh!
Yeah it’s ace, like I say we miss that interaction with the fans more than anything so if we cant see them physically from a stage, this is the next best thing! We love doing it and we look forward to it every week.

At the height of lockdown earlier in the year you recorded the track ‘Valley One’ how did that experience compare to the normal process of recording?
Me and Ryan actually wrote Valley One over whatsapp voice notes which was different to say the least! Sending each other little 15 second bits of parts and ideas. Before we knew it we had a full song. We bought a mac and mic’s each and recorded our parts in our houses, before sending them over to our mate Gareth Nutall at The Lounge in Wigan to mix for us! It’s a very sentimental song to us for a lot of reasons – one of them being the way it came about. We cant wait to play it to a live crowd, its going to be a special moment!

The boys recorded and performed their hit ‘Valley One’ in isolation.

The track was a bit of a change up in tempo to your previous releases, is that ballad like style something you can see yourselves exploring more in the future?
We’ve got a few like that, to be honest. We’ve played them live a lot and the fans love them but we’ve just not got around to releasing them properly. This year has completely screwed our release plan! But yeah we love mixing it up and throwing a slow one in there every now and then. It gives people a chance to get their breath back!

Whether it be slow or upbeat yous really have a knack for penning a proper earworm of a song. Is that the aim with your writing process or are you all just really that effortlessly good?
It works different ways, for me. Sometimes I’ll write a full song in one sitting and other times I’ll get a little melody for a chorus in my head and work around it! It varies to be honest. But yeah, we’re just really that effortlessly good!

Your latest release ‘TV’ touches upon peoples longing for fame and chasing superficial realities, one standout line being.. “I swear it’s hard to think rationally, when the world around thinks Kardashian-ly”. I thought that was a pretty clever play on words. Can you talk us through the track a bit more in-depth?
The whole song is basically about the bull shit you watch on the tele growing up. And when you’re younger you think people are living these dream lives and its all real, and that what you should aim for your life to be like. As you get older you start to realise its all bullshit though. No one has a perfect life. To be honest, a perfect life would be boring as fuck!

Check out the brilliant video for their latest single ‘TV’

I seen online that you are an unsigned band once again, after previously being a part of Alan McGee’s Creation 23 label, are you planning on going it alone or waiting on the next opportunity to present itself?
Haha, I’m saying absolutely nout. I’ll end up getting myself in trouble!

Anyone who has seen yourselves live before will know the passion and excitement you as a band project towards the crowd during shows, who were the main influences towards your style as a group?
We all have different influences and I think it shows. I’ve always been mad into punk and early alternative sort of indie stuff. The Jam, SLF, The Libertines, The Strokes, etc. I’ve got quite a vast array. Ryan is more into the rock n roll side of things like The Stones, Faces, etc. Dex is very similar to me, but he also loves newer stuff like Tame Impala. Jord is with Dex on that too, he’s mad into the likes of Foals and Future Islands. We throw all of our influences together and people seem to love it!

I caught your show at The Garage in Glasgow back in March with Andrew Cushin and The Asuras, great night! How are you feeling about returning to the city to play the famous King Tuts stage?
We can’t wait. Scotland is always unreal to play and King Tuts is such an iconic venue. It also sold out in a day which is always mint!

I seen you put out the call for local acts to support you in your upcoming shows in the new year. Are there any artists from the Scottish shores who you are liking the sound of?
We know a lot of good Scottish bands and we definitely have some in mind, but I cant tell you that!

Last of all, what next can we expect from The K’s going forward. Are there plans for an EP to be released at somepoint or otherwise?
Our first priority for next year is just getting back out, whenever it may be. We’ve missed out on so much this year and we’re definitely gonna make up for it next year! As I said before, there’s loads going on behind the scenes that I cant talk about but lets just say, we’ve not even started yet! See you in the new year. VIVA.

The lads have already sold out a number of dates for their upcoming tour in the new year, catch the remaining tickets on the following link, and be quick before they disappear – theksareonfire.com