That's Their Name - The Ting Tings

You’d think a band that formed in February 2007 and are set to release their major label debut just 15 months later might have had an easy ride. Jules De Martino and Katie White, collectively known as the Ting Tings, would probably disagree with you though. The Mancunian pair, who are set to release their debut album ‘We Started Nothing’ in May, have been trying their hand at the fame game for years in different projects.  It is surprising how close they came to never even getting this far.

“Nobody would answer our calls, everybody we had worked with in the past wouldn’t pick up the phone – it was just like we were damaged goods,” says Katie, the striking vocalist and guitarist of the band.  “Jules had really had enough and yeah we totally felt like giving up.” Katie had previously been a member of girl band ‘TKO’ and then joined with Jules, to form a trio called ‘Dear Eskiimo’ with friend Simon Templeman. After TKO failed, Dear Eskiimo managed to get a record deal with Mercury Records but they were more than a little interested in exploiting Katie’s appearance.

“In our first ever meeting they brought up posing for FHM, I was literally like fuck right off!”  Since then her faith in record labels has been restored gradually but she indicated her strong views on that topic haven’t mellowed. “A lot of girls can be pushed into that corner and it’s the last thing on earth I would do.”

Jules is equally confident in his approach. He feels like their past experiences have taught them that this time things will be different since they slimmed down to a duo and changed their name. “Yeah it does (feel different), the last time we were in a band (Dear Eskiimo) it was very contrived and studio based,” explains the drummer.

The lack of support and pressure to keep paying the rent has subsequently led to a DIY feel for their upcoming debut album ‘We Started Nothing’, produced by themselves. “We had no money and a little studio but it gave us flexibility.  There was a building site next to our studio and on some of Katie’s vocals you could actually hear the background banging, it wasn’t ideal but it was a great space,” enthuses Jules.

Fast forward to the present and they have showcased their material in a whirlwind tour of the USA stopping off at NYC and SXSW festival among others. Katie admits the Texas festival was hard work but rewarding. “We did 3 shows a day, in boiling hot temperatures, it’s just draining, you beat yourself up to get the energy! We were lucky because there was so much going on that could have drawn people away from watching us but every show was absolutely rammed with people queuing down the street.”