In Control Of Their Own Destiny - The Ting Tings

When 2008 draws its bankrupt last breath and looks back upon the music that sound tracked it there will be one band at the forefront of discussion- The Ting Tings. A band that split opinion like no other- Are they a pop band? Are they an indie band? Are they an indie band pretending to be a pop band? Or vice-versa. The debate rages on, for every one person who hates them however there are ten who love the Salford acts sugary brand of upbeat tunes. Make no mistake, The Ting Tings are popular. Number one album and single, sell out tours and scenes of joy at festivals only rivalled by those discovering untainted porta-loos. Questions about the band remain though. Gigwise spoke to Ting Tings singer Katie White to discover how the past year has affected the band.

First things first, what’s been the highlight of 2008? “Just getting the album done I think, we’ve never finished anything in our lives before. Something’s always got in the way before you know and it’s died a death. With the album though we got it finished and it’s something we’re really proud of.” Any other highlights? “Glastonbury was definitely a moment for us. We’d been away in America for weeks so didn’t know what was happening for us here. We knew we were number one but to play there and have so many people singing our songs back at us was amazing. It was really memorable". Was that the moment you realised you were famous? “I think it was the moment we realised things were bigger than we had imagined they could be definitely, just to see so many people as far back as you could see was brilliant.”

Is getting snapped by the paparazzi a regular thing now? “Yeah it’s weird! I always thought it’d be alright in Manchester. I mean if you’re falling out The Met bar or whatever then you kinda deserve it but in Salford?! You think 'You’re not hanging round here for long'.” Have you succumbed to narcissistic pornography and Googled yourself? “I used to when we started and we had, like, two reviews in the entire world- but now no way. I couldn’t take the bad stuff that gets written. It would be like self harm.” Being a chart topping pop star leads to mixing in slightly more glamorous circles, who’s the most famous person you’ve met? “It’s strange you know, we met Britney [Spears] at the VMA’s (MTV Video Music Awards) and you don’t get much more famous than her but because she doesn’t really affect us in any way it didn’t seem real. We were both much more in awe when we met Michael Palin."

Having flitted about with slightly trivial questions Gigwise goes for the kill. Do you feel The Ting Tings have credibility? “Errr… I don’t know. I think it’d be weird if you knew that. We just do what we do and people like it or not. It’s not something we think about too much. What do you think?” Now this is awkward. I explain that it’s difficult to be regarded as cool whilst having a number one single and having your song hummed by Mums up and down the country. There is a certain level of fame and success that when you reach it credibility tends to exit- it’s a snobby and often unexplainable phenomenon but one that is most certainly true. Essentially you can be credible all your career and never play a venue bigger than the Barfly or forget about that and sell lots of albums, sell out tours and become a Radio 1 staple. Very few bands manage both. Katie replies: “When we started we played the small toilet venues and we’re exactly the same band now as we were then. Its funny how people see you differently, we play exactly the same set now as we did then. Essentially we’re the same band we just play to more people now and sell more records."