INTERVIEW: Titans & Kings

Titans & Kings

Interview

"Big choruses, strong melody and a groove that you can’t resist moving to."

UK's rock n' rollers from London — Tor (vocals/guitar), Spy (guitar), Nick (drums) and Rob (bass), interested in beer drinking, hell raising and face melting (according to their Facebook page), took some time to talk about their band, themselves and their music!

How did the band got together? 

Rob: Tor and Spy are long-term music buddies. They’ve been performing and writing together for years! All four of us went to university together, but Titans & Kings didn’t form until we were all up in London. I actually used to play in another band in the same circuit as Tor and Spy down in Exter! They’ve given me a good home since then.

Nick: True. We found Rob walking on the street, using his bass guitar as a crude shelter and living off stall croissants form the bins behind ‘Starbucks’. Now look at him: rosy cheeked and full of life! It just shows what a healthy dose of rock music, vitamin C and the occasional all-nighter can do for a man.

What’s the story behind Titans & Kings?

Rob: Titans & Kings was actually democracy in action. We all came up with a series of names, whittled it down and then asked our fans and friends to vote for their favourite. Titans & Kings won out. Which is good, because I didn’t want the band to be called Señor Nick’s Drum Show, Featuring The Fantastic Three.

Nick: Yeah, that was Tor’s suggestion, strangely. My favourite still is Hot Guff. It’s funny; we were on track to be called AC/DC at one point. We had to take that idea out because apparently some Australian band is already making progress under that name. Who knew?

At what age did you start playing/singing? What are the musicians you look up to?

Tor, Spy, Rob & Nick

Tor: I first picked up the guitar when I was about nine, all because of Buddy Holly. As for the musicians I look up to the most — for guitar it’s Slash (Guns N’ Roses, Slash), Angus Young (AC/DC) and Mark Tremonti (Alter Bridge, Creed). And for vocals it’s Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge, Slash), Bon Scott (AC/DC) and Jon Bon Jovi (Bon Jovi).

Spy: I started playing music at a young age, I think about five, learning the recorder and piano at school. Sadly, at the time these instruments didn’t really do it for me, so I gave up by the time I was eight. I took up the trumpet when I was eleven and then, finally after getting into Metallica, Green Day, Funeral for a Friend, Jimi Hendrix, I took up the guitar aged 17.

Rob: I started playing music when I was fourteen, just playing bass and guitar with some friends. I’ve always had this creative streak and music looked like another way to get that catharsis. I ooh up to Melissa Auf Der Maur, Kim Gordon, Pino Palladino and anyone who can drop a heavy note and keep it interesting.

Nick: I gave up learning piano when I was 10 — biggest regret of my life. For f*cks sake, I could’ve been as good as… Uhm… (Googles famous pianists) Dubravka Tomišič Srebotnjak! 

I brought a drum kit and guitar as an angsty teenager and taught myself the basics, primarily, so I could join a couple of college bands and pick up chicks. I look up to my younger siblings, they are all so bloody musically talented and they still have a few years’ advantage on me. It makes me jealous, which inspires me to practice.

What bands influenced your music style the most?

Rob: The First, Hardcore Superstar, Deaf Havana, Jimmy Eat World, Guns n’ Roses, Alter Bridge. Have I missed anyone off?

Nick: Yep, you missed all of naughties pop-punk and Lionel Ritchie. 

How would you describe your EP “Hold Your Tongue”?

Tor: Lyrically, it’s all about keeping hold of the positives when things change or fall apart, finding the ability to overcome all problems, and finding a way of sticking two fingers up at the world when it tries to get you down.

Nick: Except for the intro for “Freedom”, which is actually more about gain than loss. I think, Thor turned his gain up to nearly 11 for that bit.

Rob: It’s all about loss, really — loss of love, loss of faith in the state of world, and how to cope with that and keep positive when things change. Real rousing stuff. 

Musically, I like to think that it manages to cover a huge range of forms of rock music over the space of five songs, form heavy riffs to huge harmonies and choruses, but still keeping a cohesive feel. 

If you had to choose one, which band would you like to play with or open  for?

Rob: I think, Alter Bridge would be a hell of a band to open for, and they seem like gents to boot. We’ve actually briefly discussed trying to open for ourselves before now — sign up with a promoter under another name, go onstage wearing costumes and all playing each other’s instruments. Does that count?

Nick: Steel Panther for me. Because girls.

What is your favourite written song so far?

Tor: “Breakout” and “Set Fire To The Night” — killer riffs, strong melodies and lyrical content to portray everything I think good music should be about.

Spy: I’d have to say either “Breakout” or  “Set Fire To The Night” as well. They are the ones I most enjoy playing live and having played in bands with Thor for the last 10 years, really show our growth as a group of song writers. 

Rob: I love “Aeroplane”. It’s got that vibrant American rock fell and that lovely pop hook in the chorus. Loads of fun to play as well. It’s hard to look past  “Set Fire To The Night”, though.

Nick: That outdo on “Aeroplane” adds another 2o bpm to my heart rate every time. I don’t know why, but I just get so excited and I’d happily play that riff forever and ever and ever.

Was it hard to get your band ‘out there’ — booking gigs, building up the fan base?

Rob: It’s tricky to get people to sit up and take notice. There are huge number of incredibly talented bands out there and so many of them deserve success. It’s all about being as strong as possible across the board — playing shows, taking the time to rehearse, making sure that you’re entertaining as well as musically good. I think, taking the time to talk to the fans is really important. I don’t have time for musicians with egos bigger than their talent.

Nick: I would say that we quite enjoy the marketing, but there are so many platforms out there that — with the limited amount of time we can realistically devote — it sometimes dilutes the message.

What are the future plans of Titans & Kings?

Rob: Shameless plug ahoy! We’re releasing our new single  “Set Fire To The Night” on the 24th of March. I’m really, really excited about it. We’ve got an awesome video coming out at the same time and the song itself is a corker. 

Apart form that, we’re going on a big writing session. Hopefully, we’ll tour again sometime soon as well.

Nick: Lads on tour, lads on tour, lads on tour! Also, really looking forward to getting some new tunes down — we are in a good place musically, at the moment.

Any memorable, funny, weird moments from the gigs?

Rob: Playing a set in onesies at the end of our tour with Speaking In Shadows and Autumn Ruin immediately stands out for me. It was fun, and I think the fans enjoyed it, but NEVER AGAIN. It was boiling onstage, and novelty onesie feet don’t really work when you’ve got tho use foot switches. 

Nick: Aside from the usual boring stuff, like equipment breaking/flying everywhere/drunk people passed out onstage/playing entire gigs just in our underwear — it’s usually after we’ve come off stage that the madness ensues. We like to chuck our instruments backstage and head straight to the dance floor. Usually, Tor ends up on my shoulders — he’s SO heavy — and you’ll ALWAYS find us at the front going crazy supporting our fellow bands.

It’s safe to say that gig nights don’t end until we can no longer purchase alcohol anywhere, and most of the juicy so tires I am not allowed to tell you! They’d probably need and 18 certificate.

In one short sentence, describe your band for those, who hadn’t heard you yet.

Tor: Big choruses, strong melody and a groove that you can’t resist moving to. 

Spy: Drink beer, party hard, have fun, and most importantly, be excellent to each other.

Rob: Big, fun, loveable rock to get you pumped.

Nick: We recently got written up as “beer drinking music”. I can live with that.


Check out Titans & Kings on: Facebook
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Buy their EP "Hold Your Tongue" at Half Naked