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Brighton based alt-rock duo Royal Blood are at the forefront of the burgeoning UK grunge and rock revival scene. Featuring a raw, fast paced blues-rock sound, Michael Kerr and Ben Thatcher have already drawn comparisons to Muse and Led Zeppelin- without a doubt, Royal Blood is becoming a band on the rise.
Their debut album is set for release on August 25th. GroundSounds recently caught up with Ben for an exclusive interview, check it out below.
For those just discovering Royal Blood how did you guys get together and start making music?
I first met Mike when I was 15, playing in the local scene. I joined one of his bands and our working relationship began then. Mike moved over to Australia for 6 months or so, and then when he returned I picked him up from the airport and we started Royal Blood – played a gig the next day.
How did you guys decide on the band name Royal Blood?
It just sort of fit, there was no real massive deliberating process.
Your self-titled debut album ‘Royal Blood’ drops August 25th, can you tell us about working on this LP and bringing it to fruition?
We’re not revealing too much at this stage, the record is 10 tracks and we’re really happy with it. Obviously we’ve had a few singles out at this stage so we’re trying to keep the rest of the album a surprise, however we’re playing new songs in the set so come down and check out a live show!
What do you guys enjoy most about Brighton? What is one thing every visitor should see or do?
Brighton has a great music scene, lots of bands know each other and help each other out. We rehearse in a place called Brighton Electric and that’s a hub for a lot of creative people.
One thing every visitor should do is go down the pier!
You guys have already opened for Artic Monkeys, you performed at SXSW, Royal Blood already has so many awesome accomplishments,what was the key to getting things moving in the right direction so soon?
I don’t think there was necessarily a key, we’ve been fortunate to have played some huge shows early on in our career. It’s a good experience but it’s just as nice playing to 200 people in a sweaty club.
You guys will soon be touring in the states, what do you guys enjoy most about being on the road?
We’re on tour in the US at the moment, and we love it! It’s great to meet a load of new people and play our music in places for the first time. Travelling can be tough, grueling drives sometimes, but it’s worth it when you get up there and play!
Could you share a fun or crazy moment from a past tour with us?
On this recent tour we actually lost Mike! We ended up driving off from a gas station and we drove for 60miles before we realized that he wasn’t in the van. He had to go onto Facebook and message our manager to get in contact with the tour manager. It’s pretty specialist losing one half of a two person band!
After the album drops, what is next for Royal Blood? What can fans look forward too?
We have a lot of touring planned for the rest of the year. European festivals in August and then back to the US/Canada in September/October for some of our own shows and to support Pixies. And then we’ll do some UK/EU touring later on this year.
