“People have been waiting for it for so long… it’s hopefully gonna explode.”
There’s an animated anticipation to Ryan Breslin, lead guitarist and founding member of The K’s, as he sketches his hopes for the band’s upcoming debut album and accompanying UK tour. Frenzied fans, frenetic festival sets and a fateful night out – Breslin charts the bands ascent that started, as all success stories do, drunk and in a kitchen.
He beams nostalgically, recalling the night an afterparty led to the suggestion, “oh yeah let’s join a band!” In place of a hangover, intoxicated inspiration instead lead them to the rehearsal room: “we wrote ‘Sarajevo’ and that was the first track, and we was like fucking hell, this is quite good.” The surprise in his voice is notable but endearing.
The band’s grasp of what makes guitar music great appears almost a birth-right given where they grew up. “’Cause we’re in the middle of Manchester and Liverpool, you sort of get the best of both worlds,” he explains, “the heritage [of both cities], we kind of grew up with that, and it’s such a strong heritage.” Breslin reminisces further on his musical upbringing, starting somewhat surprisingly, in Ireland. He grins over visits to his grandparents claiming, “they always used to have records on.” As he speaks, he looks off as if the memories are just beyond the screen. Their significance is clear as he continues, “Irish sort of folk music, I love all that stuff because it’s sort of where I grew up going to see the family over there.” His immediate family made their impressions too, albeit contrastingly. From Breslin’s father who, “claims that he plays the saxophone… he can’t play a single note on it he just sort of winds everyone up,” to his brother, with whom he recalls, “sort of playing together like trying to learn guitar or whatever in our bedrooms.” It’s an innocent but evidently invaluable portrait of music and family.
Broader influences from all four band members include The Jam, Chuck Berry, Hendrix and The Rolling Stones. “There’s [a real] mix and I think that shows in the music. There’s a bit of punk, there’s a bit of rock, there’s a bit of pop,” he notes. Going back to the cities that surround their hometown, he adds, “obviously like The Beatles and Oasis and all that sort of stuff like The Stone Roses, the list goes on… I think it does sort of inspire us.”
The product of these years of inspiration is their debut album, I Wonder If The World Knows? where art imitates life; electric and eclectic. It plays like a journal, an observation Breslin informs me I’m not the first to make, adding “there’s sort of stories in each one [of the tracks].” When it comes to choosing a favourite, a question whose answer fluctuates with a tidal quality, he imagines, “‘No Place Like Home’ is gonna be mint live, for me I can’t wait to play ‘Icarus.’”
‘Icarus’ is the album’s opening track and, as Breslin describes, “something a bit different to what we’ve usually done.” Blossoming, orchestral violins and a string quartet being an unexpected start to say the least. He elaborates, “we’ve never really done that on tracks but, I think the music’s maturing a little bit and obviously with a ballad you’ve gotta like pull on the heart strings of people.” There’s a serendipitous beauty to the fact that this song almost didn’t make the cut, “it was a song that came in late in the day… literally two weeks before we was recording the album,” and yet – at least for now – it defines it.
The album is comprised of 12 tracks; a lifetimes work in 45 minutes. Breslin considers the weight of choosing a track list, “it is very hard because obviously like there’s big fan favourites that aren’t on there,” he muses over the decision, “you’ve gotta sacrifice some to get the new ones on but I think the new ones are just, like, the best stuff we’ve ever put out, the best stuff that we’ve ever recorded.” His passion is palpable. The final track list both sacred and succinct. As for the ones that didn’t make it, he’s quick to assure, “album two is in the works… they won’t go to waste.”
Nothing incites passion more than the discussion of live music. Support slots for live show heavyweights such as Kasabian and previous appearances at Reading and Leeds have helped shape a band that thrives off crowds. Breslin speaks with flushed accomplishment about “going from near enough no production to the November show [where] we really scaled it up… and we’ve scaled it up even more now for this album tour.”
It seems lightyears away from the band’s first shows, played almost exclusively to family save for a few early fans. “I played a gig to me dad and his mate and me dad weren’t even looking at us he was looking the other way, at the bar,” he recalls with playful annoyance. To Breslin, those experiences made for critical points on the constellation of their journey, “you don’t get an authentic crowd just like that, so I think because we’ve done that over the years, the pubs and the clubs, we’ve just sort of earned a bit of respect on the circuit.” As he sees it, those early gigs nurtured a loyal fanbase, even when the bar seemed more entertaining.
With upcoming slots supporting Liam Gallagher in Malta and Blossoms in Manchester, the air floats with possibility. “All these bands we’re playing with… it’s just sick to be asked to be invited… it’s a dream,” he chimes. This year, the band return to Reading and Leeds where they’ll share the main stage with headliners Blink-182. Breslin becomes giddy explaining, “it is a bit surreal but also like… we belong on them stages.” Throughout the discussion he maintains, “that’s the best thing we do… is live.”
At their best and far from the glorified family reunions of their past, The K’s take I Wonder If The World Knows? on the road April 6th, just one day after its release. “We’re playing pretty much everywhere… it’s gonna be fucking well good,” he says with justified certainty. He finishes with: “the crowds are insane in London for us, and they’re equally as insane as in Manchester… every city that we go to it just goes nuts.” They belong on those stages. Manchester to Malta. Pub to club. Kitchen to the world.
Tickets for The K’s tour starting April 6th are on sale now, by then, things might just have exploded.
