Next Wave #540: Royal Blood

Gritty south-coast rock, blowing up loudly…

Face melting. If you had to sum Royal Blood up in two words, that’d be it. The insanely loud power duo from Brighton literally pack a ferocious punch.

“The drum kit is covered in blood from Ben’s (Thatcher) hand bleeding so much whilst drumming,” states frontman Michael Kerr. Later we learn this to be no bullshit, as on the their last tour date there’s a serious rock injury: “Ben broke his finger playing the drums so hard. It didn't stop him finishing the set the like an absolute pro, though.”

It’s no surprise that they’re getting noticed early on with antics like this. Fearne Cotton has played them on Radio 1 and, in a more surreal turn of events, Matt Helders from Arctic Monkeys wore one of their T-shirts on stage when they headlined Glastonbury.

“We were recording the day before Glasto and he just asked us for a T-shirt. We didn’t actually have any merch at that stage, so we basically made a T-shirt for him; we had to sort it on the day and he wore it during the show. But we don’t really know each other, to be honest…”

The eclectic fans don’t stop there either, as their shows see a magnitude of people checking them out. It ain’t just all System Of A Down-style platted beards and chains on baggy jeans.

“It’s pretty diverse,” explains Mike. “It’s hard to judge so far because we’re such a new band. It is hard to find out who’s there for us and who’s not, but the people that do come are all groups, 40-year-olds, dads, girls, guys. It’s such a wide range of people.”

So what can we expect from Royal Blood’s future? “We’re going to head into the studio for November/December and finish off the album. I don’t really want to say too much, but if you like ‘Out Of The Black’ you’ll like the new stuff. It’s going to be our flag in the ground for our sound. It’s going to be loud.”

– – –

– – –

Where: Brighton

What: Noise rock

Get 3 songs: Only ‘Out Of The Black’ is currently available.

Fact: To add to their plethora of fans, Zane Lowe has now picked them up and given them even more Radio 1 airtime.

– – –

Words: Jamie Carson

Photo: Neil Bedford (website)

Find Royal Blood online here

The new issue of Clash, featuring M.I.A. on the cover, is out now

-
Join the Clash mailing list for up to the minute music, fashion and film news.