When I found out that I would be attending The Ting Tings concert and that I would interview the musicians, I thought I would ask them a couple of questions and watch them play a couple of songs before I left. I could have not been more wrong.
I arrived at the Granada Theater last Thursday and waited for the tour director to text me that I could go backstage before the show. There was a delay, so I had to wait until after the show to interview The Ting Tings.
The UK pop duo of Katie White and Jules De Martino took the stage a little after 10 Thursday night and performed until almost 11:30, but what happened during the concert was what surprised me.
Unlike most bands, The Ting Tings play to several demographics, ranging from elementary school kids to middle aged parents. No matter how old people in the packed crowd were, they were all having the time of their lives.
Katie White loved the crowd so much that she told them they would play as many songs as possible. The band played songs from their newest album “Super Critical” and also performed favorites like “Great DJ” and “That’s Not My Name.”
Around 11:45 I was escorted into their dressing room to interview them, but I was not the first person to ask a question. Before I got fully situated on the couch, De Martino asked if I wanted a cupcake, and at that moment I knew this interview would be different from other ones I’ve done.
“Super Critical” was inspired by a trip to Ibiza, an island off the coast of Spain, in 2012.
“Ibiza is like the EDM capital of Europe, but we went out of season,” White said. “Out of season is interesting because it’s full of hippies and it’s very open-minded. We met Andy Taylor from ‘Duran Duran’ and worked with him for nine months. Ibiza kind of had a reverse effect on us.”
It is difficult to say exactly why, but the music The Ting Tings creates has a different sound compared to most modern musicians, which works in their favor.
“We’re all about wanting energy, we want people to get into it,” De Martino said. “It’s not a case of knowing we’re standing out, it’s something that you decided.”
The Ting Tings don’t focus on money and awards. Instead, they focus on how they can evolve as musicians. To show how they are opposites of most musicians, De Martino told me about their experience at The Grammy’s.
“We actually ran away from The Grammy’s,” he said. “When we left out the front door we found a pillar to hide behind while we waited for our car. Rihanna, who is a distant friend of ours, saw us hiding and yelled ‘Ting Tings!’ and the whole paparazzi thing started, and we were like ‘no we want to leave!’”
While touring, White and De Martino usually do not have time to explore the cities they are in because of scheduling conflicts. However, they did have time to explore Dallas.
“We’re not too familiar with Dallas, but we had about three hours to walk around the city,” White said. “We know Dallas from the TV show.”
White talked about how it is difficult to eat healthy while on tour in the United States, and I brought up the recent Blue Bell recall, but she was already dealing with food issues.
“I’ve had food poisoning from some hummus I ate,” she said. “The tour director told me they’ve recalled all the hummus we’ve been eating for the past two weeks.”
While it is difficult to make it in the music industry, De Martino believes being original is the most important part of success.
“There are good singers on all these talent shows, but they just perform covers and there’s nothing authentic,” he said. “They just entertain you on the TV show for the sake of the TV show.”
For White, it is simple: expect failure along the way.
“People become successful for what they aren’t good at,” she said. “It allows them to become inventive.”
The band will be heading back to Europe for a few months and will be back in the United States in early July.
