Hopping on my Moon and Back Music party pass I waltzed past several hundred hormonal, skinny jean clad children into the O2 Academy for a lovely little chat with Travis from We The Kings.
ND: So are you excited about playing Glasgow tonight?
TC: Yeah, this is kind of like my favourite city to play in the UK, we have such a good time here. I just love it. The fans are so insane.
ND: Where else have you played in Glasgow?
TC: We’ve played a place called The Garage and one other place, I can’t remember. I’m tempted to say the Academy but everything over here is called the Academy…
ND: The Barrowlands or ABC…?
TC: Yeah that’s it ABC!
ND: It’s coincidentally the O2 ABC now; they’re taking over the world…
TC: Ahh, gotcha.
ND: You’ve toured with some pretty big bands, Boys Like Girls and now You Me At Six, who would you say has been your favourite so far?
TC: So far it’s definitely You Me At Six, they’re the nicest dudes in the world and I love touring with them. They’re huge football fans and in the states we’re huge soccer fans. It makes sense for us to hang out. They party every single night; it’s almost way too much partying.
ND: So is that who you were playing football with (earlier, he’s still in a Scotland top)?
TC: Yeah! We were out there, there was a few of those guys, some guys from Forever The Sickest Kids then a bunch of fans.
ND: Was it a sort of Scotland England match, since you’re wearing the top?
TC: Yeah, I guess. We’re actually planning like a proper match tomorrow. We have the day off and Max from You Me At Six found a field and they’re going to let us come out and play with goals and everything. It’s like We The Kings versus You Me At Six. It’s going to be awesome.
ND: Did you win in the game earlier? Did you represent for Scotland?
TC: Eh, I scored a lot but it wasn’t like a proper game. It was just hanging out and having fun.
ND: Back to music, do you think headlining a UK tour will happen anytime soon?
TC: I hope so because you know, unfortunately, as supporting bands we only have 30 minutes to play. So hopefully we can come over here, we just released a new record and I want to play more songs from it. Maybe in like September.
ND: You should do September, that’s my birthday!
TC: Well I’ll try and schedule that then; we’ll call it The Natalie Tour.
ND: Any thoughts for a supporting act for this tour (The Natalie Tour), if you could pick any band?
TC: Anyone from here or the states? Anywhere? I dunno I’d love to do a tour with Out Of Sight, They’re awesome. I’d like to invite over Never Shout Never, he’s like a really good friend of mine.
ND: The You Me At Six tour is pretty much half over, where’s been your favourite place to play so far?
TC: It’ll probably be tonight out of the whole tour, but so far since we haven’t played here tonight, it’ll probably be Manchester. We played at I think the O2 Academy again, it held like 3400 people, it was massive! Maybe the Apollo? They sang so loud to everyone of our songs. I couldn’t believe it. It was a really good feeling, that’s the ultimate payoff to hear people sing your lyrics that you worked so hard to write.
ND: Do you feel you have a good reception in the UK?
TC: Yeah so far this has been the best reception we’ve had out of all 4 times we’ve played here.
ND: Supporting a few bands on the UK tours seems to have built you up quite a following then?
TC: Yeah I think it was a matter of continuing to come over and play and just work the fan base.
ND: You’ve played Glasgow before, how do you think tonight’s crowd will compare?
TC: I hope it’ll be the best or one of the best. It’s like 2800-3000 people coming tonight. It’s sold out. I’m expecting this to be the craziest night of the tour.
ND: Glasgow’s always the craziest night.
TC: Yeah, yeah! It breeds crazy people, so it’s awesome!
ND: It’s to do with the ginger hair.
TC: Well I’m a red head so there’s a tonne of ginger kids here. I have family here too so I get to see them after.
ND: After this you’re touring the states for quite a few months?
TC: Yeah, we’re doing a college tour, well it would be a university tour over here and then we’re going to South America. Then we’re out there till August then September we’ll hopefully be back over here.
ND: Pretty non-stop, did you ever think when you were starting out you’d be this successful?
TC: Never, I mean I always wanted to be in a famous band but I never thought it would really happen. We’re just so thankful to have like real fans who give a lot of support; it’s just been really awesome. I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else.
ND: How does it feel being able to go worldwide and hear people sing your songs?
TC: It’s just like the best feeling in the world. Even like the little things, like walking off the bus and hearing people scream, “Travis! Travis!” It’s just like I would never be in this position if it wasn’t for the band. It’s awesome.
ND: You’ve played in both UK and US, how do you think the music scene differs?
TC: I think the biggest thing is that we’re lucky if we can come over here twice a year. In the states if we play a city, we play 6-7 times a year. So they know if they miss a show one month they can come see us in 2 months. Here we play every 6 months, everybody comes out for the show, it really makes the dream more real.
ND: Your second album, Smile Kid, was out in December, how do you think it differs from your debut?
TC: It’s definitely a lot more dynamic, we have the songs that are on there that are kind of like Check Yes 2.0, Secret Valentine 2.0, Skyway Avenue 2.0. Then we have songs that we do a little differently and everything in between. It’s almost like you’re watching a movie, you can almost listen to the record without skipping through a track. I think it’s really cool.
ND: Is there anything in particular that influence the making of Smile Kid?
TC: Not really, it’s just that there’s a lot of sadness and hate in the world and things like that. But I just think that everything should be more peaceful and loving so when the words came out the big underlying message of the whole record was just like love, happiness and it’s just how the world should be.
ND: Your tour manager is hovering around looking to chuck me out, so you’re in Glasgow, have you tried Irn Bru and deep fried Mars bars yet?
TC: Yes! Only because even outside of Scotland everyone is like when you go to Glasgow you have to try Irn Bru or the deep fried Mars bars. So a bunch of people got us a tonne of them. They’re so good! I was just like, “Yeah, sure I’ll try it.” Every single city we’ve been to, like even in Wales they’re like when you get to Scotland you’ve got to try them. So I tried it and it’s definitely addictive.
Pretty soon after this I was shown the door and was out on my arse to wait in the massive queue for the gig, good times.
We The Kings
