Bleeds United: Hot Press meets Royal Blood

Brighton-based duo Royal Blood have been attracting considerable attention for their brand of sludgy alt. rock, and have picked up some notable fans along the way, with Arctic Monkeys offering support slots at their Marlay Park and Finsbury Park shows this summer. The group first showed their admiration for Royal Blood last year, when drummer Matt Helders wore their t-shirt at Glastonbury.

“We hadn’t been going too long and we actually didn’t have any t-shirts at the time,” recalls Royal Blood’s affable drummer, Ben Thatcher. “So we had to make one, DIY style. Basically, Matt had heard some of our stuff and asked our manager if we had any merchandise. We didn’t which meant we had to test out our design skills! Funnily enough, an endorsement like that doesn’t result in an immediate spike in coverage. Our family and friends were aware but there wasn’t an overnight surge in media interest.”

Royal Blood – Thatcher and bassist Mike Kerr – actually hooked up with Arctic Monkeys midway through their recent UK tour, when they attended the official Brit Awards party in London.

“Yeah, it was at the Savoy and it was definitely the partying highlight of the tour,” enthuses Thatcher. “We met up with Arctic Monkeys and we also got to say 'hello' to Muse, which was great as they’re heroes of ours. Chic were playing and that was pretty amazing, they’re a brilliant live act.”

What did Ben make of Alex Turner’s notorious Brits speech?

“It is what it is,” he shrugs. “I actually don’t have too much of an opinion on it. I’m not too fussed. Sometimes people can blow these things a bit out of proportion. I mean, the speech attracted a lot of attention, I guess. Perhaps it’s best to focus on the music (laughs).”

Although Royal Blood only formed in 2012 and have released just two singles – the hard-rocking blitzkriegs ‘Out Of The Black’ and ‘Little Monster’ – their progression has been notably quick and shows no signs of slowing.

“It might seem like an overnight thing to some people but it took a lot of work to get to this point,” says Ben. “We did a lot of playing and it took us a while to figure out our identity. But there are only the two physical releases so we’re looking forward to giving people a more rounded view of what we’re about. Our album is pretty much done and we’re just working on a few bits and pieces which might get added to it. At the moment we’re looking to get it out around August.”

Royal Blood would appear to have a lot in common with another sonically intense duo, Drenge, the Derbyshire outfit whose riffs also boast a near metallic heaviness. Does Ben feel they're kindred spirits?

“Maybe there’s one or two similarities. I also think there are significant differences,” he counters. “We have our own aesthetic, y’know? Actually, we have a pretty hectic schedule – we’re doing an NME tour and heading to South By Southwest. Drenge are going over there as well. But yeah, we both occupy our own space, creatively speaking.”

Though Royal Blood are a two-piece in the tradition of The White Stripes, The Black Keys and The Kills, Kerr notably plays only bass. Remarkably, the fuzzed-up tunings he achieves make the instrument sound exactly like a guitar, meaning the band don’t sacrifice anything in heaviness.

“Matt’s a creative guy and he’s able to generate some fairly extraordinary noise on the bass,” nods Thatcher. “It certainly doesn’t make any difference when it comes to live performance – we play hard and the gigs are full of energy. We did our first headlining tour of Britain recently and the shows were brilliant. The gigs were sold-out and the crowd reaction was fantastic.”

Some maybe we can look forward to people playing air bass?

“Yes, hopefully – we’d love to see that!”

Royal Blood play The Workman's Club, Dublin on March