The K's are on fire!

[WAM] MAGAZINE - THE K's

What’s next for Glass town’s finest?

The K's (Ryan Breslin, Jordan Holden, Jamie Boyle & Dexter Baker)

Jon Lingwood

The K’s are on fire

It’s something you’re guaranteed to hear at any show where the Earlestown Indie quartet are playing, but having made their mark at Neighbourhood and selling out Manchester Academy 2 in January, how far can they go?

Formed in 2017 by childhood friends Jamie Boyle (vocals &guitar) and Dexter Baker (Bass) they would soon be joined by Ryan Breslin (guitar) and then Jordan Holden (drums) in 2018. The band have conquered every target they have set out for themselves and after having one of the biggest crowds over on the Viola Beach stage at Neighbourhood Weekender this year despite an early afternoon stage time, they were a group on everyone’s lips.

For guitarist Ryan it was a momentto remember. “It was quality wasn’t it!

I think we always knew we’d havea good turn out, but I don’t think anyone was expecting that. The numbers were unbelievable, probably the most we’ve ever played to!”

2019 is set to be a memorable year for The K’s because not only did they make their national television debut on Soccer AM but they will be flying over to Croatia and Serbia to play their first European Festivals amongst a ton of UK dates.

There to guide them will be none other than the man who ‘discovered’ Oasis, Alan McGee.

Signing to his Creation23 label inApril, the band were soon heading down to London to record their next single ‘Aurora’ and the B-Side which is on course for release in September.

Speaking exclusively to [WAM], frontman Jamie explained it was an easy decision in the end: “We had a few people interested but his record obviously speaks for itself and when we got talking we all had the exact same ideas of where we need to be and what direction to be going in.

It’s a dream team”.

Conscious that their energy on stage is one of their biggest strengths they are determined to translate this to their next singles.

“Alan has helped us get our live sound down on record. I think most would agree that we’re definitely at our best when playing live but we were yet to reciprocate that on record.. but on the newest single, we’ve absolutely nailed it.If we do say so ourselves”.

Balancing music around their dayjobs, the band might be humble but with almost 1.4 million streams of their first three singles (over a million and counting for their huge debut single ‘Sarajevo’), prove they have a knack for writing a song and there is always a travelling army of fans who follow them wherever they play to sing the words back to them.

A strong hometown crowd is vital to upcoming artists and they benefit from big support network in Newton-Le-Willows. “We’re proud to be from here” says Jamie. “Everywhere we go when we’re home people are always asking us how everything’s going and what we’ve got coming up”.

The K's with Creation23 label bosses, Alan McGee and Simon Fletcher

The K's at Neighbourhood Weekender 2019

Jon Lingwood

Ahead of the bands arrival and as we were setting things up for our cover photo shoot in ‘The Griffin’ one of the market town’s many pubs, regulars were keen to tell us about the first time they watched the band as they cut their teeth playing pubs and clubs in the area and how proud that some of their own are doing so well.

“We are just enjoying the ride and believe in what we do and people are jumping on it with us, which is great.It’s stepping up all the time, and we are taking it in our stride as it comes really, the buzz is catching fire and we’re in it for the long haul!”

We asked the band what they wouldconsider to be a “success” for The K’s and what would be a failure. Keeping things casual Jamie exclaimed:

“Where do you start! It means all different things to different people!I think a success would be making it onto The Simpsons. I’d be happy with that. A failure would be not making it on the show”.

After conquering Manchester, Europe is next and after that anything is possible, they are proof that things can grow in the huge shadows of two of the biggest music scenes in the North West

Viva La K’s, you ain’t seen nothing yet world. • Lee Harman

Find the band at Kendal Calling and YNot Music Festivals (both 25-28th July)

JAMIE BOYLE VOCALS & GUITARS

Top 5 Albums

All Mod Cons (The Jam)

Up The Bracket (The Libertines)

Favourite Worst Nightmare (Arctic Monkeys)

London Calling (The Clash)

Definitely Maybe (Oasis)

RYAN BRESLIN LEAD GUITAR

Top 5 Albums

Exile On Main Street (The Rolling Stones)

The Kids Are Alright (The Who)

The Stone Roses (The Stone Roses)

What’s The Story (Morning Glory) (Oasis)

Youth and Young Manhood (Kings of Leon)

-Rivfest returns in 2019 with The K's as headliners -

Rifvest 2018 with headliners, The Lottery Winners

Lee Harman

RIVFEST

It’s been announced that Rivfest will be returning this September and with details on the line up due imminently, we look ahead to the fourth year.

First conceived in 2016 following the tragic deaths of River Reeves and his Viola Beach band mates, Kris Leonard, Tomas Lowe, Jack Dakin and their manager Craig Tarry, River’s family and friends pulled the first festival together on the playing fields at Priestley College in under two weeks. More than 500 people came together for a memorable event and at that point Ben Dunne, River’s dad, knew that he wanted to keep his son’s memory alive through future investment in local emerging talent. This became the inspiration for the River Reeves Foundation providing bursaries to young artists wishing to pursue careers within the arts.

Rivfest 17 took the original idea and ran with it. More than 2000 people saw Maxïmo Park and Billy Bragg headline but it was unexpected moments like Joe Hill from Serratone joining The Voice Uk winner Mo and 32tens on stage for an impromptu jam that really stole the show.

One year on and Rivfest brought about a change for the festival seeing it move into Warrington town centre. The main stage was at the Parr Hall with fringe events taking place at 9 other local venues including Friars Court, The Lounge and The Auction Rooms. The move into the town centre brought a focus on emerging artists from across the North West. A showcase event at the Parr Hall on the eve of the main event put The Lottery Winners in the spotlight along with No Hot Ashes, The Bohos and Kula Bay.

Michael Grainger, festival coordinator believes the best part about Rivfest is discovering new talent:

“It’s really exciting for me when it comes to booking bands for the event. I get to hear so many bands and artists that I wouldn’t normally come across. I want audiences at Rivfest to enjoy their favourite local artists but I want to provide the opportunity to discover a new favourite as well.

Last year I was so pleased to bring The Mysterines to Friars. They almost blew the roof off and no-one in the audience really saw it coming. For a long time they were Liverpool’s best kept secret. going on to support Miles Kane and have become a regular feature on Steve Lamaq’s 6Music show. Likewise, No Hot Ashes are going from strength to strength and they are now headlining their own show at the Ritz in Manchester with their debut album ready for release. The Lottery Winners will play at Glastonbury this year following the huge success of their live performance video which was shared globally by Coldplay”.

Rivfest 19 will take place at the Pyramid Centre in Warrington on the 28th September. With 30 artists spread across 3 stages it promises to bring the same blend of up and coming artists from Liverpool and Manchester alongside local acts.

“Having everything back in one location will make it so much easier to catch more bands without missing anything” Grainger adds, “We’re doing our best to schedule each of the stages to provide something different without too many overlaps or clashes. One of the stages this year will be co-curated by Liverpool collective Whispering Pines, They’ve done loads with Deltasonic and Skeleton Key Records in the past and they’ll bring a new dimension to Rivfest this year along with some really exciting new bands.

Head to riverreevesfoundation.org for more details and buy tickets now from pyramidparrhall.com

WArringtonMusic.co.uk