The Ting Tings
Salford post-punk revival band The Ting Tings - Jules de Martino (drums, lead guitar, bass guitar, vocals, piano) and Katie White (vocals, guitar, bass drums, bass guitar, cowbells) burst on to the scene in 2007 and instantly had success with their feisty punk-rock, electronic smash hit single “That’s Not My Name”, which was certified silver in UK and platinum in the US and Australia.
Katie White had initially been in a girl group TKO (Technical Knock Out) and Jules de Martino had written some songs for the band and a chance encounter with Katie White while in Manchester in 2001, led to the pair working together.
The duo discovered their shared love for trip-hop pioneers Portishead and with their friend Simon Templeman, went on to form electronic outfit Dear Eskiimo, and were signed to Mercury Records. The band ended up splitting up after a number of management decisions, but Jules de Martino carried on producing music for other artists at Islington Mill Studios, where he worked.
The Ting Tings got their name from a Chinese colleague who said that their name meant “bandstand” in mandarin and subsequent success followed. Initially the band self-funded their own gigs and the pair produced a limited edition 7” record which only had 500 pressings on their own label Legendre Starkie Records, and made them high in demand.
All their hard work paid off in 2007, when Jules de Martino and Katie White were eventually signed to Columbia Records having performed at Glastonbury and toured UK universities throughout the year to build their fan-base.
By 2008, The Ting Tings had blown up in the UK and across Europe and were nominated for several awards and performed at the (then) Shockwards NME Tour and along with The Cribs, Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong and Does It Offend You, Yeah?.
Extensive airplay across rock and alternative station XFM and performances for the BBC Radio One Big Weekend on the In New Music We Trust stage, ensured that The Ting Tings remained highly popular, and the duo released their debut album We Started Nothing (2008) which reached #1 on the UK Album Chart.
From 2009 onwards, The Ting Tings toured relentlessly across the world. The duo supported Pink on her Funhouse Tour and travelled across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore and also gained a prestigious Ivor Novello for best album.
The Ting Tings second album Sounds from Nowheresville was recorded in Berlin and released in February 2012. Sounds from Nowheresville received mixed reactions and only reached #23 on the UK Album Chart. The album was mixed by dance supremo Calvin Harris and contained the singles “Silence” and “Hung Up”.
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