Back in May, we caught up with Nathan, the ever-animated drummer of The K’s, one of the UK’s most exciting guitar bands right now and a group riding a serious wave of momentum. Their sophomore album Pretty on the Internet finally lands this Friday, and if the five singles we’ve already had on repeat are anything to go by, it’s shaping up to be a bold, loud, hook-stuffed statement from a band that refuses to sit still.
In our chat, Nathan got into the guts of the record — from chaotic vocal booth moments and spoken word curveballs to the unexpected influences steering their sound. Think Deftones colliding with Charli XCX, filtered through American Idiot. We talked about everything: how the album came together so quickly, the pop stars they secretly stan, the road trip anthems that fuel their drives, and the fans who turn up at every show without fail.
This isn’t just another band on the rise, The K’s are tearing up the rulebook and having a bloody good time doing it. Here’s Nathan, in his own words.
Your debut album was released just over a year ago and now your second is already on the way, what inspired you to release another so soon?
I think obviously we had quite a lot of songs ready to go for the first one and then cause The K’s have been going for a long time. You get like a really long run up to your first album cause you’ve got all the songs that sort of were written during your bands transformative years, whereas this one was sort of we had some ready to go that we didn’t think fit the first album really. They’re sort of from a similar sort of time period as the first album, they’re just different songs and we wanted to sort of strike while the iron was hot. I think get into the studio and just start doing it. We’re one of those bands that can’t sit still for very long like we have to carry on going, you know, doing stuff.
What were some of the biggest influences behind the upcoming album?
We’ve got quite an eclectic sort of taste as a band. From like you know the Talking Heads to like blink-182 and like everything in between. We’re always plucking from current pop music and saying we should do something like that or oh “that’s a cool song from Sabrina Carpenter”, you know what I mean?
So it’s a bit of a funny one. It’s a really sort of wide pool we draw from. I’d say one of our main influences is always like sort of older punk and current pop, I’d say like as weird as that might sound. It’s like me and Jamie do a lot of listening to what’s like current on the radio and stuff like that new Rachel Chinouriri is so good, “Can we talk about Isaac?” that’s a great tune, I love it. We’re always just sort of pinging things like that to each other but then we go back to The Jam and The Clash and things like that and you know it just creates a really sort of a fun writing environment when you’re constantly drawing from different things.
I think maybe before the first album, we were a bit sort of intent on sticking with a certain formula but like as we’ve progressed I think we’re way more open to doing like “oh let’s do that that you know that Lorde song is class, let’s do something like”. Just see how it happens.
What’s a tiny production detail in one of your songs you’re obsessed with?
Well actually the single that came out at midnight tonight has this really fun like spoken word bit, it’s a bit different for us. It’s got like this middle eight sort of instrumental we’re a bit nervous about it cause it’s so different for us. Jamie (our singer) does this spoken word bit and me, Ryan, and Dex, the remaining three got into the vocal booth all at once and just like started screaming at each other. We had it like really low in the mix and but there’s some like really funny insults that are just really underneath everything that you’d never hear but we know they’re there so, see if you can find them! I called Dexter’s dad some horrible names but that’s cause he called my dad some horrible names you know so we just went back and we went blow for blow.
Are there any sounds or instruments you wish you could steal from another band?
I wish we had like a really huge sort of like wall of sound moment like Deftones and shit like that, I just love Deftones and that huge sort of sound that feels like you take a bite out of it.That sort of really chunky huge punchy drums that sort of thing. I love that shit. I live for like really visceral music, it’s intense almost. So that’s what I’d like us to be a bit more like in the future but we’ll see.
The other three like a lot of slower stuff. I think that’s what makes us work is my influences are completely different to Jamie’s and Ryan’s and Dex’s.
Are there any artists you love that your fans wouldn’t expect?
Yeah loads! I love Charli XCX and I know that like the majority of our fans would be like oh Charli XCX? I got into it during like lockdown cause she did “how I’m feeling now”.
Addison Rae’s new tunes, as much as like people don’t wanna take her seriously cause she’s a bit of a TikTok dance sort of person, I think Headphones On is a great tune. Any Sabrina I just love Sabrina but Chappell as well. All the sort of the pop girls having the moments and I’m loving it, I’m loving this sort of new wave cause it’s not just like boring pop music it’s really fun. Chappell Roan’s debut is just so different for a pop star, I love it I absolutely love it.
Which band member is banned from aux?
We’ve all got those tunes that we just woudn’t play for our friends because it’s quite slow or it’s just like quite an introspective song you might want to listen to and just have a think but Dex is like really bad for just putting on the deep and thoughtful song when we’re driving on a long drive and it’s like oh man, I feel terrible. Like we were on a high listening to like Juno now we’re listening to fucking Simon & Garfunkel (nothing against Simon & Garfunkel) but the AUX he doesn’t quite match the energy. I love you though Dex.
What’s your go to road trip album?
Probably American Idiot. I just put it on start to finish, you know those two nine minute songs are just fucking ace, Jesus of Suburbia and Homecoming. American Idiot every day of the week.
You have quite a dedicated fanbase, what do you think it is about your music that connects with people so deeply?
I think cause we come across, I hope we come across quite normal. I hope we come across like we’re just giving it a go sort of thing rather than like we’ve got a fucking nail this. I hope we come across sort of going with the flow. You see a lot of people really like quite like try hard these days and I hate to use that like phrase but like it doesn’t feel very natural and if it doesn’t feel natural to us we don’t do. I think we’re quite personable is what I’m trying to say. I think people can see a bit of themselves in all of us and the music.
Do you ever spot familiar faces in the crowd, fans who have been there since the beginning?
We’ve got some really dedicated fans like Mark and Nima Chappell just lovely, lovely people. Without fail every time they’ll be in front of Ryan. They follow us around on tour, like they go on their own tour with us that sort of thing you know and it’s just like really wow you know? That’s a lot of money you’re spending to come and see little old us you know. They’re just a couple of names, there’s loads of people who do that. We’re really lucky like we got that passionate sort of fan base, long may it continue like we’re really really lucky, really lucky.
Your fanbase is also fast growing, with this year’s tour venues increasing in size quite a bit compared to this time last year, how does it feel stepping out onto those bigger stages?
It’s weird when I first joined the band, it was like oh my god like we’re playing Lafayette a 1,000 cap in London and now we’re doing the Roundhouse, it’s sort of a different feeling. I don’t know like it feels like yeah cool, you know what I mean? I’m fucking buzzing to do the Roundhouse whereas the first time when I went on tour with the band I think I was sort of like this is amazing, whereas now it’s sort of like feels when we’re on those stages, we feel like we’re supposed to be up there, which is like the main thing. I think I’ve felt a couple of times maybe out of our out of my my depth sometimes but like not this tour, I mean in the past and I’ve sort of outgrown that now which is natural. That sort of sense of wonder is not quite there anymore which is great cause it feels like our job, which is great it feels normal.
It’s funny cause a lot of those dates that we did late 2023 with The Reytons we’re now headlining ourselves. So like the growth we got off that tour was just wonderful and The Reytons are lovely guys. To be able to be like oh yeah we’ve been here with The Reytons, oh yeah we’ve done this venue but now we’re headlining it.
Are there any of your performances in particular that have been especially memorable?
The one that always comes to mind whenever I get asked to something similar I always sort of think Glasto was another level. It was 12:30 on a Sunday obviously everybody’s like hungover or you know whatever else. We were just sort of a bit nervous, we really wanted it to be special and we were worried that there would be no one there cause it’s 12:30 on a Sunday. We got there and we were just overwhelmed almost like it was it was packed, we couldn’t see the end of the tent sort of thing. It was just one of those things that you dream of when you start playing music you know. So yeah that was definitely a big highlight.
And then playing Reading and Leeds main stage as well is just one that you just see when you’re a bit younger and starting playing the drums and think I hope do that one day.
Are there any live performances you’ve seen of other artists that have changed the way you play?
When I was 12 I went and saw blink-182 at the Apollo in Manchester and Travis Barker just sort of changed everything for me. I saw he did a drum solo and I just remember thinking I wanna play the drums that was so cool you know and from there I just started playing the drums. So that that performance from blink when I was like 12 years old at the Apollo. I mean it’s mad to think that they even played the Apollo in Manchester like that short of a time period ago. It’s crazy but that changed my whole world definitely, definitely forever grateful for that night.
What’s the last thing you listened to that blew your mind?
Probably Brat. The first time I listened to Brat just under a year ago, I was in Spain, we were there for a festival and Brat had just come out and I went on a bit of like a road trip on my own. I put Brat on and I thought this is the peak of her powers sort of thing. She was so, it was just fucking ace. Brat every day of the week.
If you could soundtrack a reboot of any movie, what would you choose?
Would it be weird if I said Saving Private Ryan? That might be a little strange. I don’t think our music fits over like World War 2 but like it’s my favourite film. I’d like to see what we could do with it.
What do the fans have to look forward to in the coming months?
There might be a few little bits and bobs coming out with the main ones obviously the album but you know we’ve got a few little plans here and there we’ll see how they materialise but yeah hopefully there’ll be something for everybody to look forward to.
What’s your favourite flavour crisps?
Salt and vinegar. I fucking love discos or squares like they’re really thick, you get a good crunch out of them. I don’t know what they do to them but it can’t be good for you it’s great those guys are great.
Watch the full interview here: