With the release of their debut album Mass, the punk quartet packed quite a punch. After returning from their European tour to rave reviews, the band are looking to the future and hoping to make a mark on the re-emerging genre of punk and indie. Being blessed with the presence of Pale Waves and Foo Fighters after supporting them on tour, King Nun are working their way up the ranks.
Me: Hi! Is that Theo?
Theo: Hi! I’ve been expecting you. Good to hear from you.
Me: Hi, it’s Sophia from TN2 magazine! How are things? How are you?
Theo: Fantastic. I’ve got off a big ol’ European tour so it’s good to be in my lounge for a change. Comfortable and rested, yeah.
Me: Brilliant, I just wanted to say thanks first of all for taking the time to interview
Theo: It is no problem. Thank you for your interest. I really appreciate it.
Me: Yeah so I just want to say congrats as well on the new album ‘Mass’
Theo: Ahh!! God bless ya, thanks!
Me: Yeah it’s been doing pretty well from what I’ve seen around the place so how have you found the reaction so far?
Theo: It’s been that I’ve only seen good stuff which is either very very good news or very fortunate. I think it’s amazing but really the thing that means the most to me is that I’m happy with it. I think that’s the thing that I’m most proud of because I mean I’m the hardest one who plays I think.
Me: You’re the one who rocks out the most.
Theo: Yeah I’m definitely the worst critic when it comes to my own shit. I’m happy, I’m pleased and then the fact I’ve been seeing good stuff is a bonus.
Me: Yeah definitely and did you have any expectations of what it was going to be like after the album? ‘Cause I know it’s such a process where it’s you and everyone in the studio for awhile and then suddenly it’s out there. It’s out of your hands. Has it been what you thought it would have been like or different?
Theo: I think my optimistic expectation is that there’ll be a growth in audience, that’s the only thing we could have hoped for aside from it receiving any kind of praise but you don’t want to really think about that. That’s kind of the place where you can sit down and get excited for the good reviews to come in and all of that, I mean it’s definitely exciting to some degree, I don’t think it’s healthy to be drawing on that kind of thing. It’s more that we knew that if our audience grows to any degree because of the album, that we were on a good trajectory. Maybe it could have bombed. I think we’re very lucky that we survived that one.
Me: No, I think it’s been pretty good so far from what I’ve seen as well. You’re saying how it’s that audience that’s important to you as well, you’re happy with it and [the album is] your baby really. How’s the audience been like? You’ve just come back from your tour. I’m sure that’s been amazing, interacting with all those people.
Theo: Oh my god, it’s amazing. It really really is. For the most part, it’s consistently meeting great people. Such a wonderful thing. Is swearing allowed in this interview?
Me: Yeah of course it is!
Theo: Ok great. It’s quite rare that I come across any proper dickheads, that’s extremely rare. For the most part, I meet amazing people and they happen to be fans of our music. It’s a joy, a joy to be around those people.
Me: Brilliant, yeah and how have you found the experience of your tour? Was this the first kind of bigger tour that you’ve been on?
Theo: I think, not really. We were lucky enough to tour with Pale Waves quite a lot and they are quite a big deal. We were very lucky and honoured to be on that tour and we did another tour with a band called Gang of Youths who are fantastic band, that was quite a big tour, and before this tour we opened for Foo Fighters.
Me: Oh my god, wow.
Theo: We had our first look into what a larger production does and also a venue that is built for the purpose of watching music rather than just being a bar as well because that’s quite a different approach to when you’re playing a bar. It’s more of a party vibe, that you have to millennium falcon through the trench in Star Wars your way out but when you’re at a built for purpose music venue, there’s a strength and a danger that comes with that.
Me: Yeah definitely. With those sort of productions, it’s crazy the amount of work that goes into them and it’s a whole experience.
Theo: Oh god yeah, absolutely, I love it, I live for the work. I love it really. All these people getting it all together and making it so right so that we can go up and act mental, wicked, love it.
Me: And do you prefer the smaller more intimate gigs or are you for the bigger production?
Theo: I don’t know, I’m not sure really, Obviously we cut our teeth in small places. So that’s got a special place in our hearts. There is something about being on a bigger stage though. I mean, our live show is based on a lot of jumping around, it’s very movement heavy so having a bigger stage is definitely suits that quite well
Me: You have a lot more space then.
Theo: I’m not so sure about preference. I know moving forward I would like to play bigger and bigger stages, that’s how my job goes, if everything goes well.
Me: On the tour you’ve just been on, was there a favourite place that you played or a city or venue that stood out or were they all amazing?
Theo: There was one that was a very bright, incredible memory of mine. There was this place called oh my god, my English ignorance pronouncing French names, I’m definitely going to do it right, it was called la Trianon. It was this old Parisian theatre in Paris so it was like this beautiful stage and in front of us there were these velvet walls, and these statues on the higher levels and it was so beautiful and otherworldly. Being on that stage it felt like you were meant to be there and it felt like the performance, it was like what I was saying earlier, it felt like the whole thing was built for a performance and built for something really special to happen. It felt like it was there for you to just go on and pull off this magic trick, it was actually our best show so far in our careers, such a beautiful venue, amazing show, in Paris which is like quite sought after in our careers to end up there one day, that was very special, very good.
Me: That sounds amazing and any of those grandiose venues there’s already a certain atmosphere and elegance in them, when you get to channel that, it really does lift a band up when they’re performing.
Theo: Yeah exactly, it just felt like you could properly escape into the performance. It’s a place that’s so ridiculously lavish. It may as well have been on a different planet. That’s amazing because all music boils down to expression and escapism so the fact that we were in this ridiculous place just acting like lunatics, it felt like a real proper escape and I loved it.
Me: That’s great. Is there a favourite song that you like to play live? Because I know there’s a difference between your favourite song that you’ve written or made but when it’s played live, it can take on another life. Is there one that you really get into when you’re on stage?
Theo: It’s a song called mascara runs because it’s the first track of our album and it was first song where I put down the guitar and just had the microphone in my hand. I really enjoy acting like a lunatic. It’s far easier to do that without a guitar weighing you down, I think. I really enjoy how cathartic the song feels to perform and that informs a lot of the set actually. I’ve put down the guitar for quite a lot of it actually, just because we realised that dynamic works really well. Just the one guitar and me with the mic so it’s a lot of fun.
Me: Last question I’ll finish up on. I’ve recently noticed that there’s revival in alt genres, particularly in the UK. Sam Fender has risen up the ranks and then you have Foals as well who have had this amazing last couple of years where they’ve blended indie and rock and alternative.Just thinking with your band, you have a lovely mix of punk and rock and alt and all sorts as you’re coming up through the ranks as well. So, what are your thoughts on the resurgence of the more alternative genres especially since after we’ve had hip hop and rap dominating the scene for quite a while?
Theo: I think Fontaines DC, having sold out their entire tour of these amazing venues was an incredible thing to witness. The fact that for one they are an unmistakably incredible band and then full of amazing songs and incredible lyricism and the fact that their whole tour sold out definitely indicated to me that what you’re saying is true. The fact that this kind of music is more popular, maybe my prayers have been answered. There might be a parallel with the anger people are feeling about political situations recently. Maybe something about pop isn’t fulfilling that anger. I’m very happy for it. I think the thing with popular music is it’s all preference and point of view really. So the fact that popular opinion falls in with my tastes is like…god bless it.
Me: It’s just really nice to see as well all these artists that would have maybe been left in the underground a bit more a couple of years ago are getting more and more attention and I think King Nun are definitely one of the bands that deserves more of that attention.
Theo: Thank you so much for this. It was really enjoyable.
Me: Thank you so much for taking the time to do it, I really appreciate it.
King Nun’s debut album Mass is out now. The last leg of their 2019 tour is currently under way in Europe and they kick off their UK tour in February 2020
