Royal Blood
Royal Blood are a British duo, constisting of bassist/vocalist Mike Kerr and drummer Ben Thatcher. Formed in Worthing, near Brighton, both first met in 2005, when they were part of a band called "Flavour Country". Royal Blood formed in 2011, originally as a three-piece, with Kerr on bass/vocals, Matt Swan on drums and Joe Dennis on guitar. Following Dennis's departure in 2012, Kerr was forced to discover what is now his signature sound. The duo moved to Swan's home country, Australia, where Royal Blood's first EP was recorded. The band played a few shows around the Brisbane and Gold Coast area, before Kerr decided to return to the UK in 2013, where he continued the band with Thatcher on drums. The bands' sound is influenced by the likes of Pixies, The White Stripes, Led Zeppelin, Muse and more. In an interview with Gigwise, their singer Mike Kerr said they were inspired by early Muse albums such as Showbiz, and that Chris Wolstenholme's bass sound responsible for Kerr's current signature bass sound. Additionally, in a 2021 interview, Kerr revealed that New Born was the song that shaped him as a songwriter.[1]
The band proceed to work on more solo material at Brighton Electric studios, finally releasing their first self-titled LP in 2014. The album was well recieved and verified as the fastest-selling rock debut album in three years in the UK. In 2015, the band went on to play their first headlining tour around the UK, while also doing a supporting tour with Foo Fighters in the US, and playing Coachella, Reading and Leeds Festivals, amongst others.
Following the success of the first album, Kerr and Thatcher went into the studio in 2016 to work on their second LP, called "How Did We Get So Dark?", which was released in 2017. The additional sounds on the album prompted the duo to include two additional live members, Jodie Scantlebury and Zarif Davidson, providing backing vocals and playing additional samples. The same year, they played at Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage. In 2018, the band played their first headlining US tour, featuring more acts, like Queens of the Stone Age. Meeting Josh Homme, they all went into the studio to record two new songs, "Boilermaker" and "King", produced by Homme himself. Both songs debuted during the 2019 tour in Europe.
Their third album, "Typhoons", was recorded during the pandemic in 2020, and was released in 2021. The self-produced album also includes "Boilermaker" and a Paul Epworth-produced song, "Who Needs Friends". "King" was released within the deluxe digital edition of the album. The release was followed with both a festivals and headlining solo tour around the U.S. and Europe in 2022, after the Covid restrictions were lifted. For the tour, Scantlebury and Davidson were replaced with keyboardist Darren James.
Just before the tour with Muse, on May 25th, 2023, the band released a new single called "Mountains at Midnight", at the same time announcing "Back to the Water Below", the new album, set to be released in September of 2023.
Royal Blood supported Muse at an intimate gig in Cologne's Gloria Theater, in 2015. The duo opened for Muse again during the European leg of the Will of the People World Tour in 2023, exceptions being the Glasgow gig and festival shows.