Where does the name Ting Tings come from?
The Ting-Tings at SFTOC | - The Ting-Tings play Club Brenda in the Rover's Return as part of Sounds From The Other City on Sun 6 May
- Also playing are Jennifer Gentle, Magic Arm, The Beards and Detour
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"I used to work with a girl called Ting-Ting. I loved the name so went home and googled it. There are loads of meanings for it from ‘old bandstand’ to ‘a short sharp sound’ and plenty of other music and sound-related meanings. "We recently found another meaning on the internet the other day that said ‘a ting is the sound of innovation on an open mind’… Yeah! "It is also a Jamaican drink, the name of a restaurant and a ‘Motorized Head Tuner Therapeutic Head Scalp Massager for Health and Personal Care’. Nice!" How are preparations going for your first 'official' show?
| The Ting-Tings in action |
"Preparations are going good. We are writing new songs and taking them straight into rehearsals, instead of recording them like we would normally have done. It’s really working for us, as we can feel if it’s exciting straight away. We can’t get ideas out fast enough and as soon as we do, we put on a gig in our living room for our mates and see if they pogo!" You've actually been out playing a few shows in secret. How have they gone? "The gigs went amazing. We handed about four CDs out to people and suddenly, all this interest! We had only been doing it for about six weeks and had yet to gig, apart from in front of our pogo-ing friends, so our manager chucked us feet first on a five date UK tour. The headliner was an American band that sold out the venues every night, the crowds were superb and the whole thing gave us loads of confidence." Are you used to playing the guitar live yet? "There’s only two of us so I felt I had to do my bit to make some noise! I’m still learning how to do my little dance with it." | Katie on taking up the guitar on stage |
"No! I have only been playing a couple of months. I love it though; there’s only two of us so I felt I had to do my bit to make some noise! I’m still learning how to do my little dance with it." What do you think of Sounds From The Other City? "I have been to the last two Sounds From The Other City festivals and it’s my favourite event around here. Loads of bands, real music lovers and it’s run by people that really want to help bands. Before and after our performance, I am going to be running round Salford watching all my favourites and, of course, there’s always great party’s afterwards!" So when can we get our mitts on some Ting Tings sounds? "The record is out on Switchflicker records in May. It’s going to be 500 copies of limited vinyl. We are currently taking pre-orders on our MySpace page and our main single launch at Club Brenda is on Saturday 9 June." |