| The Ting Tings | |
|---|---|
 Performing at the Mod Club Theatre, March 2009
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Lowton, Greater Manchester and London, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Pop rock, indie pop[1], dance punk |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels | Sony Music Columbia Records Red Ink Roc Nation |
| Associated acts | TKO, Babakoto, Mojo Pin, Dear Eskiimo |
| Website | http://www.thetingtings.com |
| Members | |
| Katie White Jules de Martino |
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The Ting Tings is a Grammy-nominated English indie pop duo composed of Jules De Martino (drums, lead guitar, vocals, piano) and Katie White (vocals, guitar, bass drums, bass guitar, and cow bells). Originally from Hackney, London, they formed in December 2007 while based at Islington Mill Artist Studios in Salford. They have released four singles on their current label Columbia Records UK, including the single "That's Not My Name", which charted straight at number one in the UK Singles Chart on 18 May 2008.[2] The album We Started Nothing was released on 19 May 2008 and charted at number one in the United Kingdom.[3]
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Katie White started her music career in a girl group punk trio TKO – short for Technical Knock Out – with two friends from Lowton school, Marion Grethe Seaman and Emma Lally. The band had some success and supported Steps and Atomic Kitten. In March 2001 songwriter Jules De Martino wrote four songs for TKO.[4] While De Martino was in Manchester a few months later, the pair bumped into each other and discovered they had a mutual love of Portishead. De Martino relocated to Manchester, based at the alternative musician-commune the Islington Mill in Salford.[5] The pair and a friend went on to form the Portishead-influenced trio Dear Eskiimo who were signed to Mercury Records. However, due to a change of directors and managers, the management style of the record label caused them to split.[6][7] The experience left White and De Martino with a distrust of the music industry.
Retreating to The Mill, while White served behind the bar, de Martino produced tracks for various artistes located at The Mill. Developing their sound while listening to performances at The Mill they formed The Ting Tings. The name comes from the first name of a Chinese colleague of White at a shop who told her the name sounds like the pronunciation of "an old bandstand" in Mandarin.[6] The name endeared them to Asian music fans, and the group has experienced much success in Japan.[8]
Having created three songs, the bands first gig was a free-beer invite all at The Mill. Subsequent gigs were funded on donations, and after their third gig they were name checked on XFM.[5] The subsequent Islington Mill gigs ended up as some of the most sought after tickets on the Manchester party scene – with various A&R reps and record producers, such as Rick Rubin, asking for tickets.[7]
Their first double-A side single "That's Not My Name/Great DJ" was joint released by the band and local label Switchflicker Records, and together with their second single "Fruit Machine", they were on heavy rotation on British radio (amongst others BBC 6 Music, played regularly by many DJs including a session for Marc Riley who was first to have them in session on 6 Music and first to play their record on the station). "Fruit Machine" was a limited-edition, 500-only seven-inch single on Legendre Starkie Records, the bands own label, which was only available at the group's gigs at Islington Mill in Salford, Electrowerkz in Islington, Berlin in Germany and at Glasslands in Brooklyn, New York City.[9] They had a notable performance at Glastonbury Festival 2007, and after an October 2007 tour of universities in the UK with Reverend and the Makers, signed for Columbia Records.[10] On 14 December 2007 they appeared on Later with Jools Holland. In May 2008 the band credited BBC Introducing for giving them their 'life changing' break after BBC Radio Manchester's Introducing show spotted the band and put them forward for inclusion in the Glastonbury running order.
In January 2008, they were voted third in the annual BBC 6 Music poll of industry experts Sound of 2008, for acts to emerge in the coming year.[11] In February 2008 they were the opening slot act on the 2008 Shockwaves NME Awards Tour, performing with The Cribs, Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong and Does It Offend You, Yeah?.[12] In conjunction with the NME and HMV the band contributed a demo version of "Great DJ" to a limited, 5000 copies only 10" vinyl release of all the artists on the NME Awards Tour.
In late March 2008, The Ting Tings joined up with Alphabeat and The Fratellis to play a gig which was part of the 'MTV Spanking New Music Tour'. The gig was held at the Islington Academy in London.
The first single released on Columbia was "Great DJ", which received considerable airplay on BBC Radio 1 and Xfm in the UK; and enthused by magazines such as the NME. The band performed a live set on the In New Music We Trust stage at Radio 1's Big Weekend in Maidstone, Kent, which was made available by the BBC's online video player application iPlayer. The single "Shut Up and Let Me Go" appeared in an iPod commercial in late April 2008, peaking at #55 on the Billboard Hot 100.[9]
"Great DJ" was also played during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Carling Cup Final.
A cover of Altered Images' "Happy Birthday" appears on the children's show "Yo Gabba Gabba" CD (now discontinued).
The Ting Tings appeared as the musical guests on Saturday Night Live on the January 16, 2010 episode, hosted by Sigourney Weaver.
The band's debut album, We Started Nothing, was released on 19 May 2008. It was leaked onto the internet on 13 May 2008. Shortly after the release of the album, the band released a statement on the social network service MySpace which explained to fans that their single "That's Not My Name" had reached number 1 in the UK Singles Charts, the statement went on to encourage fans to purchase legal copies of the single in order to keep it at the top position for the official Sunday Chart release on 18 May. The band went on to secure Number 1 in the UK Singles chart on 18 May.
The Ting Tings performed at the iTunes Live London Festival in the KOKO nightclub on 9 July 2008, and the performance was released as a downloadable EP in the iTunes store under the title iTunes Live: London Festival ‘08. Their singles "Shut Up and Let Me Go" and "We Started Nothing" were featured in the Gossip Girl series, while the song "Be the One" was featured in One Tree Hill. Their single "Great DJ" was featured in the theatrical trailers for the Anna Faris comedy The House Bunny and the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire. The Ting Tings were one of four performers who played small interludes consisting of remixes of past hits throughout the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. They played a section from "Shut Up and Let Me Go" with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and DJ AM. They also won Best UK Video for their single "Shut Up and Let Me Go". On 31 December 2008 they performed on Jools Holland's Hootenanny show, to bring in the new year on BBC2 in the UK along with numerous other singers and bands.
The band toured Australia and New Zealand in early 2009 as part of the Big Day Out Festival lineup. They also toured in Singapore as part of that festival's night counterpart, Big Night Out.[13] Columbia Records announced on 16 January 2009 the US release of the single, "That's Not My Name" for 27 January 2009 and a March/April US concert tour by the group. In May 2009, their album won an Ivor Novello Award for best album. In June 2009 they returned to the Glastonbury Festival playing The Other stage on Friday night; on Saturday, British Hip-Hop artist Dizzee Rascal opened his set on the Pyramid Stage with a cover of "That's Not My Name". The two were headliners at the Isle of Wight Festival Friday, 12 June 2009.[14]
They toured the US, supporting Pink on her Funhouse Tour.
On 2 December 2009, they were nominated for Best New Artist at the 52nd Grammy Awards.
The band began writing their second album in Paris, France,[15] and will record the album in a converted jazz-club in Berlin after the Pink tour, from October.[16] Although they have not completed writing any tracks yet, White says that the new album would show some subtle changes to their sound.[15] Since then, it has been reported that the band would collaborate with rapper Jay-Z on the new album.[17] The duo have reportedly been assisted by label mate and Barbadian-American R&B star Rihanna with her vocals contributed on a track on the upcoming album. [18] It was revealed by NME that the album has a working titled Kunst (art in German) and will be released summer 2010.[19]
The names of two potential singles: "Help" and "Hands" were confirmed in January 2010.[20]
Katherine Rebecca White (born 1983[21] in Lowton, near Leigh, Greater Manchester) was raised in a small house in Lowton,[22] and attended Lowton High School which has a large performing arts department.[23] In 1995, White's grandfather Ken White won £6.6 million on the National Lottery and gave each of his three sons £1 million.[24] Katie's father David used his share of the money to start a music management company, which would later sign Katie's act TKO [25].
Julian "Jules" De Martino (born in 1969 in East London[26]) began playing drums at age 13.[27] He signed a minor publishing deal to Morrison Leahy Music (publisher to George Michael) and formed band Mojo Pin after being influenced by artist Jeff Buckley. The band released two indie singles, "You" and "My Imagination", with Lowlife Records and toured with Irish band The Big Geraniums in 1997.
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| Katie White | |
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| File:The Ting | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Katie Rebecca White[1] |
| Born | March 3, 1983 |
| Origin | Lowton, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Dance-punk, New Rave |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, musician, rapper |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, bass drum, cowbell |
| Years active | 1998-present |
| Labels | Columbia / Red Ink |
| Associated acts | TKO, The Ting Tings |
| Notable instruments | |
| Fender Stratocaster | |
Katie Rebecca White (born March 3, 1983 in Lowton, Greater Manchester) is an English musician. After some success with a girl group punk trio TKO supporting Steps and Atomic Kitten her father David White brought in Jules De Martino to write songs for TKO [2] and Katie and Jules formed the pop group The Ting Tings.[3]
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Katie White was brought up on a farm in Lowton,[4] part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England with her father David White, mother Lynne and sister Helena. Katie went to Lowton High School in Lowton, which has a large performing arts department.[5] When she was 12 years old Katie's grandfather Ken White won £6.6million on the National Lottery and gave each of his three sons David, Stephen and Richard £1million each. As well as buying ponies for Katie and Helena, David used his share of the money to start a music management company.[2]
Katie started her music career aged 14 in 1998 in a girl group punk trio TKO - short for Total Knock Out - with two friends from Lowton school, Joanne Leeton and Emma Lally. TKO was managed by Katie's father's music management company. They had some success and supported Steps and Atomic Kitten. TKO also appeared on ITV's CD:UK. In March 2001 David White brought in songwriter Jules De Martino who wrote four songs for TKO.[2] TKO were not able to secure a record deal but released a single on the internet.[citation needed]
Katie got back in touch with Jules De Martino when she was at Leeds University and he moved to Manchester. They formed a band called Dear Eskiimo (often misreported as Dead Eskimo) with a DJ friend Simon Templeman. The name was intended to be as nomadic, tribal and independent as possible. There were already several bands called Eskimo but Jules, who wrote the lyrics, wanted his songs to tell good stories as if in a letter, hence 'Dear Eskiimo' with the odd spelling of 'Eskimo" with two 'I"s to make it stand out.[6] Their first performance was as a support between two rock bands but it went well and they were signed up by Mercury Records at the end of 2004. Creative differences and the management style of the record label caused them to split up.[7]
Katie and Jules started a band in 2007 with Katie on vocals, guitar, piano and bass drum and Jules on vocals, drums, bass, guitar and keyboards. They started writing songs together and doing short concerts. Katie was working in a boutique with a Chinese girl called "Ting Ting," which sounds like Mandarin Chinese for "band stand" (亭) and Katie used it as name for the band.[3] One transliteration of the band's name in Japanese is a slang word for penis (wikt:ちんちん).[8] The Ting Tings started by playing for private parties at the Islington Mill arts centre in Salford and their debut album, We Started Nothing, was released on 19 May 2008.[7]
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