The Ting Tings are an English Indie pop duo from Salford formed in 2007. The band consists of Katie White (vocals, guitar, bass drums, bass guitar, cowbells) and Jules De Martino (drums, lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, vocals). White was a barmaid at the Mill while De Martino produced tracks for various artists therein. The pair developed their sound from influences of performers at the Mill, and were inspired to form their own group, “The Ting Tings”. “Ting Ting” was the name of a Chinese colleague of White at a shop, who told her that it sounded like the pronunciation of “bandstand” in Mandarin. The band researched the name and found it also meant the “sound of innovation on an open mind”.
Having created three songs, the band’s first gig was a free-beer invite all at the Mill in their rented dwelling called “the Engine House”. Subsequent gigs were funded on donations, and after their third gig they were name-checked on XFM. The 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.
Their first double-A single “That’s Not My Name/Great DJ” was jointly released by the band and a local label, Switchflicker Records. With their second single “Fruit Machine”, they were on heavy rotation on British radio, including BBC 6 Music. DJ Marc Riley was the first to have them in session on 6 Music and the first to play their record on the station. “Fruit Machine” was a released as limited-edition, 500-only, seven-inch single on Legendre Starkie Records (the band’s own label), which was only available at the group’s gigs at Islington Mill in Salford, Electrowerkz in Islington, Berlin, Germany and at Glasslands in New York City.
They had a notable performance at the Glastonbury Festival in 2007, and after an October 2007 tour of universities in the UK they signed to Columbia Records. In 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 the show spotted the band and put them forward for inclusion in the Glastonbury running order.
The first single released on Columbia was “Great DJ”, which received considerable airplay on BBC Radio 1 and XFM in the UK and praise from magazines such as NME. “Great DJ” reached top 40 on the UK Singles Chartt. The band’s debut album, We Started Nothing, was released in May 2008 and entered the UK Album Chart at number one, following the single “That’s Not My Name”, which topped the singles chart. Subsequent singles were “Shut Up and Let Me Go”, which peaked at number six, “Be The One” (number 28) and “We Walk” (number 58). We Started Nothing won an Ivor Novelo Award for best album in May 2009. The Ting Tings recorded a cover version of Altered Images’ “Happy Birthday” for the children’s show Yo Gabba Gabba.
In the United States, the single “Shut Up and Let Me Go” appeared in an Apple iPod commercial in late April 2008, helping the song peak at number 55 on the Billboard. Tracks from the album were featured in various television shows, films and advertisements. 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 2008, including a section from “Shut Up and Let Me Go”. They also won the award for Best UK Video for their single “Shut Up and Let Me Go”.
The duo began writing their second album in Paris, France. The lead single, “Hands” (the first track they wrote for the album), was released in October 2010. It was mixed by Calvin Harris and written by the duo themselves. The single debuted at number 29 on the UK Singles Chart, marking the duo’s fifth top 40 single; it also topped the Billboard dance chart in the US. The video for the single “Hang It Up” premiered on YouTube in October 2011, followed by a video for the song “Silence” in November 2011. The album’s third single, “Soul Killing”, premiered on the internet in early February 2012; a video was filmed but never released. The album, Sounds from Nowheresville, was released in the same month and reached number 24 on the UK Albums Chart.
