4Music

news: Breakfast with The Kixx


We first caught up with The Kixx during a showcase in April. Since then, they've been playing bigger venues. As David wrote on thekixxband.com: "We've gone from playing to fifty people in a pub to playing Manchester MEN. Amazing!"

The Kixx (Dave, 21, Jack, 20, Robbie and David, both 19) got together when they were about 14 and have been playing together since. They got their big break in 2010 after years of gigging.

The Kixx, named for "doing things just for kicks, and the fun side of life" are a band with a boyband label. They probably wouldn't mind being called a rockbilly-metal hip-hop outfit they're just here to play music. They write their own songs, and they're catchy, rocky, with a tinge of electo-pop.

They're on tour with heartthrob Olly Murs. We bumped into them outside of the London venue of the tour. The boys excitedly told stories about gig injuries while being photographed with journalists from around the entertainment world. We didn't have much time to chat, so we met up the next day for breakfast in London.

The boys insist that they aren't allowed to drink, party or do anything rock star-y during their tour. I ask if they were out last night doing the rockstar hotel partying thing, but they swear they took the train home to Reading rockstar antic free.

After some discussion, Dave instructs me to order the Full Monty breakfast rather than the Half logical, I want the hash browns, but not the beans. There is a lot of talk about beans before we get down to talking about the band. Dave is the "dad" of the group, a title he earned while he was the only one old enough to drive.

When I'm not looking, the boys steal my recorder and say secret things into it. (Robbie: "Hi Nicolle, how you doing? Here's a joke: I was crossing the road and a guy chucked milk and chocolate at me. I was like, 'How bloody dairy!'")

Robbie and David met at 12 in music class. They met Jack at a party, who'd played in a band with Dave. So was born The Kixx a band made of 12 and 13 year olds. Even through the guys are in their early 20s now, they've been playing together for 8 years. They did their first gig at 13, to about 25 people at a battle of the bands. They played to a metal audience... with acoustic guitars.

"We've never had a scene, we still don't have one," Robbie says, "I like that we're a bit different. We always have to win the crowd over."

When playing to an audience waiting to see Roll Deep or Chipmunk (which they have, by the way), it sounds like a daunting prospect.

"Every time we go on to a weird audience, and someone says 'good luck' and we think everyone's going to laugh at us," Dave continues, "We manage to win people over."

And it's easy to see why when you see them onstage they're really good!

"It's easy to do what we do because we know each other so well," Robbie says.

Fraser, the band's trusty project manager, is with them all the time.

"People underestimate how difficult it is to go onto a stage in a venue that big and nail it," he says. "In this era of manufactured bands, the best thing about this band is that they're real. We know they'll go out and do well because they've been practising for years."

"There are so many things we want to achieve as a band," Dave says. "We want to be internationally known, do an international tour and be known for our [song]writing. That's where we want to be."

The band are big fans of US band Rascal Flatts, The Script, U2 and McFly.

"McFly are amazing songwriters, they've lasted for years. To achieve what they've achieved would be amazing for us," Dave adds.

"I think we'll have made it when one of our big ballads is at the end of a film," David says.

Til then, they'll have to settle for screaming fans and sold out crowds across the country.

The Kixx are on tour through the summer. Check their website for more info. Their new single, Already Gone, is out now.

See the gallery of our breakfast here.

Back Next
blog comments powered by Disqus
t link