Tags: The K’s, Manchester United, Earlestown, Ryan Breslin
Formation of The K’s:
This is the story of how The K’s formed. At nearly three in the morning, at an afterparty following a heavy night out, Jamie Boyle leans across to Ryan Breslin and utters an invitation that is about to change both men’s lives.
“Do you want to get something going?”
Not quite Shakesperean, but for the ‘enemy to steal away their brains’. However, for a songwriter in a band whose biggest single manages to reference Archduke Franz Ferdinand and the fallen state of Austro-Hungary, it was more than enough to start the band that we know today as The K’s.
Releasing music:
Ryan Breslin, guitarist of The K’s and songwriter, has become a cult favourite of the band for his banter with the crowd and his band members on stage, geeing up the crowd throughout a K’s concert and often jumping into the crowd with his trademark Gretsch guitar to get closer to the adoring faithful.
The K’s, unsigned for so many years, releasing a steady stream of head-banging indie rock anthems that restore one’s faith in guitar music. They released their debut LP, I Wonder If The World Knows in March 2024. A renowned first collection of tracks that are sure to have fans bouncing for years to come.
With their first single releasing in 2017, the widely-renowned Sarajevo, it has taken quite a while for their first record to drop. But it seems about right for a band whose history is scattered with near-misses, ‘almosts’ and ‘not quites’.
The history of The K’s:
“There’s not a member of the band who’s not an original member of The K’s.
“Dexter [Baker, the bassist of The K’s], Jamie and I all went to school together. And, about three bands were going at school at that time.
“We sort of crossed paths and then went our different ways – but we were never in the band at the same time.
“I was in another band, then Dexter and Jamie used to do The K’s and then they split up and I joined my brother’s band.
“And then we met, Jamie and I were out on different nights out, just before Sarajevo came out and his after party.
“Me and Jamie were chatting in the kitchen and he was like, ‘do you want to get something going?’
“I said, ‘yeah, let’s go’.
“So that following week I just picked my guitar up and we both went into a little studio with Dexter and the drummer that we had at the time and we just fucking banged out Sarajevo and that was it.”
“I think having that sort of community, ethos and people coming together – backing you – it’s priceless for especially when you’re trying to release an album.”
Ryan breslin
The K’s, football, and Earlestown:
Boyle and Breslin, die-hard football fans of Newcastle United and Manchester United respectively, are natives of Earlestown, a town sitting equidistance from Manchester and Liverpool, represent their hometown with pride. The band keep Earlestown close when performing, whether it’s in 2022 single Hometown or through Boyle’s sampling of Ewan McColl’s ode to Salford, ‘Dirty Old Town’ when on stage. Though of course, Boyle changes ‘Old Town’ to ‘Earlestown’ when performing to the adoring onlookers.
This attachment, nay, devotion, to Earlestown is so important for Breslin.
“We’re not going to try and pretend that we’re a fucking Mancunian band or we’re a Liverpool band.
“You see so many bands say ‘Oh, we’re from such and such a place’ when they’re not.
“We’re proud of where we’re from – and we know it’s fucking rough and ready, but it’s our rough and ready town
“We always try and reference it, in music videos like Hometown. We did that in the local pub, where we all go and get pissed every week.
The Earlestown Community:
“I think having that sort of community, ethos and people coming together – backing you – it’s priceless for especially when you’re trying to release an album.”
Earlestown, situated between the two big cities in the North West has clearly thrown up some issues in the past given the big footballing rivalry between the two red clubs. It was also never in doubt to which side of the rivalry Breslin was going to fall onto.
“My dad supports them, and if we supported anyone else, he’d kick us out when we were kids.
“I remember growing up and my best mate at the time in school – we can’t have been much older than 10, and we were having like a sleepover, and my dad wouldn’t fucking let him because he was a Scouser and he supported Liverpool!
“He’s like, ‘Fuck you, he’s not coming in the house.’ Obviously, he was only joking, but it was that way or no way for me growing up – we’re all United fans in our family.”
Breslin and Manchester United:
Apart from his dad’s insistence, there was a few moments that stuck out to Ryan when asked about how his love for United blossomed.
“I remember being in a pub in Ireland when I was dead young with my dad and we were playing Arsenal and for some reason that game always sticks in my head. I only must have been about fucking, I don’t know, seven or something.”
“I’ll always remember it. There was a guy at the bar and me and my dad sat there and watched them against Arsenal.
“The goals that fucking stick out. O’Shea? [against Liverpool at Anfield in 2007]. Any goal against Liverpool or City (laughs).
“The Berbatov overhead kick against Liverpool. Rooney’s overhead against City, obviously.
“Van Persie’s volley against Villa.”
While growing up as a United fan was enjoyable for the guitarist, the last ten years have been difficult for every Manchester United fan. The retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson kicked off the struggles of the Red Devils – but a pair of cup finals last season helped to spark excitement at Old Trafford once more.
“For anyone who’s not seen us, it’s absolutely fucking chaotic but it’s for all the family and all ages.”
Ryan Breslin
Sporting rivalries in the band:
For Breslin, the League Cup victory over Newcastle United caused a divide in The K’s with singer Boyle, himself a match-going supporter of the Magpies.
“We were ripping the fuck out of each other!
“Rightly so, he was wounded – he went and was in the ground for it. I was fucking shitting it in case we lost it!”
Despite their rivalry off the pitch, Boyle and Breslin along with their other bandmates – Baker on the bass and Nathan Peers on the drums, Man Utd fans all – are at their best and are always in unison on stage. The quartet have received rave reviews for their live performances, captivating audiences whether it’s a sun-kissed day in a festival field, or a sweaty and sticky club packed to the rafters in a northern town. Ryan believes that’s where at their best.
Chemistry on stage:
“I think we are our best when we’re live. That’s our sort of the strongest sort of point because that’s what we’ve crafted for so long.
“I think bands that have grafted on the pub circuit and the little club circuit, that’s when you really learn your audience.
“For anyone who’s not seen us, it’s absolutely fucking chaotic but it’s for all the family and all ages.
“We make sure that there’s no dickheads and if there is any trouble at the front, we always make sure that we stop and make a point because everyone in that room is there for the same reason.
“Leave your troubles at the door and just have a good time.”
I press him a little further on the point that The K’s are for ‘all ages’. Plenty of explicit language and foot-stomping, people-shoving riffs, and drum fills?
“We’ve had like young lads, young girls in in the crowd on their parent’s shoulders.
“We’ve had like elderly people at the back. My grandma, fucking 80 years old, mind, was on my Mam’s shoulders at the front at one of one of our gigs.”
For The K’s now, selling out venues for all ages is easier now they’re supported by a label and management. When they were unsigned, Ryan explains there were benefits and drawbacks to their situation.
“It’s swings and roundabouts.
“My grandma, fucking 80 years old, mind, was on my Mam’s shoulders at the front at one of one of our gigs.”
Ryan breslin
Future of The K’s:
We also spoke to Breslin about the future of The K’s.
“The fact that we were unsigned for so long and we put that much graft in and we were selling tickets in Manchester without having any label or backing – that is fucking monumental for us.
“We were selling out in London, selling big venues and I think for a northern band to sell London in particular, it’s really hard.
“The fact that we were doing that with no backing and we had just put Sarajevo on Spotify for £7 ourselves.
“It does have its benefits but on the flip side, sometimes you have to strike gold and get a bit lucky, you don’t get on the Spotify and Apple playlists or on the radio.
“Our latest single [No Place Like Home] has done really well, it was on BBC Radio 6 and it got played on Radio 1.
“Now we’ve got the backing of our label and we’ve got the backing of the management everything’s stepped up again.
“But it’s, it’s 10 times better because we’ve done all the graft and we’ve earned the sort of fan base as well that we’ve got like a good foundation of a fan base to grow on.”
By Ryan Batty
(Featured image courtesy of Ryan Breslin – Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryantheks/?hl=en-gb)