With a 2021 album burning a hole in their touring pocket, Sussex’s preeminent hard rock power duo light up not one but two Welsh arenas in March (Cardiff and Swansea). Carl Marsh natters about that and more with Royal Blood drummer Ben Thatcher.
Two massive gigs in Wales for Royal Blood this month, then – one of them at the new Swansea Arena, where’ll you be the first touring band to play there. That’s a considerable jump from playing smaller Welsh venues, not that long ago.
I’ve got some great memories of playing in Wales, actually. I remember playing on Valentine’s Day in Cardiff. This must have been in 2014 – we played a little venue, I can’t remember what it was called [The Globe], but it had about 150 people there and it was a great time. We’ve played the Motorpoint in Cardiff on the last tour, but we’re really looking forward to coming and opening this Arena in Swansea.
Your first two albums went to number one in the UK charts, and 2021’s Typhoons completed a hat-trick of chart-toppers.
We weren’t writing the album or putting it out to get another number one record. We’re putting the music out because we love making the music and sharing that with our fans. And you know, wherever it gets with its chart position is definitely a bonus: it’s nice to get that hat-trick. We have a good team that placed our release in the right week. It all comes down to a lot of things. Musically, and as an artist, that time goes very fast – you know, it’s a week, or two weeks if you’re a superstar. If you’re Adele, maybe a bit more. But that time passes, and it’s about having songs people want to go back and listen to more than just that one-off.
I like how the latest album didn’t try to be something too far different from the first two releases, if that makes sense?
I think we just wanted to expand and try new things but also hold onto the integrity of what Royal Blood is and how Mike [Kerr, singer and bassist] and I are playing – whilst also not being afraid to add other musical elements, keyboards and stuff like that, because we don’t want to be stuck in this rock’n’roll box. But we want to expand what we can do and have fun with it at the end of the day.
Royal Blood is just you and Mike, of course – ever since he returned from Australia after a stint with an earlier version of the band, you collected him from the airport and ended up continuing as a duo. Has there been a possibility of having or wanting more band members in that time?
When we were starting bands together, we had lots of other people in our bands: we were a three-piece at one stage, which wasn’t really called anything, and then the Royal Blood name came about. It came down to work, really, other people not being able to be in the same room together.
Mike then developed his sound to compensate for a guitarist not being there. And it became really interesting what we could do – just us two – and that’s how it all came about.
We find ourselves in such a fortunate position. We love what we do, and we would never take it for granted. So, every gig we play is like our last gig anyway, and we always prepare for it that way.
Not taking any of this for granted is probably a secret to your ongoing success.
I think the band also has gone through quite a lot together – Mike now being sober – and we’ve grown up a bit in that sense. We’ve done a lot of things. This fresh start for us feels just so healthy, and so much more creative and fun. It is really nice to step on the stage feeling like that.
Royal Blood play Swansea Arena, Sat 19 Mar. Tickets: £30.40. Info: here / Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, Sun 27 Mar. Tickets: £27.50. Info: here
words CARL MARSH