Pop-rock sensations We The Kings have flourished in the last ten years of being a band. Since the release of Strange Love, their ability to keep things in perspective hasn’t changed with their positive music creating an impact on fans around the world. Over time, their songs have been genuinely honest with songwriting that instills hope for other people, making their live shows meaningful for kids alike. We had the opportunity to chat with frontman, Travis Clark on the new record, how it was developed and his motivation in being the best role model for his future child.
Just want to congratulate you on your release of Strange Love. What made this record different from all your other releases?
I think this one has the most powerful vibe. I don’t really know how to explain it, but there’s something about this album that sounds really special and it’s almost like a movie. Like you can’t really listen to it or watch the middle of it – you have to watch the whole thing. I think it’ll go by really quick; we tried and made every part entertaining, so I think that’s one of the things that made it special. Some of the other albums we’ve done, we just threw some songs and wrote it last minute. I think this one has a consistency to it that the other ones maybe didn’t have.
It sort of reminded me of your older material, because before you guys were going towards a pop punk direction and now you’re heading towards a pop rock sound. How did the sound for this album in particular come about?
I think what we really wanted to do was to have different styles of music and when we started writing this album, we thought to ourselves, ‘Who best to be influenced by our music than ourselves?’ So we eventually went back and we listened to a lot of the songs that we had produced and put out before this album and we actually wrote three songs, which are like part twos of the original songs. We actually kept the lyrical sense the same and it gave us some closure to three songs we did beforehand. The album, Strange Love, was – as far as the title – based on my own relationship – it’s really strange and crazy how you find the one that you’re meant to be with, you know?
All the good things and all the bad things that happen in your life lead you to being at the right place at the right time; when you meet that person and I think that’s kind of a really special quality in life. I think this album is that exact same sentiment where all the things that had to happen for us to make this album; us growing up and learning instruments as kids. We learnt how to sing and how to write songs – things like that.
I came across your music when I was in high school and I loved the feeling that it gave me. It was very positive and optimistic. How does it feel knowing that your music helps others feel that certain way?
I think that’s the best compliment I could ever receive. I’ve always thought that music was more powerful than just songs and lyrics on a piece of paper. And that’s the music that I love too. I love listening to music that makes me feel a certain way and I’ve always wanted to write music that can make somebody feel better. I think that comes from me being bullied as a kid and having music be my escape. I used to listen to Blink-182 and Green Day and when I looked to those bands, I felt like nothing could hurt me; I was kinda in my own little world. I always wanted to be able to be that for somebody else, giving them something to listen to and something to be hopeful for.
I think naturally and organically – that’s how the music I write comes out, to inspire people that life gets better. All the bad things and all the good things that have happened in my life have lead me to this point right now. Ironically, I wouldn’t change any of that. I love that I got bullied, you know, and I love that those things happened to me because it inspired me to write about it and to hopefully make somebody else’s life a little bit easier.
It’s inspiring to know that We The Kings is instilling that sort of feeling for someone going through a dark period in their life and I think that’s one of the most rewarding aspects of your job right?
Absolutely. And you can see it when the fans come to our shows and when they sing the words, and they just lose their selves in the music. You can tell that song means so much to them and each song is different to everybody. Even what I’m writing about, that’s not maybe how they hear it. They might add it to something very specific in their life that I wasn’t even writing about but it makes them feel something and that is the best thing about music. It’s definitely rewarding that your music changes people’s lives.
We’ve had fans come up to us after every single show crying and they’re not sad tears, but it’s happy tears. All they want to do is tell us that we changed their lives and the funny thing is our fans have changed our lives, you know? We wouldn’t be anything if it weren’t for the fans so every time a fan says, ‘Your music has changed my life’, it’s like, we should be thanking them; they’re the ones that have given us a life that we’ve dreamed of and now it’s reality.
Obviously it’s nice to hear that feedback from your fans and even if we all speak in a different language, your music has this great connection with thousands of people in several different countries. What made your last trip to Australia amazing?
It’s not even our last trip, but it’s every time we go to Australia. Back then as kids, we never really had the opportunity to travel. Our families didn’t have a lot of money, so we didn’t get to go out of the States, you know? To be able to do what we love and to travel and see some of the most beautiful areas in the entire world is unreal. On top of that, to have people that want you to be there – people who pay you to be there – it doesn’t even feel like work ever. I remember the first time that we came to Australia, we were just playing shows and “Check Yes Juliet” was doing really well on the radio and we were playing Soundwave Festival.
There were so many people in front of our stage and Jared Leto from Thirty Seconds To Mars came up to us and he was like, ‘You guys are a really great band’. It was such a cool thing and he gave us a bottle of tequila and he was like, ‘I want you guys to party with us tonight’. So we went out and partied with them and it was those little things that happened in Australia. We got to check out the beaches; we all got tattoos in Australia. It was kind of like the world’s best vacation and we always vowed to ourselves that we would always go back. We haven’t been back in like three years, so this will be really special for us to be there for a couple of weeks.
Now that you’re having a little one on the way as well, that must be really exciting for you and it’s clear that you’re a family man. What’s the most important piece of advice given by a family member when it came to following your dream?
Man, I’ve gotten so much good advice. I mean, my parents were so supportive of me in my dreams to play music, you know? It’s not every kid out there who has parents that will say, ‘Don’t go to college if you don’t want to. Follow your dream.’ I can’t specifically think of the best advice I got but my dad always told me, ‘You know, if it was easy then everybody would be doing it.’ All the times where you get discouraged as a musician, you just have to think that.
Unfortunately, when we first started as a band, we received a lot of hate and bullying from other people so that motivated me to do it and prove everybody wrong. I honestly used everything as fuel to make this happen and my family stood by me the entire way. I’m definitely a family man – having a little one motivates me more to tour and to support he or she. We’re gonna continue being a band – I wanna put five more albums out or ten more. I wanna be doing this for the rest of my life and I want my son or daughter to grow up and be able to look and see living proof that they can follow their dreams and if they believe in it and try hard enough, it will happen.
When you were writing music for Strange Love, was it like an inspiration towards Jenny’s pregnancy?
Yeah, you know, what’s funny is I’ve written a ton of songs about my wife but what’s really cool about it is, when you see how hard a woman works to have a baby, it really puts perspective in all sorts of things. Seeing her dedicate her body and her mind and her spirit to keep this child really makes you want to re-evaluate how hard you’re working. It makes you wanna work harder to support your family; to show them that you’re trying as hard to make it all happen. Going through this was definitely a blessing for me and she’s handled it so well and it’s made me want to put together a really great album and show the world that We The Kings are stronger than ever.
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We The Kings will be touring next year in February! Check out the tour dates below:
Thursday, 25th February
Eaton’s Hill Hotel, Brisbane | LIC/AA
Tickets: Oztix
Friday, 26th February
Metro Theatre, Sydney | LIC/AA
Tickets: Ticketek
Saturday, 27th February
The Basement, Canberra | 18+
Tickets: Oztix
Sunday, 28th February
The Corner Hotel, Melbourne | U18 (Afternoon)
Tickets: Oztix
Sunday, 28th February
The Corner Hotel, Melbourne | U18 (Evening)
Tickets: Oztix
Wednesday, 2nd March
The Gov, Adelaide | LIC/AA
Tickets: Oztix
Thursday, 3rd March
The Rosemount, Perth | 18+
Tickets: Oztix
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