From Earlestown to the World: The Rise of The K’s

Aaron Parsons for Rolling Stone

In the heart of England’s North West lies Earlestown, a quiet town nestled between the musical powerhouses of Manchester and Liverpool. It’s not the kind of place typically associated with stardom but it’s exactly where The K’s began. Born out of the ambition of suburban life, this four-piece indie rock band – Jamie Boyle (vocals/rhythm guitar), Ryan Breslin (lead guitar), Dexter Baker (bass), and Nathan Peers (drums) have become one of the most exciting names in British guitar music today. Since forming in 2017, The K’s have channeled the urgency of small-town youth into big-stage energy. Their songs are emotionally charged, anthemic, and unflinchingly real that earned them a devoted grassroots following long before their commercial breakthrough. That breakthrough came in April 2024, when their long-awaited debut album I Wonder If The World Knows? crashed into the UK Album Chart at number three. From pub gigs in Earlestown to main stage slots at Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, and a sold-out homecoming at Manchester’s O2 Victoria Warehouse, The K’s have risen through sheer persistence, passion, and connection with their fans. Their Spotify numbers have climbed to nearly 300,000 monthly listeners, with their biggest audiences concentrated in Manchester and London. In this exclusive interview, we catch up with The K’s to talk about their beginnings, their evolving sound, international gigs, and what it feels like to be standing on the cusp of something even bigger.

You’ve come a long way from Earlestown to festival main stages – how did The K’s first come together, and what was the moment you knew this could actually be something real?

Back in high school, everyone wanted to be in a band. It was the thing to do. Ryan was in a band a couple of years above us at the time. Earlestown actually has a good pub circuit for live music, so there were always gigs happening at local pubs on the weekends. We used to jump between different bands and play those gigs. Being right between Manchester and Liverpool, we were lucky to be surrounded by strong music scenes and could hop on a train to go see bands every weekend. That definitely had a big influence on us.

With nearly 300,000 monthly Spotify listeners and a huge fanbase in cities like Manchester and London, how do you stay grounded amidst your growing success?

It’s still pretty surreal, to be honest. Our debut album came out last year and did really well, and since then things have just kept growing. We’ve got our next album coming out next month, so everything still feels quite new. We’ve been doing alright for a while, but it’s really felt like things have stepped up in the last few months.

You're playing Rockland Art Fest in Spain this July. How does your energy change when you're performing for international crowds?

I think the music translates well across different places. We played in Spain a couple of weeks ago and the crowd just went mad–mosh pits and everything. That really surprised us, especially when you compare it to some gigs abroad where only a handful of people turn up. We do think (or at least hope) that our music connects globally.

Your debut album, I Wonder If The World Knows? hit number three on the UK charts. What did that moment mean to you, especially coming from such a DIY background?

We waited a long time to release that first album. COVID delayed everything, and we kept holding off, thinking the timing wasn’t quite right. So to finally release it and then see it chart the way it did really made us feel like the wait was worth it.

Your new single, ‘Me and Your Sister,’ just dropped – what’s the story behind that track, and how does it represent where you're heading sonically?

We experimented with new sounds, and using the vocal almost like an instrument itself in the pre-chorus, which we hadn’t done before. There are vocal harmonies that support the main line, but we also introduced synths and more orchestral elements. We even recorded two songs in London with an eight-piece orchestra. It’s still very guitar-heavy, but sonically it’s evolved.

With Pretty On The Internet on the horizon and a record-breaking UK tour ahead, what can fans expect from the next chapter of The K’s?

Honestly, we don’t know exactly what to expect yet. We think this album could do even better than the first one and hopefully push us into new territory. Maybe we’ll become a household name across the UK. We’ve just signed with a promoter in the U.S. and we’re heading back there in November, so with any luck we’ll keep building internationally too.