We the Kings
We the Kings | |
|---|---|
 We the Kings performs at "New Year's Eve in Hershey" in 2011 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Bradenton, Florida |
| Genres | Pop punk, alternative rock |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | S-Curve, Republic Records |
| Members | Travis Clark (2005-) Hunter Thomsen (2005-) Danny Duncan (2005-) Coley O'Toole (2011-) Charles Trippy (2011-) |
| Past members | Drew Thomsen (2005-2011) |
| Website | www |
We the Kings is an American rock group from Bradenton, Florida. Their self-titled full-length debut album released in 2007 which included the Platinum single "Check Yes Juliet" went on to sell over 250,000 copies in the US. Their second album Smile Kid (2009) included Top 40 singles "We'll Be A Dream" (featuring Demi Lovato) & "Heaven Can Wait". The band's latest release Sunshine State of Mind in 2011 features the MTV Music Award winner for Most Innovative Music Video Of The Year for their interactive music video and song "Say You Like Me". The band just completed a worldwide tour with Canadian band Simple Plan has performed across the US as a main stage headliner on the Vans Warped Tour.
History
Early years, formation and We the Kings (2006–2008)
When friends since childhood the four bandmates – singer/guitarist Travis Clark, guitarist Hunter Thomsen, his bassist brother Drew Thomsen, and drummer Danny Duncan – formed the group while attending high school. We the Kings' first tour was with Don't Die Cindy in the summer of 2005. Under a different moniker at the time, "De Soto." A Heartwell Ending (now, "Call the Cops") supported for the final leg of the tour. While teaming with Bret Disend in Fall of 2005, We the Kings went on their first tour under that name as a five piece, with the then-unknown "Boys Like Girls" as they supported the new release of the "Great Escape" music video. We the Kings played on their first headlining tour "Long Hair Don't Care" with Valencia, The Cab, Sing It Loud, and Charlotte Sometimes during late March and throughout April. In May and June, We the Kings supported Cute Is What We Aim For and Boys Like Girls on their UK tour.
Under the guidance of manager Bret Disend, they placed a number of tracks on the social networking site Purevolume in 2007 to build online buzz. Meanwhile, they also pursued a deal with EMI's imprint S-Curve Records, which eventually signed the group. We the Kings' self-titled debut album was produced by Sam Hollander and mixed by Lou Giordano, and was released in October 2007. The album peaked at number 151 on the Billboard 200 and spent fifteen weeks on the chart. The second single from the album, "Check Yes Juliet", became a minor hit, peaking at number seventy on the Billboard Hot 100 and number twenty-five on the Pop Songs chart.[1][2] The single was later released in Australia in 2011 where it peaked at number twenty-six and was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).[3][4] The album was also released in 2011 and was certified platinum by the ARIA for sales of 70,000 copies.[4]
For part of the fall of 2007, they played a tour called Tourzilla with headliner Boys Like Girls, All Time Low, and The Audition. They toured in support of Cobra Starship in early 2008 along with Metro Station and The Cab. We the Kings performed all dates of the Warped Tour 2008.[5] On August 30, 2008 they were a part of The Rays Summer Concert Series, playing on the field after a Tampa Bay Rays game. In late 2008, after completion of the Warped Tour, they toured the US and UK with The Academy Is... (the tour was known as Bill & Trav's Bogus Journey), along with supporting bands including The Maine, Hey Monday and Carolina Liar.
Smile Kid (2009–2010)
In February 2009, they headlined a tour called The Secret Valentine Tour with The Maine, The Cab, There for Tomorrow, and VersaEmerge. We the Kings played in the 2009 Bamboozle Roadshow Tour. It began on April 3 at Hoodwinked in California, touring the month of April across the states, and finished May 2 at The Bamboozle in East Rutherford, NJ. Bands also playing the Bamboozle Road Show tour included Forever the Sickest Kids, The Cab, Never Shout Never, and Mercy Mercedes. On July 8, 2009, they began their tour as support for All Time Low along with Cartel and Days Difference. They also performed at Warped Tour 2009. The band was on tour in Fall 2009, again supporting All Time Low on the Glamour Kills Tour, with Hey Monday and The Friday Night Boys. Their sophomore album, which was released in December 2009, reached 112 on the Billboard 200 and spent three weeks on the chart.[6] It spawned the lead single, "Heaven Can Wait", which peaked at number thirty on the Pop Songs chart,[2] and a second single featuring Demi Lovato titled "We'll Be a Dream", which peaked at seventy-six on the Billboard Hot 100 and number twenty-three on the Pop Songs chart.[1][2]
In early 2010, the band headlined the Hot Topic Presents: Take Action Tour with There for Tomorrow, A Rocket to the Moon, Mayday Parade, and Stereo Skyline. We the Kings also played with New Found Glory at Fitchburg State College's annual spring concert. In March 2010, We the Kings supported You Me at Six, an English pop rock band, on their UK headline tour along with Forever the Sickest Kids. The band has also played in Warped Tour 2010 from June 26 to August 2. After Warped Tour, the band plan on a world tour in 2011.[7] In April 2010 the band performed a benefit concert with fellow pop punk band Voted Most Random at a local venue in New Haven, Connecticut. The event raised thousands of dollars for ClearWater Initiative and at the time was their biggest fundraiser to date. In June 2010, We the Kings performed at 93Q Summer Jam, a concert in Baldwinsville, New York at the Papermill island. They performed with Cartel, Jaicko, Mayday Parade, New Boyz, Shontelle and Spose. They performed "Secret Valentine" along with a few other songs, and closed with one of their most popular songs, "Check Yes Juliet".
Sunshine State of Mind (2011–2012)
In February 2011, We the Kings toured the UK in 10 different cities from 4–15th with Manchester being one of the first nights to sell out. They were supported by Versaemerge, All Forgotten and I See Stars throughout the whole tour. Also in February 2011, the band toured in the Philippines with The Maine and Never Shout Never. They toured Australia in early March 2011, including at the Soundwave festival. They also headlined two soldout sideshows in Sydney and Melbourne with The Maine and Never Shout Never. The band went out on their Friday Is Forever Tour in Summer 2011 in support of their latest release. The Summer Set, The Downtown Fiction, Hot Chelle Rae and Action Item provided support. In November 2011 at an industry conference hosted by Billboard magazine, Clark joined S-Curve founder and record producer Steve Greenberg to demonstrate an interactive video game based on the band's music and images.[8][9]
Almost two years after the release of their second album, the band released a follow-up, titled Sunshine State of Mind. Preceded by the single "Friday Is Forever", the album became their highest charting effort in the United States, debuting and peaking at number forty-five on the Billboard 200. The album spawned a second single, "Say You Like Me", which peaked at number thirty-two on the Pop Songs chart,[2] and number twenty-nine in Australia.[3] The single was later certified gold in Australia for shipments exceeding 35,000.[4]
In September 2011, Charles Trippy and Coley O'Toole joined We the Kings playing bass guitar replacing Drew Thomsen who left earlier that year and Coley playing keyboard and rhythm guitar. In December, Travis Clark launched his clothing line King Travis Clothing.[10] Each month a new original design is released for sale and the previous one is no longer available. Throughout much of 2011 and 2012, they toured various countries on numerous tours including the End of the World Tour, performing with Anarbor, The Downtown Fiction and Mayday Parade. They then toured countries in Europe, including Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom. The band also toured the east coast of Australia as a supporting act for Simple Plan. We the Kings played tour dates at the Vans Warped Tour 2012.[11]
The band performed at NoCAPRICHO 2012 in September alongside bands We Are the In Crowd and Before You Exit in São Paulo, Brazil.[12] The band also made a stop in Rhode Island to perform at Roger Williams University.
Somewhere Somehow (2013–present)
In January 2013, We the Kings began recording their fourth album. Travis Clark recorded parts in California with Danny, Hunter, and Coley, while Charles recorded bass tracks in Florida using Boyce Avenue's studio. During February the band headlined another tour throughout Europe, visiting numerous countries including the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. By March 2013, the band members announced that a new song would be released in the first week of April. The song, "Just Keep Breathing", is about how frontman Travis Clark was bullied as a kid. "Just Keep Breathing", released on April 5, reached number 101 on the UK Singles Chart and thirteenth in the Official Alternative chart after only three days of sales.[13] The single climbed sixty-three places to number thirty-eight on the mid-week chart for April 10.[13] The second single, "Find You There", was released on May 3. Their third single, "Any Other Way" was released on June 14. There are many more singles to come out and they are planning to release one every month or every few weeks. On September 1, 2013, they finished their Summerfest 2013 tour with Breathe Carolina, T. Mills, and The Ready Set. On Friday November 22, We The Kings announced the title of their upcoming fourth album will be Vitam Regum.[14] On November 26, Charles Trippy announced on Twitter that Vitam Regum will be release on December 16, 2013. On the December 2, the band announced via Twitter the name of the album had changed to Somewhere Somehow.[15] They released the fourth single for Somewhere Somehow called "Art of War" on December 9, 2013.[16]
Members
- Current members
- Travis Clark – lead vocals, guitar, keyboard (2005–present)
- Hunter Thomsen – guitar, backing vocals (2005–present)
- Danny Duncan – drums (2005–present)
- Charles Trippy - bass (2011–present)
- Coley O'Toole - keyboard, rhythm guitar (2011–present)
- Former members
- Drew Thomsen - bass (2005-2011)
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [6] |
US Alt. [17] |
US Rock [18] | |||||
| We the Kings |
|
151 | — | — | |||
| Smile Kid |
|
112 | 15 | 24 | |||
| Sunshine State of Mind |
|
45 | 5 | 9 | |||
| Somewhere Somehow |
|
TBR | TBR | TBR | |||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||
Extended plays
| Title | EP details |
|---|---|
| Secret Valentine EP[19] |
|
| Party, Fun, Love & Radio[20] |
|
| Friday Is Forever EP[21] |
|
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [1] |
US Pop [2] |
AUS [3] |
CAN [22] |
UK [23] | |||||
| "Skyway Avenue" | 2007 | — | — | — | — | — | We the Kings | ||
| "Check Yes Juliet" | 2008 | 70 | 25 | 26 | — | — | |||
| "Secret Valentine" | — | 40 | — | — | — | ||||
| "Heaven Can Wait" | 2009 | — | 30 | — | — | — | Smile Kid | ||
| "We'll Be a Dream" (featuring Demi Lovato) |
2010 | 76 | 23 | — | — | — | |||
| "She Takes Me High" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Friday Is Forever"[24] | 2011 | — | — | — | — | — | Sunshine State of Mind | ||
| "Say You Like Me" | — | 32 | 29 | — | — |
| |||
| "Just Keep Breathing" | 2013 | 92 | — | — | 63 | 66 | Somewhere Somehow | ||
| "Find You There" | 125 | — | — | 91 | 120 | ||||
| "Any Other Way" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Art of War" | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||
Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Rock on Request Awards | "Best Pop Punk Artist" | We the Kings | Won |
| 2010 | Teen Choice Awards | "Choice Hook Up" (shared with Demi Lovato) | We'll Be a Dream | Nominated |
| 2012 | O Music Awards | "Most Innovative Music Video" | Say You Like Me | Won |
References
- ^ a b c "We the Kings – Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e "We the Kings – Chart History: Pop Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
- ^ a b c "Discography We The Kings". australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|work=(help) - ^ a b c d e "ARIA Charts – Accreditations". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
- ^ "2013 Vans Warped Tour / Date And Band Details Coming This Fall". Warpedtour.com. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
- ^ a b "We the Kings – Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
- ^ "Amplified. – We The Kings Interview". Amplified.tv. March 21, 2010. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
- ^ "Billboard's FutureSound conference is coming up fast!". Billboard. November 9, 2011. Retrieved November 18, 2011.
- ^ Dahud, Hisham; Downs, David (November 18, 2011). "FutureSound Keynotes: Pandora CEO Joe Kennedy, Superfly Co-Founder Rick Farman, S-Curve Founder Steve Greenberg". Billboard. San Francisco. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
- ^ "King Travis Clothing at Whoistravisclark.com". Whoistravisclark.com. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
- ^ "We The Kings | Tour Dates". Wethekingsmusic.com. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
- ^ "NoCAPRICHO 2012: We the Kings, We Are the in Crowd e Before You Exit estão confirmados!". Capricho Magazine. Retrieved August 12, 2012.
- ^ a b http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/need-u-100-holds-on-to-official-singles-chart-update-number-1-2155/. Retrieved on 12th April 2013
- ^ http://www.alterthepress.com/2013/11/we-kings-confirm-new-album-title-vitam.html/. Retrieved on 23rd November 2013
- ^ https://twitter.com/CharlesTrippy/status/405447935501926401
- ^ http://www.alterthepress.com/2013/12/we-kings-release-new-song-art-of-war.html
- ^ "We the Kings – Chart History: Alternative Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
- ^ "We the Kings – Chart History: Rock Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
- ^ "Secret Valentine – We the Kings". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
- ^ "Party, Fun, Love & Radio – EP by We The Kings". iTunes Store. Apple. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
- ^ "Friday Is Forever EP – We the Kings". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
- ^ "We the Kings – Chart History: Billboard Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
- ^ "We The Kings – Official Charts Company" (select "Singles" tab). Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
- ^ "Friday Is Forever – We the Kings". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
External links
- We the Kings, Video Premiere "Secret Valentine" on mtvU Premiered January 26, 2009.
- Official Site