The Ting Tings gloat about new record, Columbia Records, and Morrissey at Coachella '09

It goes without saying that the rock duo of The Ting Tings appreciate art and the culture that comes with it. So we weren't surprised to find out during an exclusive interview with Katie White and Jules De Martino at the 2009 Coachella Valley Music and Art Festival that the band have set up shop in the art suburbs of Berlin to record a new record. They were candid about their experience of signing to Columbia Records and gushed about appearing in a commercial for iTunes.

Buzznet: Are you guys surprised by your popularity in Japan?

Katie: Absolutely. I mean, we're happy when anyone likes us, but that whole experience has been wonderful.

Buzznet: Was it more of your label or yourselves who've worked to get your music in American TV and films? You know, like in "Gossip Girl."

Jules: It's a bit of both, I'd say.

Katie: It's always a weird process. It's easier with stuff we know, especially stuff in the states. But we get a lot of offers to use our music in tv and film and such. I mean, a lot of offers. But we generally turn down most of them. It's much harder, though, in like Italy. We'll get some show asking to use a song, but I have no idea if it's in the best interest for the band because we'll have no clue what it exactly is.

Buzznet: So are you guys happy that you decided to go with the iTunes commercial?

Jules: Oh, absolutely! That was great. You can't beat that kind of promotion. We got a free music video out of it, too.

Buzznet: And it looks great! It's so natural.

Jules: I know! Plus, it helps that we also got some near gear from Apple too.

Buzznet: I read that you guys did a meet and greet in Singapore at the Airport. How was that?

Katie: Weird. Really weird. I mean, it was in an airport. We had to go from one room and then through this other hallway and then another back room reserved just for people of importance or something. Also, we were brought a lot of gifts! It was a weird experience.

Buzznet: You've mentioned that you are deriving inspiration for your next record from the cities of Paris and Berlin. What about these places inspires creativity in you?

Jules: The audience has a real big art scene out there. Both in Berlin and Paris. It's a huge art scene: very liberated, very free, very creative. There's a lot of fliers and posters plastered on the walls in Berlin. It's legal. Over here, I guess you can't do that stuff anymore. You get busted by the police for pasting adverts.

In Berlin, it's really cheap too. They've got a lot of spaces to rent, you can convert them, you can run parties in them. That's what we did in Manchester. So we found a place that's an old jazz club that we've taken on to record our second album. It's a real cool place in Berlin. We're gonna gig there every week, bring loads of people down, try out new material, get drunk with friends!

Buzznet: So you're going to actually record the album in the club itself?

Jules: We've got our own studio, so we just bring it in and set up. We'll hang out there and work for six months.

Buzznet: In regards to your experience with the Dear Eskimo project and Mercury Records, ow did you approach signing to Columbia differently, knowing what could happen?

Katie: We were probably a nightmare, to be honest, when we were being signed. We made sure we got 100% creative control. You know, it's kind of a bit of a fight, but we got it. We hear it's very rare for bands to get that these days, especially when you're a new band. We got it and we're honestly very happy. I mean, we had a horrible time in our last band with our record company, but we're having a good time. I think the biggest thing we learned is simply to do it all ourselves. They want to help you, you know, and they'll put you with one of the top five video directors, but then your video looks like everyone else's.

Buzznet: It's like they want to help, but then they end up controlling you.

Katie: Yeah! It's shit.

Buzznet: Easy question: Will you be around all weekend or just today?

Jules: Just today.

Buzznet: Who are you excited to see today?

Jules: I really want to see Leonard Cohen doing "Hallelujah," but I'm not sure we're going to be here because I was told we have to be out of here around nine.

Katie: I want to see Morrissey, because his dressing room is right next to ours and I can see all the clothes he has, so he must have at least 300 costume changes in one night.

Buzznet: Yeah, he played in Albuquerque last night and there were a ton of Smiths songs on it. Like "Girlfriend in a Coma."

Jules: No, he didn't, did he?

Buzznet: Totally.