Who doesn’t love British alt-pop? It’s hard not to fall in love when you listen to the Alvarez Kings. These four musicians are taking the stage for the first time since their formation in 2012. Brothers Simon and Paul Thompson, Sean Parkin and Richard Walker all hail from South Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Simon Thompson, vocals and guitar, says he fell in love with music at his first concert when he “went to see a local band and wanted to do that.” It was, however, harder than he thought.
At the start of their career a mere five years ago, the Alvarez Kings were driving three hours into London three times a week for gigs. They got on their first tour by reaching out to venues and promoters From there they go onto South by Southwest is Austin, Texas. After that, their American fan base began to grow and next thing they knew they were headlining. Simon talks about his early years saying “At times it feels like you might not get anywhere. There is a payoff, but it can be far in the future.”
Simon and Paul grew up listening to cassettes. They were brought up on the Beatles and Nirvana. They still get inspiration for their harmonies from the Beatles but they are trying to expand into some technical sounds. “People are drawn by popular music,” says Simon. He describes their songwriting process as “little pockets of ideas” that he then tries to “make them cohesive.” The most important part of songwriting for Simon is concentration, “finding the moments [he] can sit down.” He must be getting good at it to have an international fan base.
“Europe and America are similar,” says Simon, “they show that they have a good time and wear it on their sleeves. The UK don’t express themselves as much.” Come see if you fall in love wirh the Alvarez Kings on July 12 at Liquid Joes.