The Ting Tings are an english indie/electronic band, consisting of two members: Jules De Martino (drums, vocals) and Katie White (vocals, guitar, bass drum). They formed in 2006 while based at Islington Mill, Salford.
Katie White first appeared, as a teenager, in girl group TKO - short for Total Knock Out. The band, consisted of Katie and two friends. TKO supported acts like Steps and Five but never signed a record deal or released a record.
Jules De Martino started out in a teenage band called Babakoto, and released a single called “Just To Get By” in 1987. After Babakoto split up De Martino was singer in an indie rock group “Mojo Pin”. Mojo Pin released two singles, “You” in 1995 and “My Imagination” in 1996.
Their first single That’s Not My Name was released on local label Switchflicker, and together with their second single Fruit Machine were on heavy rotation in British radio (amongst others BBC 6 Music, played regularly by many DJs including a session for Steve Lamacq), are considered Indie music hits. Fruit Machine was a limited-edition, 500-only seven-inch single on Legendre Starkie Records, which was only available at the group’s gigs at Islington Mill in Salford, Eleckrowerkz in Islington, West Germany in Berlin and at Glasslands in Brooklyn, New York City.
They had a notable performance at Glastonbury Festival 2007, and after an October 2007 tour of Universities in the UK with Reverend and the Makers, signed for Columbia Records, and appeared on Later with Jools Holland on 14 December, 2007.
In January 2008 they were voted third in the annual BBC 6 Music poll of industry experts Sound of 2008, for acts to emerge in the coming year. In February 2008 they are the opening slot act on the 2008 Shockwaves NME Awards Tour, performing with The Cribs, Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong and Does It Offend You, Yeah?.
In conjunction with the NME and HMV the band contributed a demo version of Great DJ to a limited, 5000 copies only 10” vinyl release of all the artists on the NME Awards Tour.
The first single released on Columbia was Great DJ, which received considerable airplay on new music stations BBC Radio 1 and Xfm in the UK; and hyped by magazines such as the NME. The single “Shut Up and Let Me Go” appeared in an iPod commercial in late April 2008, peaking at #93 on the Billboard Hot 100. They are set to release their debut album, We Started Nothing, in May 2008.
Source: http://artists.letssingit.com/ting-tings-the-ddj1k/biography
