“After spending an awfully long time thinking about this and confiding in those closest to me as well as the rest of the band, I had decided to part ways with The King Blues,” Jazz, also of Bleach Blood, announced on Facebook. “Now before I say anything else, I want to make it clear that there is has been no major falling out, there is no bad blood or any arguments whatsoever between us. I have just simply come to a point in my life that my desires have changed; my goals in life have changed and what I want to achieve musically has changed and sadly those changes do not match up with being an active member of The King Blues anymore.”

“These past few shows have been amazing and for a kid who grew up in Wood Green, playing my final TKB show at Alexandra Palace is a fitting end to a wonderful story.”

“I will continue to make music in someway or form, probably with Bleach Blood, maybe under a new name, but that’s to come.”

“To all the previous band members, love me or loathe me, its been a pleasure to have shared the road with you in the unique, one of kind experience that it is to be in a band.”

“To all the labels, agents, press teams, video creators, interns and CEO’s, everyone unseen who helped us along the way, thank you.”

“To all the bands I’ve had the pleasure of sharing the stage with around the world, thank you. Some of you we’re my heroes, some I saw as competition, but nearly all of you became my friends.”

“To all of the fans that have supported us past, present and indeed, the future, I literally don’t have the words to express my gratitude for your immense love and belief in us. Some bands have great fans, but TKB fans are the greatest and I mean mean that from the bottom of my heart, I truly do. Even after 4 years away you stood by our sides and never let us be forgotten, then welcomed us back with open arms. You know, just thinking about that and typing it out has reduced me to tears. I love you all.”

“And finally, to my brothers Itch and Mike. Thank you for having me back for this last ride. They said it would never happen, but it did and it was amazing. I can not wait to see what you have in store for the future of The King Blues. I love you both.”

The King Blues look set to continue without Jazz, having today been confirmed to Slam Dunk Festival.

“I’ve seen this pig fucking government dropping bombs for peace, slashing benefits, turning venues and clubs into coffee chains, they detest us, they detest our way of life, they detest our right to live and exist in a way that may not benefit their pockets for a second,” says Itch in a lengthy statement posted to Facebook. “Fuck them! Every time I see their smug Etonian faces squirming their way around announcing more cuts and talking down to anyone actually affected, it makes me want to smash them in. Sat in ivory towers announcing half a million pound ‘affordable’ homes while making people homeless bullingdon boy wankers. They have no compassion or humanity. It’s only a matter of time before heads start to roll…”

“I started writing again and before I knew it had pages and pages of lyrics. I called my friend Pete who put together some musicians around me and we wrote and recorded this EP super quick. I asked my friend OhBones Illustration to help me with the artwork and they did an incredible job, then I took it to Jamie and Fruitbag and asked if they wanted to help it come to life live which they agreed. So I called up my friend Pip and asked if he would put the record out and maybe shoot us a video… in 1 week! The next week we had a meeting, and shot a video and now here we are! It’s taken a lot of people pulling together and chipping in, but we all had one common goal which was to create a piece of protest art that hopefully can get you angry enough to join the fight.”

The record is the first to be released on the band’s Meatball Records, with the physical release available from the 26th February through Speech Development Records.

Watch the video for the EP’s title track below.

The King Blues will be supporting Enter Shikari at the end of the month.

FEBRUARY 2016
18 GLASGOW O2 Academy
19 EDINBURGH Corn Exchange
20 NOTTINGHAM Capital FM Arena
22 BOURNEMOUTH International Centre
23 CARDIFF Motorpoint Arena
25 MANCHESTER Victoria Warehouse
27 LONDON Alexandra Palace

Having confirmed the first for Chinnerys in Southend, the headline shows will not be taking place in the same towns as the Shiarki tour. For those living near those, The King Blues are suggesting you head down to see them as support.

Tickets for the Cinnerys show go on sale at 10AM on the 17th December 2015. The show itself is scheduled for Tuesday 16th February 2016.

That said, The King Blues have confirmed that they will join Enter Shikari and The Wonder Years on tour next year. Enter Shikari, The Wonder Years and The King Blues… that’s quite the line-up.

FEBRUARY 2016
18 GLASGOW O2 Academy
19 EDINBURGH Corn Exchange
20 NOTTINGHAM Capital FM Arena
22 BOURNEMOUTH International Centre
23 CARDIFF Motorpoint Arena
25 MANCHESTER Victoria Warehouse
27 LONDON Alexandra Palace

It’s taken from their final record, ‘Long Live The Struggle’, which was released this week. You can read our review of the record by clicking here.

http://www.facebook.com/thekingblues

So, Jamie, how do you feel about having graduated to the big backstage mirror lights of the Roundhouse finally, then?

It reminds me of that Rise Against tour a few years ago – It was Rise Against, Anti Flag and Flobots, and two days before the London show I was sitting in my bedroom having just woken up, and my manager calls me a goes “do you guys want to go to Oxford and open for Rise Against?” and I was like “yeah, I definitely want to do that!”. One of Anti Flag had broken his collarbone so we ended up doing the show there and here as well, and I remember thinking “this is what a real dressing room looks like”.

Last time we spoke to you was at Reading, dodging the lovely British weather, and now you guys are out and about touring – every time we speak to you something else has been fucked up in the world, and today is.. erm… no different…

*laughs* Yeah, well we’ve been a little bit blissfully unaware having been on tour in Germany for four weeks, so we’re just coming back to everything and part of me is trying to ignore it all because this show to me is a dream come true, but I hear things have gone to pot again…

I’m not sure they ever stopped going to pot, just kinda carried on in a general direction really… on a political note, you’ve recently een chatting with Billy Bragg on the radio, what’s the story behind that and the forthcoming tour?

After this tour we’re doing half of the Leftfield In Motion tour [TA – TKB half of this has just finished] that takes its name from the Glastonbury stage, which is Billy’s project. The idea behind it was spurned on by a few pieces in the media that asked “Where are the political bands?” which we were angry about. I was fuming, not only because we are a political band, but so many other bands, particularly from our scene, that we know have been grossly ignored for years upon years in the more mainstream media, and it just really angered me.

So when we got a call from Billy saying “I want to do a political tour, I want young political bands, I want you to do it”, we decided on doing half of that tour. Sound of Rum are doing the whole thing and Akala is doing the other half, and it’s really cool for somebody as legendary as Billy Bragg to step in, as someone who’s noted as a political musician of merit, and say “you guys are all wrong: here’s some political music”, and then take younger artists out with him to try and push that.

I guess people within the scene were probably surprised to hear the political bands were supposed to have gone anywhere in the first place?

I certainly was! Maybe it’s because we’re stuck in a punk rock bubble – for the past ten years or longer I’ve regarded myself as part of that scene and the politics in that scene never go away, the bands never go away and the debates never go away. It’s not like everyone agrees with each other, but the debate and the fact that we support each other never goes away. Maybe if you’re outside of that you don’t see it but I always felt that were so many wonderful bands who had so many good things to say that were just criminally ignored.

Do you think is just that the mainstream media has neglected those bands and that people should be asking “where were you?” to them?

I certainly think so. There is that whole DIY culture and those bands that want to be left in their scene alone and a lot of the bands we grow up knowing, loving and watching – that’s where they want to be. They want to be part of that cultures and there’s nothing wrong with being part of the underground or being that way but I know a few bands who want to take their message further and want to get out there and spread the word but they’re just not given the opportunity. So many fads come in and out, so much shit music is force fed down our throats, and it’s annoyed me for a good few years that I watch so many great bands come, say something poignant and then break up because they can’t push their message further.

Check out more from The King Blues at http://www.facebook.com/thekingblues

The King Blues have come a mighty long way since their residency at the Purple Turtle right at the other end of Camden, and tonight signals their biggest headline show to date.

German band BROILERS may share their name with a type of chicken raised specifically for meat production, but their rockabilly-ska mixture opens the night with quite a nice surprise, and feels far from factory farmed.

New York skate-punkers CEREBRAL BALLZY, despite gaining rave reviews time and time again, didn’t particularly live up to the praise tonight. Lead singer Honor Titus, with eyes rolling in all directions, is fairly responsible for this just above average performance, and comes off sounding like he’s taken their song ‘Drug Myself Dumb’ as a bit of a mantra.

THE KING BLUES, with a message buoyed perhaps by the UK’s current political climate, take to the stage with a focused sense of meaning and responsibility tonight. Opening the night with powerful spoken word bit ‘What If Punk Never Happened?’ before a full band rendition of ‘Let’s Hang The Landlord’ to kick things off proper, the sense that tonight is going to be monumental is already in the air.

After a swipe at a particular newspaper (two guesses – it’s not a News International shit rag) ‘Set The World On Fire’ kicks the doors in – taking digs at the government and the woes of modern Britain is something The King Blues are more than qualified in, but they also write some pretty awesome love songs, which come in the form of ‘I Want You’, ‘Underneath This Lamppost Light’ and ‘Headbutt’. As well as all the much loved classics, new song ‘Power To The People’ shows that the band have no plans to let up any time soon.

Kicking off the encore with arguably their most moving and powerful track, spoken word ‘5 Bottles Of Shampoo’ deals with the subject of domestic abuse and deserves the rapturous applause it receives. As The King Blues bring things to a close, they do it in the only way that seems suitable – a mass stage invasion to the much loved ‘Save The World, Get The Girl’ – a perfect end to an evening showing what live music, and The King Blues are all about.

RYAN COOPER

To see photos from the gig, head to our photos section