Alvarez Kings want to collaborate with The Weeknd.
The electronic rock pop group – comprised of Sean Parkin, Simon Thompson, Richard Walker and Paul Thompson – have just dropped their debut LP ‘Somewhere Between’ and have a bunch of shows this summer including a stop at London’s Garage on May 26.
Here vocalist and guitarist Simon tells BANG Showbiz about his aspiration to team up with label mate The Weeknd – real name Abel Tesfaye – or fellow rockers Foal on a track.
He said: "I’d like to collaborate with Foals that would be awesome. Or The Weekend. His album ‘Starboy’ was insane."
Meanwhile, on being compared to U2 in the past, Simon said: "I suppose prior to the album I’d probably agree on that but we use quite a lot of synths now and we’ve not had it as much, but I think it’s just because we always went for that big stadium sound. We decided to write songs expecting that we would do an arena tour, but that’s yet to happen. I think we were a little ahead of the game."
Alvarez Kings were lucky enough to spend time in Los Angles to work on the record and one highlight for Simon was having their drum kit tuned by Guns N’ Roses’ technician.
On working with Grammy-winning producer Carlos de la Garza – who has worked with Paramore and Jimmy Eat World – in America, he said: "Carlos was just an awesome guy. He also just won a Grammy, which is cool.
"We got the chance to record the album in L.A.
"We were between quite a few producers and he actually offered to come over to the UK to record us, but we were like ‘No, we want to come to Los Angeles and draw some inspiration.
"We just soaked up the LA vibe. It was so good doing it there because he has so many amazing things in his studio like a lot of different synths.
"Also, the drum kit we used he got his friend to tune the drum kit, who is Guns N’ Roses’ drum technician. He tuned the drums up before we recorded and he had like 26 different snares.
"We wouldn’t have been able to bring that to the UK.
"His knowledge as well and previous work like M83, Paramore. We just clicked with him. He understood we were after and he knew what we wanted to bring to the table as well."
Alvarez Kings’ ‘Somewhere Between’ is out now.
The band play the following dates this summer:
May 26, Upstairs at The Garage, London
May 28, Louisianna, Bristol
May 29, Factory, Manchester TICKETS
May 30, Bodega, Nottingham
9 to 11 June, Garryhinch Woods @ Bare In The Woods
July 22, Sheffield, UK @ Tramlines Festival Devonshire Green Stage