FIVE MINUTES WITH THE K’S: FESTIVALS, FANS AND “MAYBE” ALBUM THREE…

INTERVIEW | THE K’S | TRAMLINES FESTIVAL by Gracie Erskine

First day of Tramlines 2026, the sun is out, the pints and flowing and Hillsborough Park is set for another year of magic. But before all of that, Northern Exposure’s Gracie Erskine sat down with The K’s guitarist, Ryan Breslin, to discuss festival season, what’s next for the band, and where the bloody hell is album three?

How’s festival season treating you so far?

Great, we’ve been up and down the country, all the crowds have been mint so far, we’ve been blessed with the weather, and we’ve got the weather today, so yeah, it’s been really good, positive start.

And it’s a headline slot at the ‘T’Other Stage’ today, moving up from the mid-afternoon Main Stage last year. Everyone seemed to be everybody donning K’s merch throughout the day, feeling worthy of a headline even then, so are we expecting the same vibes again today?

I think so. We were saying in the van on the way here, it’s always a class festival to come to because the crowds are so good, like Sheffield, that Yorkshire crowd is like no other. Last year, we did a signing as well which was mental after the main stage slot, there’s just something in the water down here, we can’t wait to get back out.

A lot of festivals we’ve noticed, obviously everyone’s flying about in The K’s merch, which is great. It is bonkers.

You’ve established quite a cult-ish fanbase, in a good way. Do like being these kind of indie cult leaders?

Yeah. I guess it’s like a bit of a community and a solid, loyal fan base. Which I think if you’ve got that solid, loyal fan base, which we’ve built up organically over the years, it really shows it’s worth it. When you start growing and getting bigger and releasing albums, and they stick with you, and we stick with them and it’s kind of one big family.

Because you have got such a good fan base, and indie can be a very oversaturated genre, what do you think sets you apart?

Oh, I don’t know. We always say we’d love to see the show from the crowd perspective, to see what the fans see. I think we’re very relatable and we always do what we can to be part of the whole show and make the crowd part of the whole show, and make it feel like everyone’s in the room for the same reason. We’re all one in that room and can forget about our troubles type of thing. And I think having that approachable connection with the artist or whatever, however people see it, people grow to that and you kind of get that loyalty I think.

The K’s (Gracie Erskine / Northern Exposure)

When you are playing festivals, do you prefer it to doing your own show? Because I saw you at Gorilla a few months back and that really was bonkers.

Gorilla was one of the first headline shows we did, outside of the pub circuit in Earlestown. We did Jimmy’s and then we did Deaf Institute, and then Gorilla. But playing that again a couple of months ago has the band really taken back to then. I think we used the footage for the ‘Glass Towns‘ music video when we released it all them years ago. So it was weird going back.

But to answer the question, I think it’s a totally different vibe, like we love festival season because you go loads of places, you play your set but then sometimes you get to enjoy the festival as well if you’re not going on to a next gig. And the crowds are really getting massive now at festivals so that obviously makes it all the better. But like with a headline show, it’s like, I don’t know, it’s a different thing because everyone’s there to watch you and it’s yours, everyone’s just come to see you at your own show. So they’re two different vibes, but I think I couldn’t possibly pick between the two. I love festivals.

What a cop out...

I’ll say festivals then because you just have a mint time on a whole and I’ll say Tramlines is my favourite as well.

You spoke briefly then just about moving your way up on the circuit but what’s next? You’ve just done your biggest headline show at Castlefield Bowl show and you’re going to, arguably the heart of the country – Halifax, so what’s next for The K’s?

Yeah, the Piece Hall show, that’s the next big one for us. We’ve got festivals, we go on tour, with Razorlight after the festival season around Europe.

Where are we going after that?

We’re going to be announcing some stuff soon for next year, we’re making some plans. I guess the next stage is bigger venues, the next one up is arenas. So, we’ll see what happens.

So, if we’re planning things for next year, are we planning album three as well or?

Maybe…

Maybe 2027?

Maybe. Maybe not.

And to finish this off, going back to festival season I wanted to play my favourite game, where if you had four taps, what would be your four lagers of choice?

I can’t drink lager. I am the worst person to answer this because I only drink Guinness really at the minute. Cruzcampo is a good one. It seems to be a fan favourite.

Have you had the Cruzcampo Blood Orange?

No. I’ve had Blood Orange stuff like gins, but never lager. Okay. Well, that takes the winner there. That’s two. I like a bottle of Modelo. And Moretti then I think. That’s a nice little note to end it on.