Earlier today (August 7), singer JJ Thompson from Kingsland Road sat down for a chat with Pressparty and opened up about being bullied, writing music with One Direction's drummer, and the crazy fan experiences they've had to date. 

Hello, JJ Thompson! How are you doing?

Hello, I was expecting your call at this time, so thank you! I’m really good, thank you – just in the car on the way to Manchester for our show. We’re on tour – most of the venues are sold out now so we’re very happy. It has been going so well. All the crowds are mental – the further up north we’re going, the more mental it’s getting so Manchester’s going to be a riot. Newcastle and Glasgow after that, then the single’s out on the Sunday! No rest for the wicked!

What’s have you found is the best thing about being on tour?

The best thing is hearing our songs in huge speakers and the fans singing them back to us. So that’s the best thing. We’ve been in the studio, we wrote them (the songs) ourselves, so then for people to be singing them – it’s a really incredible feeling.

How do you guys get along with each other on the road?

We are constantly pranking each other – it’s always going on. I have to tell them to shut up while we’re in the van so I could do this (the interview), but as soon as I get off the phone it’ll be back on again. Everyone's taking the piss out of each other, hitting people on the head, winding people up while they’re trying to sleep... It’s all fun and games! 

How long have you guys all known each other for?

About two years now. Connor and Josh knew each other before, and with management they found us through YouTube and put the band together. Luckily (we get along well) – it could have been a disaster if they’d found random guys on YouTube... it’s the strangest way to put a band together, but it worked well! 

What are your fans like?

We've had a few crazy moments so far. One time a girl waited just outside of Connor’s flat… she got through security, got through the gate.. She waited two days, the neighbours were giving her cups of tea – she convinced them she was Connor’s girlfriend! When he came back, she just said "I drew a picture of you". It was a picture of all of us. It’s nice, but it’s a bit strange, isn’t it? We’re very appreciative, though. I thought there’d be more girls waiting for us, but there was just one. More girls waiting outside our door would be very nice. 

Honestly, we’ve been doing a radio tour at the same time (as the tour) and at every radio station there have been like 40 girls outside. We never expected that for ourselves in our lives, but it’s a nice warm welcome and it seems like we’re doing something right and hopefully it continues.

You’re releasing your debut single, ‘Dirty Dancer’, on August 10! How are you feeling about it? 

We’re nervous, not going to lie. It’s our first single; the first time people are hearing what we can do. It’s really exciting. It’s amazing to have something on iTunes and to put something out ourselves. We’re very proud of it – if it does well that’s amazing, but if not we’ll just keep on trying and hopefully something will stick.

All the input was ours. We got involved with the writing process, we said how we wanted to shoot the video, where we wanted to shoot the video, what we wanted to wear in the video – how we feel comfortable in putting ourselves across. It’s all us – nothing’s fabricated, no one told us to do anything. It’s all ourselves – we made our own label with our management, so we’re putting out everything through that. It’s a different way of doing it, but we get to put our own songs out.

The video looks like it was a lot of fun to make, did you have a good time on set?

It was fun to make – we had a bit of a piss up, we had a few drinks! By the nighttime – the party shots – we were all a bit pissed, which was great. We took it very seriously, but we treated it like a party and made sure everyone had drinks... if they were over 18, of course... but it was so fun.

What are your influences musically? 

Everyone has different music tastes. Matt loves indie stuff, I love pop – commercial pop – like, V Festival is probably my favourite. It is a mixed bag. I like rock stuff like The Clash, The Jam… you kind of hear influences from all of it on our EP. But for now, we’re just testing the water. We know what we like and I think ‘Dirty Dancer’ wraps it all up – we’re very happy to put that one out. All of the songs on the EP are very different.

We worked with a lot of different people. Josh Devine, who is One Direction’s drummer, he helped write one of the songs on the EP. We asked him to come in because he knows what an arena sounds like and knows what it’s like to play a big stadium because he’s obviously been playing with the One Direction boys, and he put those influences into our music, which we’re very happy with. It’s called ‘Never Too Late’. It was really great to have Josh there, he’s such a normal guy who loves music and it was a great privilege because he’s played big stadiums and is an amazingly talented guy.

What do you think of all the other all-male groups at the moment such as 5SOS, One Direction, The Vamps, and Lawson? 

There are a lot about and I hope there’s room for one more, but we’re doing our best. I think if you’re doing great in the industry, then great – hats off to you. They’re all doing well in the charts, so fair play to them.

Is there an artist or a band that you'd love to work with in the future?

We feel stupid answering it properly because everyone we’d like to work with is so big. I’m not sure if Justin Timberlake would be like, ‘I’d collaborate with Kingsland Road!’ *NSYNC though… I’m just going to put it all out there. 

Your band was put together party through YouTube and you have a huge Twitter following. How important is social media to you and to your career as a band?

Massively – social media is the reason we’re together. Twitter is a huge part of it and so is Facebook. We like to interact with our fans and it’s very important because without them supporting us and sending us messages everyday, without them – we wouldn’t be a band, we’d be doing other things. They respond to our music – it’s amazing.

What would you all be doing if you weren’t in a band? 

Matt was a builder before – a bricklayer. I don’t know what I’d be doing… I’d go from job to job to job because if I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t stick with it. My dad was very worried about me. I was like, "dad, I really want to be a singer", and he was like, "doesn’t everyone?" I think Connor would be a chef, and Josh would be an interpreter or a butler for the Queen.

You’re ambassadors for the Beatbullying organisation, why is that something you wanted to be involved in? 

Yes, we are! Basically, we funded our album through PledgeMusic where fans get to buy the album and they can pledge a little bit more, which gives them a guitar lesson from me or Connor or something, or a dance class with us all. That’s how it works and 10% of it goes to Beatbullying. We’re not the biggest band in the world, but at least we can give something back. A couple of us were bullied at school, too, so it’s really close to our hearts.

What advice would you give fans who are being bullied either online or in real life? 

If kids are trying to drag you down, I feel like you’re already above them. They’re going to try and bring you down, but don’t fall for it. If you’re busy chasing dreams and they’re too busy looking at what you’re doing then they’re not going to do it for themselves. You’ll be the one having the last laugh at the end of the day.

People who bullied me at school now try and Facebook me, and send me messages like, “oh, I’m really glad I can call you my mate”, and I’m like, “ugh, no, you weren’t. You made my life an absolute misery so go away!”

What’s next for Kingsland Road?

We’re working on the album although we’re not quite finished yet. We’ll get back in the studio after, and hopefully we’ll release single 2 shortly after single 1. We’re not really going for the ultimate goal – we’re just taking it as it comes. Anything after this is an absolute bonus.

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Watch the band's music video for their debut single, 'Dirty Dancer', below: