Last April, LAB Records co-founder Mark Orr told Music Week he was feeling “dazed and confused” by the Top 3 success of The K’s debut album, I Wonder If The World Knows?.
Just 15 months on, the band from Earlestown, Merseyside have blown their previous achievement out of the water, doubling the week one sales figure of their debut to fly in at No.1 with Pretty On The Internet.
Beating Oasis, Alex Warren and Paul Weller to secure the band their first chart-topper, the album sold 25,032 units, testament to the campaign run by LAB in conjunction with ADA.
That sales figure comprised 12,512 CDs, 10,103 vinyl albums, 430 cassettes, 1,080 digital downloads and 907 sales-equivalent streams – 99.52% higher than I Wonder If The World Knows?. Pretty On The Internet contains 12 new songs by the four-piece, Jamie Boyle (vocals and guitar), Ryan Breslin (lead guitar), Dexter Baker (bass) and drummer Nathan Peers.
It feels like a special time for guitar music in the UK right now, and The K's are at the heart of it
Alice Frost, ADA
The album is the first No.1 for the 18-year-old Manchester label LAB, which also released Love Is For Everyone, which reached No.35 for Andrew Cushin 12 weeks ago.
Orr told Music Week this week that he was “extremely confident” The K’s would better their last record’s chart performance, but it’s safe to say he and the team have been blown away by the scale of the new set’s performance.
Alice Frost, GM at ADA, told Music Week that "the community and fanbase The K's have built is really incredible” and paid tribute to her ADA colleagues Howard Corner (MD), Sophie Benjafield (marketing manager), Nick Sheldon (senior streaming manager), Emma Camfield (senior label manager).
“I'm delighted it's resulted in this massive No.1 album,” said Frost. “The ADA team of Howard, Sophie, Nick and Emma have worked closely with LAB over the last few years and it's been clear that something special was happening with this band for a while. Together, we've worked hard to build on the momentum of last year's debut and I'm delighted we've gone a few better this time around to top the charts. It feels like a special time for guitar music in the UK right now, and The K's are at the heart of it."
Here, Music Week digs deeper into the campaign with Orr, as we find out how they’ve cultivated the band’s “rabid” fanbase and look ahead to the heights they may scale in the future…
You hit No.3 with the last record, what did you learn from that campaign and what did you do differently this time to get the No.1?
“I think the 2024 campaign for the band’s debut album, I Wonder If The World Knows? just gave the whole team confidence that our strategy was the right one. Whilst the turnaround has been relatively quick between records, it's been just 15 months, the band have worked tirelessly on the road to grow their fanbase during that period. It’s a social media cliche for a reason, Jamie, Ryan, Dexter and Nathan work harder than anyone! I was extremely confident we could far better the launch from last year, but to double the week one sales is remarkable.”
Physical made up the majority of the sale, and 20,000+ physical units is very impressive. How did you do it?
“We’ve seen fantastic numbers both at D2C and independent retail. We owe a huge debt to some incredible indies who’ve gone above and beyond for us, Wax & Beans, Jacaranda, Assai, Rough Trade to name a few, as well as our D2C partner, Townsend. Having started with incredible artwork by Lucy Cavanagh, we’ve tried to be extremely creative with some beautiful and unique formats, particularly the foil and die cut editions as well as the Bad World/Blood Records liquid filled LP.”
What are the cornerstones of the campaign this time round?
“Live is always going to come first for this band. We worked closely with the band’s manager David Cameron-Pryde at LAMA Music Group and their agent Charly Beedell-Tuck at Solo to craft a thorough release plot that wouldn’t jeopardise their core live business. I think there’s also been a huge step up on socials, ad strategy and of course physical retail has gone to another level. Our main job, though, is serving and cultivating this unique, rabid fanbase. We try to communicate and give back to them the best we can, because they’ve done so much for us. They deserve the true credit.”
In your last Music Week interview we discussed your DIY philosophy and alignment with Howard Corner and the ADA team. How has that developed and evolved since the previous campaign?
“To me, this campaign has been the perfect combination of those DIY ethics and the frontline-level support we get from our ADA team. The hometown pop-up shops are a labour of love but mean so much to everyone who visits, and that impact is amplified when in conjunction with traditional digital and physical retail, social ads, OOH and so on. I think the Top 3 launch of the first record encouraged ADA and the Warner Music Commercial team to double down this time around. We knew that certain avenues that were closed to us a year ago would now open up, having proven the concept. Whilst clearly not at the same level as their physical or ticketing prowess as yet, we’re also extremely proud of the streaming growth on the project year on year.”
Our main job is cultivating this unique, rabid fanbase
Mark Orr, LAB Records
We also discussed The K's being one of the industry's best kept secrets on the recorded side, but that's not the case now. How do you go about growing this and pushing to the next level?
“Yes, maybe now the world knows a little better! The ceiling is so high for this band, there’s still massive untapped potential across socials and streaming, and I’m sure the live side will continue to go from strength to strength. It’s been a great year internationally already, they’ve had their first US shows and festivals across Europe, but there’s so much to do outside the UK. I know Charly and Scott Brothman at LAB Records US are already putting plans in place.”
What does the No.1 prove about what's possible, both for independent labels and UK guitar bands?
“It’s undeniably a brilliant time to be independent, and alternative and guitar music has proven time and again that it stands alone when it comes to true and long-lasting fanbase building. I think it proves with a small but hugely talented team who truly pull for the artist that you can compete with almost anyone. Between the band and their direct team, our incredible ADA/LAB folks and PR, publisher, lawyer, product manager et al, there are a lot of career first No.1s being achieved this week. I can’t think of a group more deserving!”
Looking beyond this campaign, what are your plans for the ADA partnership on The K’s?
“The goal now is to ensure that this album has the lifespan it deserves, and that goes far beyond being a week one chart play. This record has an amazing chance to still be meaningful in five or 10 years time. I think we’re well into that process on the first album, we are seeing incredible growth in songs such as Hoping Maybe and Chancer, they are soundtracking lives for fans of a variety of different ages. This has to just be the start for Pretty On The Internet, too.”
Pictured above (L-R): Sophie Benjafield (ADA), Lindsey Johnson (LAMA Management), Charly Beedell-Tuck (Solo), Ryan Breslin (The K's), Nick Sheldon (ADA), Dexter Baker (The K's), Jamie Boyle (The K's), David Cameron-Pryde (LAMA Management), Nathan Peers (The K's), Mark Orr (LAB Records), Steph Whitehead (Halestorm PR)
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