Laneway: Royal Blood's royal racket

Royal Blood is performing at Laneway 2015.

They're the loudest act on Laneway's bill, but rowdy rockers Royal Blood are just two people. The hyped British act talks to Chris Schulz..

When you're an up-and-coming rock act, it helps to have friends in high places. Just ask Royal Blood.

Dave Grohl's a fan, calling the Brighton act "exciting". So, too, are the Arctic Monkeys, who loved them so much they took them on tour, and wore their T-shirts.

Then there's Muse front man Matt Bellamy, who approached the band backstage and acted like a shy fanboy. He was, jokes Royal Blood's front man Mike Kerr, "very irritating".

"Can you imagine? For him to come over and pester me while I'm enjoying my drink," he laughs.

*FIND THE 2015 LANEWAY MAP AND TIMETABLE HERE*

"We just talked about music really, I can't remember - I'd had quite a lot to drink. [It was] the same kind of conversation you'd have with anyone else who plays guitar." They're modest lads but Kiwi fans are set to see what all the fuss is about when Royal Blood perform here for the first time as one of the loudest acts on the Laneway bill.

Last year's debut album was a storming blues-infused stomp-rocker and made many a best-of list at the end of 2014, including nabbing the No.9 spot in TimeOut's albums of the year list.

Reminiscent of early work by The Black Keys and the White Stripes, with riffs inspired by Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, songs like Little Monster and Figure It Out make such a fully formed racket Royal Blood sounds like the work of at least four band members sweating it out on stage.

But the band consists of just two people: guitarist and singer Kerr, 25, and drummer Ben Thatcher, 26. They met as teenagers playing in separate bands at a gig, and formed Royal Blood in 2013.

"We just made friends and started playing in bands together. We've done that ever since really," shrugs Kerr.

"There are lots of people I grew up playing music with, and Ben was just one of them. But there's always been chemistry there, otherwise we wouldn't have been in bands so long." Things have happened fast, and Royal Blood have become wanted men, with tours booked throughout the year, including supporting the Foo Fighters at two sold-out Wembley Stadium shows and a full tour through Canada and the US.

"It's been expanding rapidly," says Kerr. "It's only really been a year and a half. Can it go much faster? It's just been something that's been growing over time. There's not much time to sit around and think about how you feel about it. It's pretty full on and it's pretty busy. You just do it." And there's never been any desire to add another band member. Kerr says Royal Blood's trick is to keep things as simple as possible.

"We never really sat down and thought about anything. We just started a new band, and voila, we had Royal Blood. It never really got bigger than the two of us.

"[More members] sounds like too much to me. We just keep it simple."

Who: Royal Blood
Where: Laneway, Hey Seuss Stage, 3.50pm
Album: Self-titled debut, out now

• TimeOut has five double passes to Laneway to give away. To enter, simply head to our Facebook page and tell us who you're most excited to see. Winners will be drawn Friday, January 23 at 5pm. Tickets will be emailed to winners ahead of Monday's event.

- TimeOut