We The Kings, pop rock band from Bradenton, Florida, performed at the Student Programming Association’s Alive @ 5 event on Oct. 12. 

Band members who performed included vocalist and lead guitarist Travis Clark, guitarist Hunter Thomsen, drummer Danny Duncan, and keyboard player and guitarist Coley O’Toole.

Their self-titled full-length debut album was released in 2007 and included the platinum single, “Check Yes Juliet,” which sold more than 250,000 copies in the United States.

We The Kings has released two albums since then including “Smile Kid” in 2010 and “Sunshine State of Mind” in 2011. The band is also working on a new album, which Clark said should be finished near the end of the year.

We The Kings recently completed a worldwide tour with Simple Plan and, the band has performed across the United States as a main stage headliner on the Vans Warped Tour.

We The Kings has also won awards like the MTV Video Music Awards “Best New Artist” and Rock on Request Awards “Best Pop Punk Artist” in 2008, Teen Choice Awards “Choice Hook Up” with Demi Lovato for “We’ll Be a Dream” in 2010 and MTV O Music Awards “Most Innovative Music Video” for “Say You Like Me” in 2012.

Torri Sepulvado, SPA entertainment chair, said when SPA was trying to choose a band, they conducted a survey, and the pop/rock genre won.

“We put together a list of bands we could afford, and We The Kings has the most votes,” Sepulvado said.

Sepulvado said close to 600 people attended Alive @ 5.

Nicholls Worth: So tell me about yourselves.

Travis: I sing and play guitar in We The Kings.

Coley: I play keys, guitar and sing in We The Kings.

Travis: Oh, so you’ve got to one-up me… I also play keys, just not in the band.

Coley: I’m also an excellent pogo-sticker.

Travis: I love playing ping-pong.

Danny: I play drums, and I am the spiritual advisor for the band.

Travis: Why don’t you give us all a word of wisdom?

Danny: Don’t leave home without your contacts… A dry eye is a penny earned.

Coley: Is that an expression? I’ve never heard that. We were looking for different expressions. What does that even mean?

Danny: Yeah, yeah man… No, I just made that up.

NW: Do you have any hidden talents?

Travis: They’re not hidden. Everybody knows that we’re very talented.

NW: Well do you guys have any exposed talents, other than music?

Travis: Love, just look online. Google “We The Kings talent,” and you’ll find everything.

Danny: Would you be upset if we answered every question with ‘just Google it?’

NW: Seriously though…

Travis: We all have individual talents, I mean, we play rock-n-roll. I’m not saying we invented rock-n-roll. That’s for other people to say. I’m saying we ARE rock-n-roll. 

Danny: You can’t just invent rock-n-roll.

Travis: All I’m saying is, the talents that we have that you would call “hidden” are pretty known. I guess we’re amazing at making love, but t
hat’s not exactly it either. We speak and sing about it in our songs. We also love eating. I think that’s a talent.

NW: Well, what is your favorite food?

Travis: On three… One. Two. Three. Pizza.

Danny: Burritos

Coley: Rice. Yeah, I love rice.

Danny: Yeah. He’s American.

NW: Do you guys like to play pranks?

Travis: On other people, yes. We lit somebody on fire once. The end result: third degree burns. 

Danny: True Story. 

Travis: Also, while another band was on stage we painted their van to look like the one from Scooby Doo.

Danny: We shouldn’t have done it really.

Travis: I think we upped their van, meaning that if it were EBay, it would change from ‘reserve not met’ to about $30,000.

Danny: It’s like Pimp my Ride. That’s what we did.

NW: Do you guys have any strange likes or dislikes?

Coley: I don’t like $20 bills.

Travis: Because, well, it’s $80 less than $100.

NW: What is We the Kings doing now?

Travis: We’re recording a new record. We’ve been in the studio for the past two or three months.

Danny: Three.

Travis: So hopefully by the end of the year we’ll have a new record.

NW: It’s rumored that We the Kings will record a song for “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” movie.

Travis: We met with some people from “Catching Fire,” and we’re actually doing one of the songs for the soundtrack. That’s something not many people know. It will be one of the biggest things we’ve ever done. 

NW: Does the band have any rituals before performances?

Travis: We have a chant. We’ve stopped saying it at schools because it’s quite vulgar. Vulgar in a good way though. It got us pumped up.

NW: Do you guys have any special Louisiana memories?

Travis: We don’t get to play in the New Orleans area much, so it’s nice that the school brought us here because there are a lot of fans who have to travel across the country and to different states to see us.

NW: What have been some of your most recent proud moments?

Travis: Yesterday we celebrated the one year anniversary of We the Kings Day. Our hometown, in Bradenton, Florida, delegated Oct. 11 for us.

Danny: We forgot to celebrate on Oct. 2, the five-year anniversary of our first record, from 2007. They call it the diamond anniversary.

Travis: Some say it’s the best record we’ve ever done. Not all, just most. It’s a staple record for us.