On a recent evening I was indulging in one of my favorite guilty pleasures—watching Gossip Girl—when I became distracted by one of the songs on the episode's soundtrack. After a little legwork on MySpace I discovered "That's Not My Name" is one of a handful of catchy pop ditties on We Started Nothing the soon-to-be released debut album from a super cute UK duo with a super cute name, The Tings Tings. Think the White Stripes's brand of stripped down music put on a strict diet of pixy stix and sticky soda—in other words, more clap along than foot stompin'.

In the interest of getting to know my new favorite band, I sent Jules De Martino (drums, vocals) some questions; bone up on his responses below and email me for your chance to win a pair of tickets to one of their upcoming shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco or New York.

Caroline Stanley: Have you ever watched Gossip Girl? Do you have any guilty pleasure shows that we'd recognize?
Jules De Martino: We have never seen Gossip Girl but we're obsessed with Curb Your Enthusiasm and Heroes. We watch them on our tour bus constantly, though these can't be classed as guilty pleasures as they're top viewing. There's a program I caught while in Texas for SXSW that was a quiz show where you admit to secrets for money under lie detection in front of family and friends. I can't remember the name of the show [Editor's note: "The Moment of Truth," hosted by Mark Walberg] but I was disgustingly instantly addicted...

CS: You've both got wicked personal style. Where do you find most of your clothes?
JDM: We don't use stylists. I'm not great on fashion, Katie is a mind of color and style, she's amazing. She can make herself look presentable for under 10 dollars. I'd live in the same messed up jeans for the year if I was left to my own devices.

CS: Did real life events inspire "Shut Up & Let Me Go"? Have either of you had an especially bad breakup?
JDM: We've both had relationship meltdowns in our pasts, who hasn't? The fear of letting go is sometimes more painful than the actual breakups themselves. I guess this song is about moving on from those shackles.

CS: Speed round. Tell me the first thing that pops into your head. The White Stripes.
JDM: Simple
CS: NME
JDM: Fast
CS: Popularity
JDM: Dangerous
CS: Summer jam
JDM: Grandma
CS: Calvin Harris
JDM: Tall

[Editor's note: I think there might have been a bit of a culture barrier with "summer jam." I was thinking more DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince...]

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