Talking Shop: Black Kids

Reggie Youngblood formed his band in Jacksonville, Florida

A party-starting pulp of indie, pop and funk has helped US band Black Kids become one of the hottest new groups around.

With echoes of 1980s stars like Prince, The Cure and The Human League, their debut album Partie Traumatic has just come out in the UK.

They have also won over live crowds and scored a UK hit with their single I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You.

Singer Reggie Youngblood discusses his band's rise and explains why he is ready to be a pop star.

Things have happened very quickly for you - have you managed to cling onto the rollercoaster of fame?

If this had happened to me when I was 20 or 21, I think I would have been in over my head. But I'm 27 now and I've had several years to daydream about this. It feels kind of natural now. It feels like I'm experiencing one of my daydreams.

When you were daydreaming, what were you doing in real life?

I'm fine with the description of being cheesy pop - there are so many cheesy pop songs I love and adore

It consisted of several cubicles and many a conversation on the phone with disgruntled customers. I worked for a security company, in a monitoring centre.

When an alarm went off, I would dispatch the police or call the home to see if everything was OK. And good God, that was a soul-sucking venture.

Does the reality live up to your daydreams?

The thing is I'm probably a lot milder than I was when I constantly had my head in the clouds. Much more tame than I was a few years back. I don't want to go out, I just want to read my book.

It seems like a lot of your songs are about romantic insecurity and inferiority.

Yeah, it's a fairly universal emotion of feeling inadequate in romantic situations. I think nine out of 10 people have experienced it - the jealousy, the impotence... not physical impotence, just feeling powerless in a situation.

One day you feel like a complete victim and the next day you're causing someone else to suffer

But on the other hand, there are a couple of songs on there that explore the other side, where you have the advantage in the relationship, where you possess the power.

To me, it's fun to switch back and forth. It's quite often what you experience in real life - one day you feel like a complete victim and the next day you're causing someone else to suffer.

Are you more rock or more pop?

There are some very rockist tendencies on the album and we do tend to have our heavy moments, but the pop tends to outweigh the rock when it's all said and done.

I'm fine with the description of being cheesy pop - there are so many cheesy pop songs I love and adore. I guess I don't think of them as cheesy, I just think of them as wonderful. Like Spandau Ballet's Gold - that probably doesn't hold up too good any more - or Prefab Sprout's King of Rock 'n' Roll - that probably doesn't hold up either. But I love, love, love those songs.

Your younger sister Ali is in the band - do you squabble?

Ali Youngblood plays keyboards and sings with her brother in the band

Naturally. I don't know if it's like this with most families, but in our family, the closer you are to someone, the more access they have to your not-so-wonderful qualities.

So we treat our friends and strangers with much more care and respect than we treat each other. We're very impatient with people we know can't leave us.

At the end of the day, I would die for her so it doesn't really matter.

Ali and fellow keyboardist and vocalist Dawn Watley bring an extra dimension to the band - were they there all along?

For the longest time, Owen [Holmes, bassist], Kevin [Snow, drummer] and I were in groups where it was four guys on stage, posing and singing about how tragic they were. But with the introduction of the girls, I saw infinite possibilities - like with Motown or the B-52s or Human League.

I don't mean to objectify them, but they were like a new toy. Oh! Look at what we can do now!

What does an average day entail? Is it exciting and glamorous?

It's a lot of travelling, and a lot of isolating ourselves with out music and laptops and books. Then when we arrive at a venue, when we're waiting to play, that's when we all spend time together. We have drinks and do our best to rally each other up. We play music and have little dance parties. Then we play, and then we just come down from that. Leave me alone until the next gig!

Reggie Youngblood was talking to BBC News entertainment reporter Ian Youngs.

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