Questions with The Ting Tings

For two people, the Ting Tings make a big sound. Jules De Martino and Katie White can usually be found switching between five or six instruments, blasting out party-time electro pop from big stages and festivals. But on Friday morning, the duo stopped by KRZ’s Spotlight Lounge with nothing but their voices and a pair of acoustic guitars — and Jules’ winged Adidas sneakers and Katie’s shimmering tights.

Before they played stripped-down versions of “Great DJ,” “Shut Up and Let Me Go” and their massive hit “That’s Not My Name,” the affable Brits, operating on three hours sleep after an appearance in Rochester, N.Y., answered a few questions from the Weekender.

Weekender: Any interesting or funny celebrity encounters?
White: Tell him the MTV Video Awards story.
De Martino: Yeah, we were at the Video Awards, and my manager said Lil Wayne is sitting behind us. I said “Who the f--k is Lil Wayne?” I honestly didn’t know. I turned around and said, “Lil Wayne, nice to meet you” and I turned back around. Then my manager said, “That wasn’t Lil Wayne. He’s the guy sitting next to that guy.” So I turned around again and apologized and introduced myself, and as I was doing it, I was spilling a glass of champagne all over myself.

Weekender: Have you seen any things in the U.S. that seem weird to you?
White: We were on the bus in Rochester yesterday. We saw this statue of a horse with American flags all over it, and there were these little deers all around it. We asked the bus driver, who is American, what it was all about and he didn’t know. He said, “I’m so embarrassed.”

Weekender: You’ll be opening for Pink in the fall. How do you feel about it?
De Martino: It should be great. We’re looking forward to it. The show’s called “Circus,” so yeah, it should be a circus.

Weekender: How do you feel about being up at 8:30 a.m. and working?
De Martino: Well, we only got three hours sleep last night.
White: So we’re still awake, really. w