On the Verge: Rock duo Royal Blood figures it out

A regal success: One of the biggest breakouts in rock this year is also the smallest possible band. Royal Blood is a bluesy British two-piece made up of singer/bassist Mike Kerr, 24, and drummer Ben Thatcher, 26, that has exploded since releasing its first single, Out of the Black, just over a year ago. Having climbed to No. 3 on USA TODAY's Active Rock chart with Figure It Out off its self-titled debut album released in August, the hard-rock duo has racked up an impressive resume. They've

toured with the Pixies and Arctic Monkeys, and earned vocal fans in the likes of Jimmy Page and Howard Stern.

Not Foo-ling around: If you missed its just-wrapped U.S. tour, Royal Blood returns stateside next summer opening for Foo Fighters at a handful of stadium shows — a "pinch me" moment for Thatcher, who's been listening to the Foos and Nirvana since he was 11 and counts Dave Grohl as a major inspiration. "If you could ask either Mike or I, 'If you could tour with any band, who would it be with?' we would've said Foo Fighters," Thatcher says. "To actually be on that bill now and to be able to do that, it's an amazing opportunity for us. We don't take it for granted."

Barbie Girl beginnings: Thatcher started drumming at a young age. "My parents weren't musical at all, so it was quite strange that I used to go to the cupboards and get out pots and pans and start banging on them when I was 8 months old," he says. The first album he ever bought was Aquarium by Scandinavian pop group Aqua (of Barbie Girl fame), but he soon caught on to bands such as Led Zeppelin and Muse, drumming along to their music in his early teens.

Blood is born: Thatcher met Kerr about 10 years ago through mutual friends, and they started writing music and playing together in various bands. But it wasn't until two years ago that they formed Royal Blood (and were signed to Warner Bros. Records). "We knew how each other worked, and for this project, we were on the same page and had the same idea and managed to pull it off," Thatcher says.

Figured it out: Royal Blood played its first show together the day after forming the band, at an open-mic night a friend was hosting at a bar. There, they played a few "skeleton ideas" of songs Kerr had, one of which eventually became Figure it Out. "At that first gig, Mike had no lyrics for it, but were kind of playing it, so he made them up on the spot," Thatcher says. "I think the tagline, 'Figure it out,' came from that, really."

Sticking to the basics: There are limitations to what they can do as a two-man band, but problem-solving is part of the fun, Thatcher says. "The easy option would be to get two other guys in, but we enjoyed being a two-piece and we enjoyed how it sounded," he says. In the studio, "there are no tricks, no overdubbing guitars or anything like that. We want to have 'what you see is what you get' with us, so when you hear the record, you don't really believe it's just bass and drums. But when you come see it live, you realize, 'Actually, it is.'"