Named after a Chinese friend whose name sounds like the Mandarin pronunciation of "bandstand," the Ting Tings – a scrappy, dance-oriented duo consisting of singer/guitarist Katie White and drummer Jules De Martino – formed in the Salford district of Manchester, England in 2006. Prior to forming the group, the pair worked together in 2001 when White was in the all-female punk-pop group TKO and De Martino wrote some songs for them. Later the pair reunited, and with another friend formed the trio Eskimo Kiss, which signed to Mercury Records but disbanded, in part due to changing personnel at the label.