Band of Skulls’ Track by Track for Gigwise:

Bruises
This was the last song to be finished on the record and in the studio. Everyone knew it had potential but needed that extra vocal quality. It was a triumphant finish.

Lay My Head Down
It was a song that we had to change from being a quiet song. It has a real heavy middle section which will hopefully take people by surprise. This is the first time we've done a real three part harmony; it has a real Laurel Canyon California feel.

The Devil Takes Care of His Own
Devil Takes Care of His Own is the track that links the first album with the second. It's probably the most collaborative of the album – there was an equal split between the writing.

Wanderluster
An idea for a song that came from a long time ago. It came from the first album but we took a long time to realise all the subtleties to make it work. It was a conundrum rather than a natural feel to work out.

Navigate
Another song that was nagging to be finished so we took a long time. We had lots of different versions and in the end we found the perfect template to work from. Its intended to be a song that just builds throughout. It holds the record for the most chords in any one of our songs.

You Aint Pretty But You’ve Got it Going On
We decided to see how heavy a song we could make and the most extreme thing we could do but also to retain it as a blues song, something with an edge. We played it a live few times and the audience reacted really well to it. It's the fastest tempo on the record and that we've ever done so it's really relentless.

Hometown
It's a song we tried in many different ways; the simplest version made it on the record. it's all about the lyrics and the melody so it was simplified down to just that. It's got a Mellotron for all the Beatles experts out there.

Lies
This was the first song that was we recorded and the first one we did in the studio so it really set the tone. After Nick Launay mixed it, it gave us a feel of how the rest of the record would sound.

Close to Nowhere
Its the close of the album it's a song that really developed in the studio. We recorded it in the early hours of the morning over plenty of red wine. You have to listen to it late at night to appreciate it.

A sweet yet scary vocal opens up each of the few songs the girls have let loose on the internet. The brooding 'Get A Hold' displays the girls punk inspirations with a softer hold, a fuzzy guitar rift plays on loop throughout the track giving it menacing integrity.

Touring with Warpaint, obvious comparisons have been thrown about but 2:54 are of a different breed. Darker and more mysterious the Thurlow sisters have received more attention off the back of their recent single 'Scarlet' which has been a turning point for the band, earning even more media attention.

Set to tour with the equally as intense and down beat The Big Pink next month and have just completed a tour with The Maccabees. With but four arms between them and drums, bass and two guitars to be played between the sisters, it is a wonder how 2:54 will sound live in comparison to their presence on record. Counting the ever cool Dalston, London as their stomping ground, the pair are sure to spread their sound much further this year.

www.myspace.com/thetwofiftyfour

www.facebook.com/twofiftyfour

While it is never ideal when a band start their career with a multitude of comparisons to musicians already fully fledged TOY's friendship and links with The Horrors can do them no harm. Alongside this TOY also have bassist Maxim Barron in their ranks, who also dabbles in Faris Badwan's side project Cat's Eyes. However a singer who used to be lead guitarist in Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong might be one that TOY want to keep quiet.

What they shouldn't keep quiet is their slowly brewing and psychedelic sound which has earned the band all these comparisons. All long haired and forlorn, TOY are smartly shoe-gaze with a hint of expansive escapism. Fans of the pedal and synth, the scrawny five piece have only been playing live for the last year but have already made appearances at last years Field Day and 1234 Festivals as well as supporting The Horrors on their recent tour.

An experimental edge which make the band so interesting sees them dabble in songs often creeping over the five minute mark with long percussion sections. With a name that is incredibly hard to Google, TOY are keeping the mystery even on their own website with no further information expect a video and offering of four live dates at East London's hip Shackwell Arms which has already sold out.

 www.facebook.com/toy.band

This time though the sound is more flirty, summer fun than shoe-gazing surly attitude. Named after Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys favourite album, and a place holder name that stuck after their first gig together, Friends is how this band begun. Writing tracks in her spare time while enjoying that big university past time, procrastination, front lady Samantha Urbani used her laptop and phone to record early demos of the bands songs.

With only two tracks available online, Friends have conjured up quite the spark of interest with a BBC Sound of 2012 accolade to their name already. A glittering mixture of laid back baselines and twinkling synth sounds, the bands sound simply shines. Two retro inspired videos have already made the band a cult cool success, as have fresh lyrics. Running with a fruity funk sound, Friends have created a vibe that is lo-fi and one of their own.

Friends are full of energy with a tropical twist and plenty of percussion. Playing on subtle yet rhythmic sounds the band also use clever lyrics. Both tracks 'Friend Crush' and 'I'm His Girl' are smart and relate-able tales that are sure to strike a chord in many, and if not then the music behind them most certainly will. Perfect for summer time parties and certainly one to be big on this years festival circuit, Friends will be there.

www.facebook.com/sdneirfbackwards

www.myspace.com/friends

Friends - I'm His Girl from Lucky Number Music on Vimeo.

This is absolutely not the case when you first listen to Lester Clayton. The lead vocalist of the name sake collective, propped up brilliantly by his trio of musicians, Lester excites the senses with a gorgeous mix of acoustic folk and reggae. The band is completed by a bassist, violinist and drum-box playing rastafarian. His reggae-infused brand of "Street Folk" with fiddle hooks and groove bass is fresh, poignant and extremely infectious.

Lester Clayton, have forged their own unique sound with the ingenious concoction of wonderful instruments, held together by very strong vocals and guitar from Lester. With the group currently supporting the biggest name in pop right now, Ed Sheeran, it wont be long before thousands will be listening to the sounds of Lester Clayton.

Tottenham born, Clayton has played over 600 gigs, and gained fans everywhere he has played, trawling through the summer festivals, as well as supporting Just Jack and Pete Doherty. After completing the Ed Sheeran tour this month, Clayton will be stepping out on his own for his headline tour, playing the Waterfront Norwich, King Tuts Glasgow and The Borderline London.

www.myspace.com/lesterclayton

With a work ethic to match Milagres have managed their own UK tour, produced their own record and come back from the trauma of singer Kyle's near fatal mountain climbing accident only to jet set across the pond in a true statement of intent. In a mosquito sized window in their schedule we caught up with the hotly tipped band to talk Brooklyn, songwriting and touring our great majesty's land:

So this is your first time over in the UK?

It is actually!

How have you been finding your visit?

We've been really busy, mainly playing shows for the first four days with lots of travelling, we did some stuff for Radio One, we've driven up to Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow, Brighton and all the way back to London - but gladly we might add! It's been great, a lot of fun. Hopefully we're going to get some time to walk around and see the sights at some point - we want to go see the Tate Modern and pay a visit to the Gin Mill down on Portobello road.

As of the last few weeks though we've been so busy that when we actually get the time to do something that isn't band related we are probably going to be totally dumb struck, we seem to have forgotten what to do with our spare time? Don't think we're actually going to be able to function as normal human beings anymore, although the first port of call will be to do some laundry, at least before we do anything else...

From the experience you've gained so far what would you say are the differences between British and American crowds?

There are so many different types of American crowds and probably the same thing here depending on the city you are in. It's hard for us to judge as we've gone back to being an opening band over the last few days but we got a great reception each night. Sometimes you look out at somebody in the crowd who looks like they aren't enjoying it and then they'll come up to you later, say they love you and buy the record. Other times someone is dancing around like a lunatic then they just leave. It's really hard to tell sometimes so I'm always reminding myself what I look like when I'm mesmerised by a band.

One thing we did notice though is that in America when you peer into the crowd a lot of the time you see a lot of people on their mobile phones. You never know whether that is a good or a bad thing though as they might be doing it because they are bored or telling a friend "look I'm at an amazing show". Here nobody does that either way, maybe they wait till they get home, it's much more polite.

Brooklyn where you guys hail from is a bit of a creative bubble, how do you feel that has influenced your sound?

It's definitely a bubble, it's easy to get wrapped up within and forget what the rest of the world is like because there are certain important aspects of music and culture there that don't necessarily pertain to the rest of the world, even America. As soon as we leave Brooklyn it always seems to be a world apart. Whether or not it's influenced us, I'm sure it has in certain ways but we've never strived to be a Brooklyn band perse.

We are part of an artistic community however so we do come into contact with people who we have reciprocal artistic relationships with all the time. In that way I think it does shape what we do as it's good to be in an environment with other bands who are extremely good at what they do.

What do you think it is that makes Brooklyn unique in comparison to other places?

Maybe just the fact that it's so densely populated, it's very much become and is becoming the cultural centre of New York, as opposed to Manhattan. There are a lot of different neighborhoods, a lot of different variations, a lot of diversity ethnically and income wise meaning you can live in a dilapidated loft or a luxury apartment on the same street; there are a lot of different things in the mix. From what we've seen so far though the city that reminds us the most of Brooklyn is funnily enough London.

Kyle is from the west coast actually, as opposed to Brooklyn on the east coast, the music from the west has much more space in it, it sounds like it's made by people who have more time on their hands, perhaps they are a little less self-conscious. In New York I think people are a little more used to being judged, it's a little more claustrophobic which doesn't make for worse music it just makes for different music. Also it's a lot more expensive to be an artist in a place like Brookyln, you need to pay for rehearsal space whereas in a lot of other towns in the states you can do it in your garage or your living room and the kind of music you make when you can sit around, drink beer, smoke and so on is a lot different from what you get if you have to prepare everything beforehand.

Kyle you had a mountain climbing accident which culminated in the writing of a lot of the material on the album, do you feel the experience helped the band manifest in its current form?

It wasn't so much that accident that changed everything, it was more the time leading up to it - after that I realised I needed to change everything about my life and I literally changed everything. We were all working together in some capacity but the way that I approached the band changed making it a lot more bearable for the others, everything began to work a lot better afterwards.

The influence of the incident, where do you feel it lies most on the 'Glowing Mouth' album?

Actually it's funny I have to write a track by track analysis on the album for someone so I have been thinking about this; to me it's definitely most evident in the title track, writing it was an extremely liberating process. I studied music formerly for years and years and years and ever since I've stopped studying I've been trying to break free of all the conservative nit-picky rules that I had developed - in writing that song I broke an awful lot of those rules. At the same time I ended up really pushing myself in order to get the best performance possible.

You've described in prior interviews the concept of writing in a conceptual manner, how did you approach this album?

With this album our approach was more along the lines of a stream of consciousness, writing whatever I wanted to and then fitting everything together, or at least hoping that it all fit together. It ended up being cohesive in the best way, where once it was finished it made sense as an album. When we were writing however it seemed to be all over the place!

'Glowing Mouth' chronicled a period of really significant change both in our personal lives and in our life as a band as well, if we were to line up the tracks chronologically I think you'd be able to see that change, it definitely starts at point A and progresses to point B.

The video for Halfway is quite out there! What was the idea behind it?

It wasn't our idea, we got a pitch from the director Dimitri Simakis, we read it and decided it was either going to be the worst thing in the world or the best thing we could possibly hope for, so naturally we thought let's do it. Dmitri is the brain behind a website called everythingisterrible.com, he's a master of finding clips of bad old 80s films, absolutely awful Youtube clips which I have no idea where he finds but we just really liked the aesthetic of the stuff he does. We knew that if he was going to make our video it was going to be entertaining at least and we were really really pleased with the results.

We enjoyed the fact that the effect was extremely polarizing: some people said it was scary, some people said it was awful and some people just loved it. That's kind of what we wanted as a piece of art should illicit a response, there's a lot of music videos out there today that you watch and think "okay that's pretty good".

So you're ruling out any videos with ladies in bikinis and sponge baths?

We think it's too early to say!

A lot of critics have failed to pigeonhole your sound, if you could how would you describe it?

Colplday lite! You know we've got Chris Martin on speed dial so we just ask him tips every night of how to continue, he's our vocal coach. Frasier who recorded the album is also Brian Eno's nephew so he's been drawing influence from there.

Honestly though I don't think any of us are good at describing our band at all so I don't blame journalists for having a hard time. Everyone in the band has certain different influences or different backgrounds that all come out on the record, most of those critics who see us though would say we sound like Coldplay. If Kyle's voice has even a slight reminiscence of it people like to jump on it, if that's his voice that's his voice however.

It falls under the branch of indie rock but we don't think about it that much, there are no constraints, we just do what feels right and if it's good it's good. If we set out to make a record focussing on a specific genre, say chillwave or something like that we would get bored before we finish it. There's so much music out there that is destined for a specific niche, we admire artists who can make an entire record or catalogue like that without losing interest but we can't. Everytime we sit down to write we want to make a completely different song to the song we made before and the same goes for each record. Hopefully when we put out our next one you'll be pleasantly surprised by where we go with it. The real idea is not to do something different each time though, it is to keep ourselves interested, if you've got to go out on tour and play the same song hundreds of times you've got to find a way to do something different.

Lastly some artists describe touring in a new territory as a refreshing experience that allows them to go back to the more intimate gigs they loved in the first place, what's your experience been?

It is a bit like starting again as the record is coming out on January 16th, so it feels like a second chance, it's completely different. Having toured the United States we're in much better shape, we're a better band than we were even a month, month and a half ago and I think we're continuing to get better. To come over here with the experience we've had we were able to put on much better shows than if we'd done it the other way round.

Your new single 'Light Up The World' is out on Sunday, how would you describe it?

It's fun and uplifting. It's got that great reggae/breakbeat mixture. It's a track to put you in a good mood and gets you wanting to party.

How did you come to collaborate with Shy FX and Ms Dynamite on the track?

I met Shy FX when I was DJing – I've been a DJ since I was about 17 and that kind of came first for me. I told him I was a big fan. I loved a lot of his early work; all the jungle stuff throughout the '90s.

Before I got signed, I didn't really have anyone calling the shots for me. So I called Shy and we went in the studio and made my first single 'On My Own.' His production style is something that I love. I don't have to say much to to him, he just knows exactly what to do. With 'Light Up The World,' I'd had a lot of sessions that hadn't really resulted in much and I was quite frustrated. So I went in with Shy and I said that I wanted to have some fun with the track. That was one thing that I hadn't done; everything was always about pressure, so we just fun with it and after we made it, we felt like it could do with an extra something, so we called up Ms Dynamite who loved the song and was happy to jump on it.

Has DJing given you a different appreciation of music?

Definitely. I have so much music in my mind that I've heard over the years and it gives me so much inspiration as well as things to reference. It's definitely given me a greater understanding of music and a greater respect.

Do you collect records or is it digital stuff that you play out?

I came in on the cusp of the digital era and started on CDs, but I felt I wasn't a real DJ unless I was using a turntable, so I bought some when I could finally afford them. I only had a couple of records – just stuff people were throwing away, like garage vinyl – and I learnt to mix like that.

In terms of the obsessiveness or even geekiness that comes from record collecting and DJing, do you think that it has given you an edge by making you aware of different types of music?

I think so. It's a gift and a curse because I've got all this music in my head that I can take inspiration from, but I've also got so much to compare my music to. It definitely gives me an edge; it's what makes me different but that wasn't necessarily on purpose. A lot of musicians or celebrities get asked to DJ, but they can't really to do it. I get the chance to do some great gigs off the back of my music and I can actually spin, so it's good.

Have you got a preference between DJing in clubs and being alone writing songs?

They're two very different experiences. It's like saying: 'Would you rather eat or would you rather breathe?'

Is one more rewarding than the other?

The buzz is different but the feeling is quite similar. When you write a song and people connect with it, it's a warm, fuzzy feeling but when you're DJing in a smaller venue and everyone goes crazy, you feel that connection again.

You worked with Jamie XX recently, can you tell me what you were working on?

He's someone that I was a big fan of. I had some people make some calls and we got in the studio for three days and made three songs. They're quite to different to what I've done before, but I really like them and I really want to get them out one way or another.

He's just a crazily talented person. He's very quiet but he's got this style. If you asked him to pick out ten tracks there would be a theme, but the only way to describe that theme would be as Jamie XX's theme. It's really interesting and it's not really that structured – it's free flowing.

Is there anyone who you'd like to collaborate with in the future?

I'd love to work with SBTRKT. His album was my favourite album of last year. It had the right mixture of fantastic songs and fantastic production. It was really new and fresh but it still felt familiar – and I think that's what I try and strive for.

What else is in store for you in 2012?

More shows. The single comes out on Sunday. I'm giving everyone more music; I did an acoustic session recently that I just dropped one of the videos from – which was a cover of Frank Ocean's 'American Wedding.' There's also another cover and two original tracks that people haven't heard before, so I can't wait for those to come out. The album's on its way to completion and I'm really looking forward to getting out on the road.

What kind of things can we expect from the album?

I'm working with the some great producers, so I've got some great beats on there. People have said my three singles have been quite different, but they're all very similar in the aspect of the old school breaks, the reverb and very spacious, very '90s influence. There's a lot of reggae influence on the album. There's a taster of it on 'Light Up The World' and I've got a couple more tracks with that kind of vibe.

Lyrically, it's very honest. A lot of my journey has been quite independent. When I was a DJ, it was a very lonely existence. You're going off to parties but everything apart from that is completely isolated. There's been a lot of self-discovery and the album is kind of a tale about that. I want it to inspire other people to be brave and be able to go out on their own, and I also want it to connect with the people that are already doing that. I listen to music to comfort me, no matter what mood I'm in and that's what I hope I can do.

So tell us a little bit about how you first started Church?

It was me and a mate Dom who started the night in the crypt of a church in Camberwell and that's where the name came from. After about five weeks or so we gathered a bit of a following so Corsica Studios (where they film the Boiler Room) gave us a ring, asking us if we'd like to move it there. Obviously we jumped at the chance and things just went from there really.

Did it get too big for the crypt then or was it just the next logical step?

Yeah it got to the point on about the fifth week where we had more people outside who couldn't get in than people actually inside. It was quite a small area with about 150 inside and well over 200 hundred outside with people actually climb over the walls to get in. When Corsica first rang up we weren't sure if we wanted to move there as it was brilliant working inside a church but it gave us the opportunity to put on artists that we'd been following for a long time.

Were you at uni at the time you started the night then?

I still am actually, I'm a third year at L.C.C. at the moment, a couple of the other guys are at Camberwell. Academically it's hindered me quite a bit as it takes quite a bit of time, but with the club night being a student has really helped me out as we can get a feel for want the student crowd want.

What would you say is the music policy behind the night?

I think it's changed as our music tastes have developed but I think I'd say it's a house, bass and garage night. Genres are a tricky one though, we could call it dubstep but it's not the dubstep that the majority of people would identify with as things have moved on quite a bit lately.

What we've always been out to do is trying to make it as un-pretentious as possible, there's a lot of nights especially in art school that say they are for example hip-hop, but really they are more about how the people there look as opposed to what's going on with the music. We've tried to create more of a party vibe than your usual art student do. It's more relaxed more about the music, so with the bookings we're not thinking who is going to pull people in, rather it's more about who we are listening to at that moment. To us it's not about making money, it's about showcasing an artist that we love in a room full of people.

If you could pick one what would be an anthemic tune from Church that has stuck in your mind?

For me personally I'm a massive fan of Jacques Green ' Another Girl', that's a tune that if you play when it's going off just fits the moment perfectly. I put that one in the mix for you guys.

How about a favourite booking that you've made along the way?

XXXY would have to be the best in my book as it was the first DJ we hosted at Corsica Studios, to get the opportunity to play alongside someone whose tunes you've been playing for so long was just amazing. He schooled us as well as we were pretty new on the scene.

Have you ever had anything go horribly wrong?

On the third week at Corsica we had Fantastic Mr. Fox come down and we were still novices in the technology area as all the sound equipment was still fairly new to us. Then the music suddenly just shut off, we got it back on after a few minutes but it just stopped again, so me and Dom had to jump on quickly. We just grabbed a random CD out of the bag and it was just the most inappropriate tune to put on at that particular time.

Seeing as it's all about the hot for 2012 lists at the moment, who would be your pick?

I reckon Disclosure are going to be huge, maybe even as big as SBTRKT, theirs quite a similar vibe and they've got the radio one play recently that is clearly going to get them far.

Have you thought about incorporating any live streaming into your promotions?

We're actually starting some Ustreaming on the 19th of January, what we're going to do is a Church radio show live from Corsica Studios, put on by the DJ's playing on the night. We'll be putting them after for download after. Obviously the Boiler Room has already done that but as I've said before it's all about the music and seems like a great thing to incorporate into the brand.

So what advice would you give to young promoters looking to get started in the game?

Don't put on a night for the sake of putting on a night, you've got to be really into it and it has got to be about the music. You've got to start it for the right reasons and carry it on for the right reasons. If you've got a passion for a certain type of music however just go for it!

Lastly tell us a little bit about the mix you've made for Gigwise.

I've tried to make it as accessible as possible as I know not everyone is going to be fully into the dance music so there are a lot of vocal tracks, it's really vibing stuff that should be a nice easy listen.

For one information on Church and upcoming events click here.

Mix tracklist Done by Resident and co founder Seb Wildblood:

Throwing Snow & Pye- The Shadows I make
Eliphino- More than me
Roberto Rodrigues Manolo- I keep thinking of you
Fur Coat (Teed Remix)- Space Ballad
Damu- Breathless
Dauwd- Ikopol
Hush Hush Pony (Brane Remix) - Baboon
George Fitzgerald- Fernweh
Ifan Dafydd- No Good Jacques Greene- Another Girl

Gigwise Interview Mix by Seb Wildblood (Church)

We caught up with lead singer Orlando and guitarist Felix on a dreary January evening for a couple of ales and a discussion of inspiration, themes, touring and one of the most devoted and unique fanbases on the planet. They've been tipped for big things this year and with very good reason:

Alright guys happy new year! Did you have a good one and what did you get up to?

Orlando: I had a good one, I was DJing at a friend's place, he's a chef whose place ended up turning into a bit of a party.

Felix: We weren't together as a band though as we basically end up spending the rest of the year together, a little text gets sent out by everyone of course.

Seeing as it's detox january did you make any new years resolutions?

Felix: I need to stop looking at my phone as much, I've got an iPhone and I've inherited this disorder where I end up checking it every five minutes and I don't know why. Do you know what I mean though? I'm very aware of becoming one of those people that's always on their phone so I'm going to try to stop that.

Orlando: I sort of decided really late on new years eve that I was going to give up smoking but that didn't really last very long.

So getting down to business, the album is out there, have you got any plans to celebrate at all?

Orlando: Well last night Sam tried to convince me that we were going to be having a party, but we just seem to have forgotten about it as he hasn't mentioned it today.

Felix: I don't think Sam remembers much of last night though! We always talk about having these kind of parties but they always end up being a sort of impromptu kind of thing. We are really not too good at organising these kinds of things.

Do you have any traditions on the day of release?

Felix: We're quite english about it actually, I think we try to avoid talking about it really!

Are you glad to be back then as it has been quite a while since your last album?

Orlando: I really just want to get on with being on the road really, just get on with playing, touring, get some structure back into our lives. It's not so up in the air anymore as once something comes out you are totally committed to it. There is a sense of no going back to it and for someone like me who is very poor at making decisions half the time it's quite nice to have things just happen because the commitment has been made.

It was the beginning of 2010 when you guys first went into the studio, did you enjoy being able to take your time?

Orlando: It didn't really feel like we were taking our time, every step it felt like we had a really tight deadline and then we'd change them but then the next deadline would be tighter. We filled all our time then all of a sudden it'd be four in the morning, followed by long stretches without seeing anyone. Every step felt like we were up against it to deliver, it's weird how we managed to consistently find things to add to the record for such a long amount of time.

Felix: Because there is five of us in the band everyone has their own say on how the record should sound, everyone puts a lot of input in sometimes, not so much at other times and it scales back and forth a lot. There is a lot of working out and balancing to make sure that everything is in place.

How do you feel about artists such as Rihanna churning out material in under a year?

Felix: Fantastic, that's great for her but we can't do that, we're only as productive as we are and it ain't for a lack of work ethic.

What was it like working with Tim Goldsworthy and Bruno Ellingham (LCD Soundsystem and Massive Attack) on production duties?

Felix: It was great Tim bought down a lot of toys, a lot of gear, a lot of musical equipment, so we used a lot of that and he helped us with a couple of the arrangements. Other than that we feel ownership of the record. There was something that seemed to fit nicely when we went with them, but at the end of the day we are the only ones who know how our record should sound.

Orlando: We were trying to cover bases though really, we were using some bits and pieces that we didn't really feel particularly confident about, we wanted someone who could help us to understand those areas. We realised soon after though that there isn't really a secret to this kind of stuff, you've just got to push it around and if it works it works.

Can you tell us a little about the concept behind the album as at first glance there are clearly some underlying themes demonstrated through the 'Give To The Wild' short film.

Orlando: Lyrically in the past we've delved into trying to understand relationships and things like that, but with this album I didn't feel like writing about that anymore. The only other thing that I feel like I understand, at least in a way I can express in an interview is trying to vocalize the senses of memory, love, life and looking at the world I guess. There are things on the album that I think are very important, like family and love. I don't want to dedicate my time to expressing something unless I can do it with the right level of finesse. I'm not explaining this very well, but somewhere in there there is an answer.

Don't worry it'd ruin it if you could explain everything fully! If you're talking about moving on from certain subjects do you feel you've matured as a band?

Orlando: I don't know about that, the songs just seemed to be the right thing to be writing about, we'd come back from tour and while you're away you don't notice the things going on around you. When you get back people are suddenly having babies and things like that, it's a turning point in people's lives that late 20's age and it hit me kind of hard. I was excited for those around me and fascinated by these people who I'd grown up with who were all of a sudden fathers. I remember I was playing pool with our tech guy when we were on tour in Nottingham and we got this phone call from a mate called George who was bursting to tell us that he was a dad. I just remember thinking that is the craziest thing I've ever heard! For some reason that seemed like a good place to start, it just stuck with me.

Inspiration definitely turns up in strange places, where do you think is the strangest place you've found it?

Felix: Guitar music tends to belong to its own rules a lot of the time so it's quite an interesting thing to use your imagination to look outside that, once you do there's so much to find.

Orlando: What I think is quite interesting is where you hear something, or you know something and you often pinpoint where the actual idea might have come from. When you're writing songs a lot of the time it's hard to say exactly where the inspiration might have come from, but then the other day I was listening to Lisa Stansfield in a pizza restaurant thinking it sounded slightly familiar. I'd never heard of her before but it got me thinking that maybe I should get to know her.

Felix: You must have picked it up along the way somewhere.

You've mentioned the influence of The Stone Roses on the album, how are you feeling about the reunion?

Felix: I think the reunion is great. I wouldn't go to the big Manchester ones or anything like that because it'd be 60,000 people and I think the experience gets a bit lost in those situations. If they played Brixton Academy or any place like that I can imagine it being the most euphoric thing in the world. I've never been in a place where everyone sings Stone Roses songs and I can imagine that'd be a really good place to be. These huge gigs are incredibly un-intimate and it's not going to be the experience you want it to be. The influence of The Stone Roses on the guitar portions of the album is very heavy however, perhaps a little too much!

What I love most about The Stone Roses is their bravado, not ego but they are a muscular band, they really rate themselves but there is something really tender and beautiful about the music that goes way beyond that surface. Those are the elements that I've tried to incorporate into the guitar sections on the album.

You did some intimate tour dates towards the end of last year to preview the new material, how did the fans react to it?

Orlando: It went as well as it could possibly have gone, people genuinely seemed really excited to be able to hear the songs pretty early on. The fans that come to the Maccabees gigs seem really invested in the music and they got off on the fact they were some of the first people to hear it. It felt great as the process of making a record is so stop start that it was such a relief to go out there and just play.

Were there any songs from the album that people reacted to particularly well?

Felix: We got a sense that 'Pelican' was the most immediate song off the record from playing live, about a minute into the song and people would really be going for it. We didn't make the record to be played live of course but 'Pelican' felt like it just had to be the first single after doing that tour.

Orlando: The record was coming back one day, then a week and a bit later we were going on tour to see how people who hadn't had the opportunity to listen to the record would react. When you play something live for the first time it takes on an entirely new element, the interesting thing is to see what changes in reception when you emerge from behind that curtain.

Lana Del Rey will be joining you on stage at Koko on the 30th of January, what's your view on her as she's a bit of an enigma to the industry?

Orlando: I love a few of her songs, Blue Jeans is a really good tune. I'm just a sucker for anyone who does a bit of crooning. As for the whole manufactured thing, it doesn't affect my enjoyment of her music whatsoever, I think it's irrelevant. She's a bit of a mystery but I do actually quite like that, there are no surprises anymore, it's so hard to keep anything a secret these days. There's something to be said for the way she has kept everything under wraps I think it's a really nice thing and it works really well.

Lastly you've been hotly tipped by a lot of publications for 2012, how are you feeling about the year in general?

Felix: It's the first time we've put a record out at the beginning of the year, so it does feel like starting properly, it feels like there is a nice symmetry to it. Also I'm really going to enjoy it, we really appreciate that we get to do this, go round and see the world. We actually wanted to put it out in September but it wasn't quite ready so it's actually been a bit of a happy accident. The record is out there now and we are just happy to get back on the road and do what we do.

One part Miami House, one part rock, one part experimentation, one part Karftwerk they have taken a full year to record their debut and it's set to be nothing short of special. December 12th saw the release of their first single 'We're So Light' which blends all the unique and revolutionary elements found in the ethos of a group set to blow up the world of indie music.

So firstly the Hook And The Twin is quite a unique name, where exactly did the inspiration come from?

The name comes from a painting that a friend of ours did ages and ages ago, this kind of gruesome ugly picture that we just liked the title of.

There are two of you in the band, tell us a little bit about how you met and eventually ended up collaborating.

We've known each other since we were kids, we just started making music together when we were about 15 or so. Back then we were also in another band as the rhythm section basically, Marcus was the drummer and I sang and played bass. We always had this feeling that we wanted to break out of that structure to start making some beats and rhythms of our own. It came out of that really, we devised this computer system that meant we could layer up loads of different sounds but in quite a live way so that we could play of each other and if one of us had an idea we could stick it down straight away. It's that quick song building system that has really allowed us to get things going.

Take us quickly through the roles that each of you play in the band.

Marcus tends to play the drums, but his voice is starting to break out into the songs more and more. Then I just kind of feed off that really, whatever I'm doing usually fits the format of iterating the parts of the song around his beats.

Would you say the songwriting process is quite experimental for you guys then?

I guess it is quite experimental as it does have this ordered way of exploring things when we write. Ordered might be the best way to describe it as it's really not, I mean it happens in the same way: we'll just get together and I'll be messing around with synthesiser or the bass, we start messing around then usually within a few minutes something starts to come together. That's the way it seems to work!

The new single 'We're So Light' seems to have a bit of a Miami House sound to it, was that a sound you were attempting to capture?

We definitely wanted it to have that old-fashioned house feel behind it all, but I think we also wanted to bring in a bit of that German 70s sound. The kind of synthesiser sound you hear on records from the era, then we did this vocal layering thing, which we've done across the whole record. It comes from the influence of people like Fleetwood Mac, that kind of amazing shimmering effect you get when you pile loads and loads of human voice on top of one another. It's that real sheen you can get when you pile the harmonies on really thick. There is a bit of a wild element to it as well because we didn't tune any of the vocals or anything like that, which I think you would do if it was a real pop record. So there are sort of shreaks and howls in there as well as the harmony.

Your last single 'Tribes' had a bit of an '80s vibe as well, especially in the video, what is the film it features and why did you choose it?

It was down to the director, she found it, she's a friend of ours who makes these great films. The video is cut from a director called Fassbender, I can't actually remember what it's called but it's a German film from the late 70s/early 80s. We loved the look of it, that kind of quite, muted but clear colour palate that you get in films from that era and the tie in to that part of German cinematography synched up well with our sound. There is sort of a comic violence to the clips that we used as well which also fit the song very nicely.

What process do you guys choose to fit images to your music as judging from your Youtube channel it seems to be a fairly big part of the process.

We've made videos for all the singles so far, well all but one of them. Each one of them to some extent has involved some kind of found footage. We kind of decide on a look I guess and then gather together a bunch of clips, then try to make something that forces a story on the song, but still has a vague narrative. The 'We're So Light' video has us in it but only in a very shadowy way, that actually came out of a bag of film that I found in a park, this great stack of abandoned 8mm film that is all rain damaged with all this grit and mud. We got this guy to digitize it for us and it turned out to be this beautiful documentary from the 50s about Britain but all badly distorted so you've got these bright flashes of light every so often. Then we did some shots projected over us while we were playing to create this quite quirky look.

Do you find you are also influenced by visuals as well as audio then or does it tend to be an afterthought?

It's an afterthought in the fact that we begin the song before finding the visual world that fits it. But we probably do start with some influence of visual imagery, which is certainly present in a lot of our songs, particularly a kind of association with a place as we seem to have a strong affection for wherever we first recorded or wrote the song. We've laid down some of the songs in some very strange places, that as a result has an influence on the videos.

We've heard that you've been recording in old houses late at night and other such odd places, how do you think that aids the process?

Sometimes it's the sound, we recorded a bunch of vocals for 'We're So Light' in an old theatre that we managed to get into. There are always really odd peculiar corners you can find where sound does really interesting things. For all the sorts of plug-ins you could add to a vocal once it's recorded, if you get onto tape this sort of curious effect felt within the building it can give the song a really strong sense of atmosphere which I think is a really healthy thing to feed off in building a track. These places help things to happen we find, I guess the same applies to working at night rather than during the day, everything has this strange feeling to it. It makes me feel that I can concentrate on something better get into it a little deeper.

Do you think there is an aspect of subliminality to the recordings, certain sounds that the listener might pick up on without realising.

I'm sure there are and that is at work whenever you're making or listening to music. I suppose we try to reflect that by encouraging that kind of exploration by piling in loads of layers. There are lots of details in there that are turned down quite low, or some loops that might sound like it's going round for two minutes might be constantly changing.

So it sounds like the album is nearly finished, can you tell us any information about the themes within the album?

The album is done actually! It's interesting to think about themes though I haven't really looked at it in that way yet. I think there is this tussle all the way through like I was talking about earlier between getting this sheen of sort of highly produced that comes from this 70s music that we really lovely offset by the more raucous stuff that often enough is just drums and bass playing off each other. There's this song called 'Bang, Bang, Cherry' that we put out as a single, at root that's just drums, bass and singing, but then in the gaps we've filled in these cranky old synths that we've harnessed from all over the place. Sonically that is a process that is repeated over the course of the album.

So now the albums finished, did you encounter any issues in approaching it as your debut or did it flow quite well?

It flowed well a bit too well, almost, we took ages doing it which was great for us but it means that it has taken a while for the whole process to unfold. We put out a couple of singles well over a year ago and we then decided it'd be a better idea to make a full record. We probably took just over a year to make it, but it enabled us to go into it really deep, rather than go into the studio to bash it out within three weeks be able to go out into certain explorations to find strange places to work. I think it's all fed into something that is very close to what we'd want it to be.

The Maccabees - live

The gigs will be nothing sort of special as the band began their incendiary tour all the way back in March. In preparation for the glorious return of one of the north's favorite bands we caught up with singer Matt to find out all the gory details of the biggest slog in the band's history.

It's been one hell of a world tour for you lot, where are you traveling through at the moment?

We're actually in Switzerland at the minute.

Are you looking forward to getting back to good old blighty?

Well we went straight from Australia to America, then straight from America onto this European tour, we've got three dates left and then we'll be back in Liverpool on Tuesday.

So how long exactly have you guys been on the road for?

We've been touring now since the start of March really, but I guess this "official world tour" kicked off at the beginning  of September. It's been a while so we're really looking forward to getting back to Liverpool.

Alongside the homecoming gigs have you got any burning plans for when you get back?

Apart from those three shows,  just seeing family and friends as well as actually sleeping in a bed that's not on wheels! You know, doing some normal stuff! We've got a rare kind of six weeks off to do whatever we please really, make some music, not make some music or even sit around twiddling our thumbs.

So considering it's a big deal for UK bands to make it over to America how did you find that particular leg on the road?

It was one of the most enjoyable tours we've ever done I think, obviously in the UK, Australia and to some extent Europe we're big enough to play some larger stages. But America is still really early days so it almost felt like we were starting out again which was really exciting as we still love playing smaller clubs and bars. There is that sort of vibe that you don't know what's gonna happen each night, you don't know whether the people there are just regular punters in the bar who've never heard you, or whether they are die-hard fans, you just end up with everything in-between. So it was really exciting because we didn't know what to expect, every night we ended up pleasantly surprised - obviously doing a road trip around America is every band's dream really.

A bit of a bucket list job then?

Yeah, I even got to do some driving of our RV that we'd hired to drive around the states in. Rolling into New Orleans all sun glazed with a pint of coffee in the hands and some awful chicken burgers from a grotty roadside stop was definitely a highlight of my life.

Were there any towns that you passed through that you might have picked out as a favorite?

I think Portland was one of our favorites, the gig was funny as we ended up doing a race to the back of the room because there were only about 200 people in the room when it could fit about a 1,000. It was quite funny, but the actual city itself is just amazing, we ended up walking up in the forests, going to Japanese rose gardens, meeting nice people - that was a really fun day.

Were there any particularly memorable gigs that you played at?

The most memorable for us was probably New Orleans, we did a festival there and we'd had a day off before so we'd ended up going out on bourbon street until I don't know what time in the morning. I woke up in the corridor outside the hotel room and we literally woke up still completely s**t-faced only to be due on stage at two 'o clock in the afternoon. It was the Halloween weekend so everyone was in weird fancy dress stuff as they celebrate it so much over there. We kind of embraced that and got all dressed up, but the only way through it was just to keep boozing. So that was probably the most drunk gig we've ever done, which at this stage you would have thought we would have already achieved. It was quite a lot of fun, we ended up just talking a load of s***te on stage.

It went well despite the inebriation factor then?

We thought we played particularly well obviously, but it went fine, it was a little bit rough around the edges but we like it that way.

What would you say the main differences are between the American and British crowds then?

It's hard to say actually as over in the states they are very strict so it's either 18 plus or 21 plus, most of the time it's 21 plus and I guess people over that age are slightly more jaded than the younger crowd. In the UK obviously we have a lot of gigs that are 14 plus so you get this couple of 1,000 kids who have got more energy than they know what to do with so they all just go completely wild and just hop around. There's definitely a different intensity, even in the states we did one all ages show in Washington where the crowd were completely insane. But all these other gigs people dance and get into it but it's not quite as over the top rowdy. I'm 27 now and I look back on when I used to go to gigs aged 16 it was a completely different experience, I'd go watch Deftones and mosh only to come back with one shoe. Now I just stand at the back with a pint, I really enjoy it just in a different way.

Sounds like you guys pulled in some great crowds then?

It was really fun to try and win crowds over again with having to approach shows in a different way, because when the crowd are going completely mental we feed off the energy which makes us feel less like old bastards. When the crowd are a little bit stationary we have to work harder to get them going; it's the nicest feeling when you do actually get a bunch of 21 pluses to be dancing around like maniacs, which we managed to do on quite a few occasions.

Where there any particularly crazy stories from the tour then?

As far as tours go it was one of the booziest we've ever done, there was a really stripped down crew, so I'll try to stay away from silly boozed up stories about us all tucking each other into bed. The whole thing of just playing in all these places we'd never been was crazy in itself. One of the Halloween shows was pretty mental, we were dressed as toy soldiers and it was a hot sweaty club, these costumes made it so much worse. I'd like to say that I was the one who actually managed to keep his on to the bitter end, I think I lost about a stone but it was well worth it. The other two had to get theirs off very quickly, it was sort of like that scene from raging bull.

Seeing as the years drawing to a close have you had a chance to keep up with this years releases, if so which is your favourite?

Probably 'Bon Iver' by Bon Iver, that's the album I've listened most to, we play such energetic music that I always end up listening to stuff that is much more relaxing. I'm just a big fan of Bon Iver anyway I think that he's amazing, the album is really innovative, I love it.

Have you had time to catch his live show at all?

Unfortunately I haven't had time to because of the tour, my brother's seen him and Tord's girlfriend, they both said he was amazing. I did get time to watch a few videos of him performing on Jools Holland and yeah he was brilliant.

So what's been your high point of the year?

Probably playing in Brisbane, we've been there three times for this album so far and Australia never fails to surprise us with how ridiculous things get over there. We played this park stage or something that was outside in some botanical gardens with over 5,000 people. Just before we played it had tipped down, with the kind of tropical storm that we don't really see in the UK, it was insane and we were like "oh my god is this really going to happen?". The rain kind of died off and there were all these people stood there dripping wet in their ponchos absolutely going for it with mud up to their knees. It felt like a festival even though it was our own show, to be that far away from home, playing to that many people having a great time was my definite highlight of the year.

Any resolutions on the cards for the new year?

I think I've actually given up making resolutions as I've made so many in the past and never stick to them. I feel we should just keep the way we are going we should be alright!

She was due to release her debut single 'Through The Night' this year but following an accident that very nearly left her paralysed the release was put back to January next year. Ren was told she would never walk again, at school her teachers told her she would never get anywhere with her singing, yet here she is, fully recovered and ready to take the world by storm.

To begin with, tell us a little about your musical upbringing and how you started singing?

Well I'm from Salford and I started singing when I was about twelve, it just went from there really. I didn't start singing at a really young age, I just got into it a bit late but I've always loved music. Lots of my mum's music was a big inspiration for me, she was into a lot of the Manchester stuff, Morissey, John Cooper Clarke and all that kind of stuff.

We've heard that you had and still have a penchant for all things Disney is that right?

I love Disney! All Disney with the beautiful orchestrated music and the heroines of the films that almost sound like birds. I was definitely inspired by them. I love Snow White, she's got a weird voice though, 'Cinderella' is also amazing, 'The Rescuers' as well. I was obsessed with the woman who sings the soundtrack to 'The Rescuers', I found out that she's called Shelby Flint, I actually tracked down everything she's done. It all turned out to be quite different, there's only a tiny bit of music put out by her but she's absolutely amazing.

We saw you covered Roy Orbison's 'Crying' is that a favorite of yours?

Yeah I used to have a couple of cassettes that I used to listen to when I was a kid and that song used to make me cry. There's something about the track that has stuck with me. When I met James from Glasvegas we were like "shall we do a tune", he suggested we do a cover so I said do you know 'Crying' - he just knew it straight away, so we just recorded it in his flat.

You went to the same school that Elbow came from, did that inspire you at all?

Yeah Guy Garvey went to my high-school, it definitely inspired me as I've been a big fan of Elbow for years. I did a gig last night in support of them at St. Johns Church last night which was a bit mad!

How did you find the performance, did you enjoy it?

I was absolutely sh***ing myself! It went really really well though, I think when you're that terrified before you go on you just have to channel it into the performance. But it went brilliant, I've never sung in a church before, the acoustics where amazing. It felt quite special...

We've heard that some of your teachers put you down at school, saying you'd never sing properly. Have you found finding recognition a vindicating experience?

It's great because I kind of decided when I was 18 that I wasn't going to sing anymore because so many people had told me that I wasn't any good. So whenever I get recognition it still feels like the first time, I love it.

Have you seen any of them since?

No I haven't but one of teachers who told me I'd be dropped from the year tried to add me on Facebook, I was so tempted to write something horrible but then I thought "nope, I don't want to sink to his level". I didn't add him as a friend though, I mean that is so cheeky to try to reach out to me after he made my life hell?

Do think you'd be in the same place now if they hadn't put you down?

The thing is it knocked my confidence a lot, so it took me a long time to build myself up to expressing myself, it took a while for me to even sing because I was so nervous. But I think I was 18 at the time I'm 21 now, I think I've gained a lot of confidence since then, you've got to turn some stuff like that into a positive at the end of the day.

If you don't mind talking about your accident, what was it that spurred you on through the time in hospital?

I'd say knowing that I had this fantastic opportunity awaiting me if I got better was great motivation. I couldn't move so I used to do a lot of visualisation, spending hours picturing myself being able to walk, move, sing and all that. The prospect of such exciting things on the horizon really helped me, I think if I was just working in McDonalds I wouldn't have recovered as quickly as I did.

You were due to work with Nas beforehand, are you still planning to hook up?

I hope so yeah, we've sent tracks back and forth to each other so it's definitely in the pipeline, we've just got to pick the right song. It's dead exciting, I think he's amazing, I've met him a few times, he's dead laid back and such a nice guy.

Do you view the accident and subsequent recovery as a set back or a second chance?

Well I think with anything that massive, that traumatic happens to you, the only thing you can do is look for the positives. I guess if anything it's made me even more determined to do well and get myself out there, I've now realised what I really want in life is to sing. Although I'm still amazed that I can walk about!

Johnny Marr rung you in hospital, is there any new on what you guys might be collaborating on?

We had a chat and he said he'd like to do something in the future, I mean bloody hell, I would jump at the chance to do something with him, he's a legend. Any time that he wants to do it I am willing and able.

The release of 'Through The Night' has been put back until next year, are you not raring to go?

I'm beyond impatient, beyond... If it was up to me it would be out right now! Although no-one really knows who I am right now so I've got to promote the thing!

How have you found the touring schedule following your recovery?

Yeah it's fine, I get time to do a lot of physio as with the sound checks and stuff you are always waiting around for ages so there is a lot of time to chill out and make sure that I'm not overdoing it. Touring is great I'm really enjoying it.

You've been supporting James Morrison, have you been enjoying the slot?

The dates were good because he's got a lovely crowd so there was always a nice atmosphere when you go out on stage. Before that I was doing Glasvegas, their crowd is kind of a rock crowd so they were much harder to win round, but I did really enjoy the challenge of winning them over.

Finally, seeing as you're big on the collaborations, if you could with any artist alive or dead who would they be?

Judy Garland straight up, or maybe David Bowie!

After a packed summer of festivals and numerous music appearances the New Zealand band embarked on their November tour which included a headline performance at London's Roundhouse.

Gigwise infiltrated the group's inner circle by letting members of the band capture what life on the road is really like.

The outcome, which you can see below, gives you a behind-the-scenes take on what happens when they come off stage and hit the tour bus with David Beadle, Thom Powers, Aaron Short, Jesse Wood and Alisa Xayalith.

I arrange to meet Manhattan's internet-propeller two-piece Cults in a trendy bar and get ready for what might make for a very stunted interview. Cults are a band at a sort of journalistic crossroads - their album came out back in July and they are in the middle of the ensuing tour on the back of that. It's definitely too late to discuss their debut at great length and it's probably a bit early for detailed discussions of a follow-up.

As we greet, guitarist Brian Oblivion (perhaps his real surname, perhaps not) orders an espresso and remarks that it's one of the only days he'd opt for coffee over alcohol but he's just so jaded right now. Doesn't bode well for the interview then, does it?

Well, wrong. Cults, the other half of the duo consisting of singer Madeline Follin, are an interviewer's dream but probably readers' worst nightmares. Conversations venture in and out of musical matters as well as on and off topic. We decide to just get the drinks in, relax and let the conversation take us where it may - including maniac sports fans, imaginary bands and where to get an Elvis costume for Halloween.

Luke Britton talks to New York band Cults for Gigwise.

So, I guess for anyone unfamiliar - how did you two first start out as a band?

Brian: Well, we both grow up in San Diego and San Francisco and had loads of mutual friends but actually met at a gig.

Madeline: What gig? It was my brother's actually. He was in a band and we met at their gig.

Madeline: Then we were suddenly living together within a month.

Brian: This was in New York. I had just moved to the city and she was just moving there.

Madeline: It wasn't like it was planned or anything. I don't know, it kind of just happened. My brother and step-father had always been musicians and I used to look at them and think, I can't do that! But we were just really bored, doing internships and having dead-end jobs and just ended up making music. We used to head over to my stepdad's studio and record a few things – so we're weren't completely a bedroom band as the internet would have it.

Brian: I had actually played with them a few times. But I had played in a few bands before that too. I used to play in this joke Black Sabbath covers band. I even played with my top off – or maybe I just felt like I did. That could have perhaps not have happened at all.

Madeline: I hadn't been in any bands before this, unless you count 6th grade type “bands” you'd form without writing any songs, just designing the album artwork – that kinda thing.

Oh yeah, I used to be part of one a band like that in lower school. We were called 'Crossfire' and we used to mark down how each imaginery song did in the charts. Some got to number 2 sometimes, which is weird because we were the ones deciding how well they did!

Brian: Haha, I remember those things. The trend in my high school was to print t-shirt and pin buttons before you'd even strummed a note. Just loads of empty Myspace pages with no songs on it. But I guess that could be quite funny, People would be like “Oh yes, I've heard of them. They're good” and you could be like “Really? You know them? What songs do you like in particular then?” The original buzz bands!

And your first record, your self-titled debut, was released on Lily Allen's record label - which is an offshoot of - which seems quite strange. How did this come about? Did you know of her before that? I'm not sure if she broke America actually.

Madeline: Oh no, she did! We knew all about her and her music career. It all began when we recieved an email from Lily herself actually asking to fly over and talk. And she was so sweet and personable, took us out for dinner and all. It actually felt like she wanted us for the music and not like some labels just seeing you as a product. She's been through hell with labels in her life so she understood those things and just said to go back and have a think about it. But of course we were going to say yes!

Brian: Yeah, it was a total '80s style job. We stayed in this fancy hotel, got loads of free beer and we're like “WHERE CAN I SIGN?!"

The video for your breakthrough hit 'Go Outside' is an interesting one and really links in to your band name really well, being about the Jonestown Massacre and what not. Could you tell us a little about this?

Brian: Well, the theme of all that started with an art project I did on mass control and indoctrination. I guess the band is a bit of an offshoot and extension on my interests taken from that.

Madeline: But it's not like we ever wanted to consciously make music or an album with a grand theme or motif of cults running through it. These are just things we're interested in.

Brian: The video was directed by Isaiah Seret and when he came back with the final edit we were really pleased with it. It's based on the religious leader Jim Jones and his cult the Peoples Temple. Isaiah spliced in footage of us playing as part of the congregation, it came out really well. We were conscious not to exploit the events, we wanted to be really respectful and just raise questions about the power of mass indoctrination - which is sort of what music is, really.

A lot of people see you as one of the first "blog bands" to truly blow up, I know a friend of mine definitely believes this and repeatedly jokes about how you're "living the dream" and he still stuck writing about bands who have never even played a single show yet. When did you first realise that things were getting out of hand?

Brian: It's probably a lot easier for other people than the actually band to judge how big one is. The internet can be so deceiving about how big you actually are. It's easy to live in your own bubble a lot. The internet seems to kid itself into thinking that it represents the actual world – but that isn't the case just yet.

I actually went to a show like that last week. The billing was full of bands that I love and acts that I naively think will soon be huge and everyone will remember seeing them for the first time. But in reality it was just a handful of people upstairs in a pub, watching bands that maybe have one or two songs that they've posted on Soundcloud. It makes you think "actually this scene is very contained and insulur".

Brian: Yeah totally, I remember when we started getting “internet big” and playing a show to like 19 people in Kansas City. But also, when people say that we got big online it's kind of not totally true because we did a whole lot of gigging before getting to this point and I think the going out and actually playing part of things were just as - if not more – important than our internet popularity.

Madeline: I really think the only judge of how things are going is actually at the gigs. Seeing your fans there is the only judge of how many people like your album. And I guess it's going alright because we got to play here and across Europe.

So, the New York thing.. I know you probably get asked this a lot but you guys are from Manhattan and it seems like that community, along with Brooklyn, seem to be putting out all the great bands at the moment. Like the band 'Friends', who are one of my favourites right now.

Madeline: I actually haven't heard of them. But I'll definitely check them out!

Brian: About New York I don't know if it's particularly about the place or just the people there. Everyone is so creative that it's just gives you the urge and drive to do things. Everyone is so much more ambitious than other place. But it's also through envy, you see other people doing things and you think that you should too. But it definitely pushes you.

Madeline: Plus there is everything easily accessible to you within one block. And everything is delivered to you. You want chinese food, you got it. You want a studio, there's one right there!

You play London on November 15, are you acquainted with this city well?

Brian: I think London is a lot like New York in the way that it seems like all the creative people flock here from the surrounding areas.

Yeah, I just moved here recently. Not that I'm saying I'm one of these uber-creative types or anything...

Brian: Haha, but we've only played London a few times before actually. We've played a lot of the smaller cities in the UK, which I'm told is very atypical for a US band. Normally people just do Manchester, Birmingham and London but we've gigged at places like Sheffield, Brighton, Bristol – the more neglected places. It's cool to see other cities and not just the same places over and over.

I moved here from Bristol actually. You're playing there soon aren't you? At Thekla, which is this really awesome boat!

Brian: Oh yeah, I'm super excited for that. The last time we played Bristol, it was at this festival called 'Dot To Dot' and there was some sort of football tournament going on at the same time. The venue had been empty for all the support bands and we were like 'Oh no, nobody's going to show up' and then suddenly at the end all these drunk sports fans show up and it went a bit crazy

Yeah, people go a bit wild. I think that must have been the FA Cup or something.

Brian: Our friends are in the band MGMT and they were recently playing what is like the 'US Open' of surfing. It was set on a beach and nobody was interacting so they were like 'Hey, everyone throw their shoes on stage' and the whole crowd just started chucking their shoes onstage. They looked like they were being attacked.

Madeline: There were literally thousands! Lucky they were on a beach and so it was only a mass of flip-flops.”

Brian: Sports fans are crazy, man.

What are your plans before the London show? There's a couple of weeks from now until then.

Brian: We play a few shows in France and elsewhere in Europe in between. We've played France a hell of a lot. That was the first European tour we did – supporting Madeline's brother's band. This tour we're going to be visiting some other towns and cities there. That's a nice part of the travelling aspect, despite constantly needing coffee, is seeing new places.

Madeline: Yeah, this time round we get to play Switzerland, Belgium and Ireland – none of which we've ever been before. So that should be fun.

Brian: We're really looking forward to Halloween. I was thinking - do they have Halloween in Europe? Is there anywhere around here I can get a Elvis costume? Or am I going to have to settle for a Scream mask? It might be a bit difficult to play guitar in a Scream mask - not impossible though!

No, I think they have Halloween on the continent. Because All Hallows Eve was a Pagan festival which Christianity subverted to make it evil. Or at least that's what I think I've read somewhere before. Could just totally be making that up though.

Brian: No, I think you're right. But you have to think about these things when you play to foreign audiences: "Is there any way this could be lost in translation?" That's why I've stopped telling jokes on stage abroad. Too much hassle for limited response. First they have to translate it in their heads, then there may have been a slight turn of phrase that's puzzled them, leaving a long awkward silence and by the time they've worked out the joke we've already started the next song.

You're also playing an All Tomorrows Parties show around Christmas time. You've done a few of those before already, are you excited for that?

Brian: Yeah, I love doing ATP-curated shows – those guys treat you so nice! They give you so much free beer and stuff, it's great. We've done about five gigs they've put on so far, including one of the festivals already and are about to do the Battles-curated one, which we're super excited about. When I heard we had been asked to do that, I was like 'Oh, they couldn't have chosen us to play. It's probably the festival organisers or PR or whatever'. But no, they handpicked us. It's such a honour – I love that band! And they've been in touch with us through Facebook and we've gone for drinks since!

Cults play XOYO in London on Tuesday 15 November, followed by Bristol's Thekla venue on Thursday 17 November.

Watch the video below on Gigwise -

Various Cruelties are a collective coming up so fast you'd think they'd been dosed with helium and with good reason. Displaying a huge amount of initiative alongside extraordinary songwriting prowess left their self published debut sold out like the hottest of hotcakes. Latest single 'Chemicals' is perhaps one of the best indie releases of the year, fusing a psychadelic sound with an influence of northern soul. Before they blow up we caught up with singer and songwriter Liam O'Donnell for a bit of a chin wag...

Nice to meet you Liam, for those who don't already know, introduce the band!

We are Various Cruelties obviously! I'm Liam I sing and play a bit of guitar, we have Adam who is lead guitarist, Beanie who plays the bass and Dean who plays drums.

So what was it that bought all you guys together to form the band?

I myself am from Leeds originally and I'd just moved down to London where I started getting around, playing gigs and writing songs. To put it simply I just met the other guys, we became friends and they were excited about the possibility of doing something together. We had quite a lot of the songs already written so from there it was simply a matter of reworking the arrangements and putting things together.

You formed just a year ago, how would you sum up the first 12 months as a snapshot of your career?

It's been a bit of whirlwind. That's a good thing though, we wouldn't have imagined how far we've come. Funnily enough we were stood outside The Silver Bullet in Finsbury Park about a year ago just chatting about what we were going to do. If I'd said to them that just a year later we'd have the oppurtunity to go to LA to do a record and that we'd be going on Jools Holland, they would have thought I was being a bit of a dickhead!

Are excited to be playing the show alongside Lou Reed and Metallica?

It's pretty mind blowing, I mean it doesn't get much busier than that really.

Your first few records were self released, what was it that inspired you to take that route?

We were fortunate enough that we'd done some demos quite early on, that was pretty much our first work together as we collaborated on them before we were even a band. It was literally just us in a studio working on the songs for a couple of days at a time. Adam and Dean had been in a couple of bands before so they were used to working with one another - it helped a lot that everyone worked well together. From that we ended up doing one of our first gigs with The Vaccines, we'd seen what had happened with them as there rise was pretty quick as well. A little bit later, around Christmas we just thought, why not? The blogs including yours were giving us great feedback so we thought if we just do 500 copies of the single and see what happens, just try and do it by word of mouth you know? Yeah and we sold them out so...

Northern soul has been named as one of your influences, what do you feel has shaped your music?

Well, when I was in Leeds a lot of my friends used to put on northern soul nights, some of my earliest memories are being at those events. But it wasn't just like I woke up one day and decided I liked northern soul, it was just all my friends went to the nights and I just wanted to hang around with my mates. Through that I slowly got really into it. My soul influences are pretty general though, people like Etta James and Aretha Franklin. There is a big soul scene up north, so it wasn't one person that influenced me but just being around the music and the scene itself.

'Chemicals' your latest single has a vaguely psychadelic vibe to it, tell us about your original songwriting intentions.

My intentions for the song reflect the fact that I'd just moved down to London where I had that feeling you get when you move out of your comfort zone and begin to question things. I'm fine now obviously. But when you first move away from home you seem to think differently about your surroundings, probably for the first time in your life. So the song is essentially me questioning what was going on at the time in my head, but a good way of looking at it.

The album comes out in spring, is there anything you might like to let slip?

Our first single was a little bit pop orientated, so on the full record it's definetly going to be a little bit darker, there'll be a few surprises. I can't say too much, but we've only shown a little bit of what we're capable of so far - writing an album is allowing us to fully unveil what we are capable of. People should find it interesting as its been so exciting to get in the studio where we can take the time to broaden our sound.

Tony Hoffer (Beck, Goldfrapp, Foster the People) is producing your debut, what has he been like to work with?

To be honest it's been pretty fantastic! We started working with Tony in London to do three tracks, which the label were pretty happy with so they suggested we go to LA to finish it. Obviously for a band that is pretty early on, even with working with a label, the prospect of going to LA was pretty exciting. We basically spent a month in Hollywood seeing what life is like over there, it was really interesting. We played a couple of gigs went to a few bars and saw a few famous people.

Your tour is due to start in January, anywhere in particular you're looking forward to playing?

Everywhere is where we are looking forward to playing. We just want to perform for as many people as possible gain some new fans! Our last few gigs in London though have been really good which has been very exciting. I'm also really excited to be playing a gig in my hometown of Leeds.

To end on a high, tell us something truly mental that has happened along your travels.

Gosh, well we ended up at a party with Miss USA and a WWE wrestler Martin Cassius, Beanie basically got bodyslammed by the wrestler in front of Miss USA and he asked for this! It was pretty bloody epic!

You've modified some crazy instruments over the years, tell us a little bit about your first guitar, did you have a special bond to it at all?

That was a long time ago! I remember I was excited to get it, I think was only about 8 or 9 and it was just some cheap acoustic. But I was in love with guitars and the way they looked. When I was a little kid we used to go up to this camp up in the mountains when it was summer, they probably don't even have them anymore but these were really old-fashioned camps with these tents that were already up for you, almost like a miner's camp. There was a common area that had this stage where the people would put on skits, you know the different families from the area. One of the props up there was a guitar but it didn't have no strings on it and I used to just go up there to just sit and hold that guitar. I don't even know if I pretended to play it, probably did, I can't really remember. I couldn't believe how beautiful guitars looked, so when I finally got one I was so excited, it could have been any guitar really. I couldn't play at all so it probably wouldn't have mattered what it was too much, I was just a kid.

The main guitar you currently use 'The Three String Trance Wonder', we've heard tales that it is haunted?

I got that from a friend of mine in Mississippi, the BBC took me down there a couple of years ago we did a documentary, went down Tennessee and Mississippi around where I used to go hang out. We went and visited my buddy Sherman down there who I got the guitar from and that's when he said it was haunted. He's so crazy, he's an absoluted fruitcake in his brain, but he was serious about it, not in a bad way. He's got this barn that he's kind of fixed up, his great grandaddy was in the civil war so there's pictures of all these civil war guys, he's got all kinds of weird junk in there! That guitar used to hang on the wall after he bought it at a junk store. It's just a shit guitar I think it's japanese from the 60s, it's not even cool. He just buys junk. Anyway when I got back there he says "yeah man I forgot to tell you, we used to put that guitar on the wall and the next day it'd be all the way over there". Como where he lives is this tiny little town that has one street and he goes "there's 50 solid citizens who would tell you that guitar moves on its own". He's just so crazy, but he believed it, so maybe it is although I ain't ever felt no haunt in it.

What was it other than the ghost that led you to stick with it on your travels?

You know I never had any real intention of playing that guitar, I bought it as a joke. It was my wife that made me play it and this is before any Jools Holland or any of that stuff. One day when I was teasing a friend of mine, he's a guitar builder and he knew I had all these shit guitars so I was just bothering him with it because it only had three strings on it. That was the way it came, probably a little kid had that guitar, it's just some fucked up old thing. I was teasing him, so he goes "you can't play that" and I said "oh yeah I can" and I just started playing some little riff. Then when I walk in the house my wife says "that guitar's gonna make you famous". At that time I couldn't even get a job at a bar, there was no glimmer of fame that's gonna happen, it was literally like saying a flying saucer is gonna come get you tomorrow. There was no connection with reality. I had no intention of ever playing it, I just used to leave it in the corner, I don't even know why I got it as it was just extra baggage I had to carry. When I look back at it, it's just so odd, my friend Sherman can't believe what's come of that guitar. I don't know whether it's haunted but that guitar got mojo, some soul or something, I feel when I pick it up, there's something more than the three strings making you play different.

A big deal was made  of the guitar when you appeared on Jools Holland, was it your choice to use the "three string trance wonder"?

When I went on the show I didn't even want to play that guitar, they are the ones, they forced me. I'd never heard of Jools Holland back then, but I had no intention of playing it back then either. They wanted me to play this 'Doghouse Boogie' track which I didn't really play - that guitar is the only one that I could do it on. So really if it would have been up to me I would have played something else and that would have been the end of my career. The only reason I listened to them guys was because I was tired, I wasn't totally well, life had kind of beaten me down to my knees; if I'd been my normal arrogant self I would have argued with them. But they talked me into it, now I get to do all this...

You have immense skills building and modifying instruments, what tips might you give someone looking to do the same?

Well I make them from scratch, I built this one guitar from two old hubcaps. Jack White gave me one from a Hudson Terraplane, these were the cars back in the 30s in 40s and then Robert Johnson wrote a song called 'Terraplane Blues', so Jack had collected the hubcap because he's an old blues fan. I didn't know what I was going to do with it, but then I found another one so I put to them together, got a garden hoe and cut it off and stuck it in the middle making a guitar out of it. I play that and it's got a beer can on one end... You know my thing about that stuff is it's kind of for fun, anyone can go out to buy a guitar. I was fooling with this stuff when no-one wanted to actually listen to me at all, mainly because it's a little bit hard to play these shitty instruments, so it makes me play different. I can play a normal guitar but my instruments have a unique sound; actually I don't know why I don't have any normal guitars. I never figured myself a guitar player so they're more like friends, it's hard to go out and buy a new friend so I stick with the ones I've got even if I don't like them that much. I mean I do like them, you know your friends can be uncomfortable but they're still your buddies.

On the subject of cars, do you still have your old Chevy '51 floating around?

Sure do, I drive it all the time. It's not fixed up, it's held together by rust! The engine runs good, it's my primary car, whilst my secondary car is a 1955 Cadillac.  I haven't driven it very much but it's all beat up to. You know for me I don't like new cars, I've got a couple of tractors as I like fooling around with old stuff. They weren't old when I was young you see. I know they're trying to make cars more ecological these days and stuff but my son figured out that to build one of them electric eco cars makes more pollution in the building process than my '51 Chevy will ever create in the rest of my life. Maybe they don't create pollution when you drive them, but they make huge amounts when you build them, it's a little late in the game to get started and I don't like them - they don't have any soul. When you're in your early twenties that's when you make up your mind about a lot of stuff that's gonna stick with you the rest of your life. No matter how much the world changes around you, you've still got a fondness for what you enjoyed when you was "shaking the leg".

From the scene you come from the spoons are used, the washboard and so on, what is the most unusual makeshift instrument you've witnessed?

In my life, I was always fascinated by something called a "gut bucket", they play bass with it. We used to just take an aluminium washtub, you turn it upside down so it's got a flat top, then you take a broom handle and notch an edge, you get a piece of nylon clothes line and punch you a hole in the middle, run the clothes line through the middle, tie it to the top of the thing and as you put more tension on the string it changes the note. That was a real popper thing to do in old jug bands and stuff, these people could play it as good as a stand-up bass, hit every note. I always thought they were so strange as they literally made it out of nothing in an hour, maybe half an hour. I don't see those washtubs anymore, I think they still sell them in America but they aren't so easy to get here, although I did see someone playing one at a festival this summer somewhere.

You mentioned your success was a bit of a surprise, did you find it at all overwhelming or vindicating?

Both in a way because when you spend your while life being not successful, pretty much anything above zero is overwhelming. For me to be able to have this huge success and to play to hundreds of thousands of people when six years ago I couldn't play for nobody is extremely overwhelming. Vindicating, it's a little bit more in the sense that it would have been a bit of a drag to have died from my heart attack a few years back and had so little. Me and my wife and family we've been poor pretty much the whole time I've been alive, but I've been plucking at this guitar that whole time, never really getting anything going. That would have been alright but I think for my wife, she's stuck with me through all this and it's such a weird deal to get this success so late in my life. It don't happen to nobody, almost never, we tried to sit around one day to think of anyone this has happened to. There are people that have been famous before only to come back so it's just weird. For her she's so happy for me that something has come of all of it.

As someone clearly infected with the travel bug, how has it been settling down?

That's a big problem for me actually, we've been married 30 years, now we are at 62 houses. A lot of them are very brief. I've been doing better but I don't feel I have a home nowhere, I don't even want to keep moving around anymore. It's like I don't want to go wandering around but I just can't help it, it's what I've been doing since I was a kid so it's in my blood.  But it ain't that fun, when you get older it's a lot rougher. If I could find a place that I felt at home which is probably never I would love to stop moving about.

I'd imagine the touring helps, how did you find the festival season this year?

I did 18 festivals this year! I played all of them V Festival, Reading Leeds, Latitude, Glastonbury and all around Europe. Also this year I did The Isle Of Wight Festival which is huge. John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin, he's being coming and playing with us at most of the festivals this summer, that's been really funny. I keep thinking to myself "oh there's the dude from Led Zeppellin, what's he doing up here!" I never thought he'd want to play with me. He's the nicest guy I've ever met, not one iota of "I'm so cool" - you would never know he was in that band.

Following all the UK success how has "You Can't Teach An Old Dog New Tricks" been received in America?

I don't know actually as I haven't really talked to the guys over at 'Third Man' that much lately but they're kind of a small deal. They've mainly been a warehouse putting out singles, they've only just broken into album territory recently, funnily enough with my record. Even Jack's records don't go through there, they go through Warner or CBS so it's mainly been a singles club. Them putting albums out is a bit of a new deal, although I don't have a lot of interest in going to America so I don't go over there to promote or nothing. I was over there in March, went back and did four shows kind of just for fun, then me my drummer went out and busked round San Francisco. That was the most fun I had throughout the whole thing because I used to live round there in 1966. I think the last time I had busked there was in '67 when I made 89 dollars in 35 minutes. The funny thing is a lot of American people don't know who I am so we were just sitting in a doorway playing. But then some European people would come along, see me sitting on the ground and they'd say "hey! I got tickets to see you at Reading, are you alright!" - they'd thought I'd happened on hard times. A lot of people they'd go "do you need help to get back" and I said "man, we just busking". It was a sunny day and we had nothing to do, I've busked a lot in my life so I still go do it sometimes.

What do you think of London's tradition of buskers on the tube?

Well, I used to come here to busk back in the early 70s, but now you get a little badge and a place to stand, it's a little weird. I guess it's okay as they allow them to do it because you used to get moved along. But it seems a little bit less wild, you have to go audition I think? If they like you they give you a badge, it's almost like you're going to a record company asking "do you like me?". Busking for me is standing anywhere, if people like you they give you money, if they don't they don't, you don't need someone telling you your good enough. I don't think they should stop as some people need it, that's how they make their money.

Lastly do you think you can teach an old dog new tricks?

The thing that I do, the reason people like it must be because of what I'm doing, not because of what I ain't doing. In other words if it ain't broke don't fix it. I just go out there and do what I do, I think people will let me know when they are tired of me. Then I'll just go home! I try to learn all the time but the fundamental thing about what I do and myself is that I'm an old guy now and I'm happy with the deal I've got. Like you said, in a kind of funny way it's been shown to me that from the reactions of the people all around that I'm doing alright.

Luke Britton speaks to Born Blonde frontman Arthur Delaney about their sound, their musical heritage and how to make a band about more than just the music.

Could you tell us a bit about the history of the band to date?

We formed a couple of years ago. At the time I was doing some solo stuff and wanted to be surrounded by inspiring people, I supposed. It felt good to heard some other opinions – and then we just grew from there really.

I read an article – I think it was the Guardian 'New Band of the Day' piece – where they called you 'Cosmic Lad Rock of the Stone Roses at their trippiest' - How would you yourself describe your music?

Oh, I don't know. Maybe something to do with layers of atmosphere. We like to build songs up into a cave of colour (laughs).

Well, are you a Stone Roses fan at all? What other influences do you bring to the group?

Yeah, of course we like the Stone Roses – but we're also inspired by a whole host of different things. When people come to hear our record, they'll probably pick up on some of our influences. But music is about everything you've absorbed over your whole lifetime and if you're creating art properly then it should all come out sub-consciously, with very little thought involved.

In terms of direct music influences, I guess you tend to regenerate everything you've ever listened to. So the Stone Roses are just one band of many that we like. We're really into Talk Talk; I like the way they work in the studio. There's a particular record by them that we're all massive fans of, and that kind of brought us together.

Have there been any bands you've toured or played alongside recently that have changed the way you work then?

Yeah, we're the kind of band that likes to play with people close to us – groups that we have an affinity with anyway. We supported Cloud Control a couple of weeks back, they're an Australian band, and that was really good. We also like a group called Get People, although they're a little bit more dancier than we are – they're really good.

Your first single 'Solar' came out back in July. It seems the perfect track to introduce Born Blonde to listeners. Would you agree with this?

Yeah, definitely. That track was one of the few that were actually written in a studio, actually. It was intended as a b-side but just turned out really well. I agree that it's a good introduction as it's all really blurry. I think we then wanted to bring the lense into focus a bit more for everyone afterwards. And I'm sure you'll see that happening.

You say that you think 'Solar' sounded quite “blurry”. Well I noticed that your new release 'Radio Bliss' seems more full-frontal - your vocals in particular come to the fore a bit more.

Totally, and I think that comes even more apparent with the other tracks we have in store.

Was this reflective of your growing confidence as an entity?

Not particularly, I think we just liked to introduce ourselves progressively with the way we've put out our singles.

You're the frontman of the band – have you always been a singer or is it a new thing you've tried out for this group?

I've been singing since I was about fourteen but it was never so much of a project for me. I guess I didn't really become a proper lead singer until the start of this band. I'm still working on the frontman aspect a bit, but it's definitely a platform for having something to say - isn't it?

Your band has been lumped in with the whole shoegaze comeback scene. What do you think of the reason for this kind of influx of nostalgia and harking to the past in modern music?

I'd say we were more 'stargaze' than 'shoegaze' (laughs), but yeah I agree. I guess it's just the culmination of all your former influences, but it's also much more than just a 2D comparison.

Do you think music being more instantly available, especially music from past generations influences this? Music from, say, the 70s is even more accessible to us now than it was for the music fans that actually lived during the time.

Oh yeah, I would say that was true. If you look at the music from the 60s, they were sticking pretty tightly to influences from the blues, for example. Now bands are more aware of what has come before them, but you have take from the past and regenerate it to make it relevant for the current era.

You use a lot of visuals in your band – your videos are very colourful and your blog includes photos taken on the road, as well as paintings and the like - is this to make the whole experience more than just the audible aspect?

Yeah, we want to present ourselves as a whole. Music isn't just about what you hear, but everything that surrounds that. We make all our own videos, do all the artwork to our releases and stuff. We just want to stick doing this and really form what we're truly about as a group before collaborating with other people.

What are you currently up to as a band?

We've been in the studio for the most part of the last year, writing a lot and recording material for our album – generally being very creative really. We've been keeping a low profile lately, just trying to gear ourselves up for next year. We want things to be tight and seems finished. There's loads of band out there at the moment that don't seem to know what they're totally about – we don't want to be one of those. We'd rather build our own world before we presented to people.

We didn't do any festivals this summer or anything like that. We did play SWN festival in Cardiff last week, though. That was really fun, we had a big discussion with some locals about the politics of speaking Welsh!

Can you tell us a little bit about the direction of the album? Will it still have the same sun-kissed feel of your first few singles?

Well, the world is not just a world of sunshine, right? The album's got a lot of different moods and colours – we're exploring a whole lot of different things with the record. I think people will see a lot of different sides to us next year when the record is released.

Can you tell us a few interesting stories from the band?

Hmm – we run this club night in London called 'Purr' and we got shut down by the police one night earlier in the year! We were having a bit of a raucous one in this weird little lock-up. It was just as we were getting ready to go on stage too. We just about managed to blag another hour out of them but then they came back and the whole thing got shut down. It was a bit of a wild one, people were spilling out onto the streets! I guess we were misbehaving a bit.

What does the next few months, and even next year, hold for the band?

We're just taking things day by day actually. Obviously there's the record that should be out early in 2012. But we have a new single before that, in January if all goes to plan.

What's your personal resolution for 2012 then?

Probably to have more fun, to be honest. We've been recording a lot lately and obviously that's fun in it's own right but we're just really eager to get out there, release this album and tour again.

Born Blonde play Notting Hill Arts Club and The Shacklewell Arms in London on November 8 and 14 respectively.