How are you and what have you been up to recently?
Tired and sweaty. We’ve just got back from Glastonbury so we’re in serious need of hot water and soap. We played two sets there too which was great fun, certainly woke the hippies up anyway. Other than that we’ve just finished playing a couple of shows in London, one with The Paddingtons, and getting our new recordings finished.

What are the five albums that have most influenced you?
Too many... we’ve all got massively different influences but at the same time like similar things...Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Specials, Funkadelic, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, The Kinks, The Jam, Led Zeppelin, loads of old school hip hop, some house, more recent things would be stuff like The Libertines, The Strokes, White Stripes, Kings Of Leon, Supergrass, Bloc Party, Oasis, Blur, Quantic.

What’s the best concert you have ever been to?
Kings of Leon this weekend were pretty damn sexy. It’s always a good vibe at a festival because of the crowd, and his voice sexes us up.

If you could have been a musician in any era when would it be?
The 60s - sex, drugs, rock n’ roll. Plus any bands around that era basically created the clichès of today. We could’ve written a riff and then it might become the staple for a generation. You can do that now of course, but not to the same effect. Now you gotta compete with Girls Aloud, Lil Bow Wow and the Crazy Frog’s latest collaboration. Love it.

What’s the best gig you have ever performed?
A place called Trash in Leeds supporting We Smoke Fags, just purely because we gave it completely to an audience of about 12 people. We were down The Lock Tavern in Camden a couple of weeks ago, it was rammed and everyone was fucked so we enjoyed that one.

Is there any particular venue you would like to play?
Well the Pyramid stage at Glasto wouldn’t be too shabby. Empress Ballroom in Blackpool would be nice, or Koko in Camden, just cos we’ve had a couple of messy nights in there.

Have you ever played a show when everything has gone completely wrong?
The first five gigs we ever did were a bit of a shambles. We’ve got one of them on video and it doesn’t make easy watching that’s for sure. Hopefully we’re a bit better than that now. Otherwise we’re fucked.

What books have you read and films have you seen recently?
We don’t read as much as we should, but The Kite Runner is a great book, and they made it into a film too so you can kill two birds with one stone. We all wanna see that new Will Smith one, Hancock. He’s a legend.

If not a musician, what job would you have in the real world?
Kier would work in an auction house looking out for bargain clothes, Paul would be selling his smile for two quid a pop, I would be a bee keeper and Joe would be a professional sleeper. Failing that, we’d all be in telesales.

Do you prefer playing live or recording in the studio?
Live! Always! Any band will tell you, recording sucks balls big time, and turns any mild mannered person into a dribbling maniac. It’s all about live gigs, that’s why we got into a band.