And isn't life just peachy. Darlings of the Jools Holland set, former backing band of French superstars Air and more lately purveyors of spankingly floor-filling uber-pop funk, it's no wonder that even on this chilly evening Thomas Marrs (vocals) and Christian Mazzalai (guitars) are smiling. And who would think that it all started in the classroom..? 'We were school friends like ten years ago..' smiles long-haired, funk-loving Christian. 'Thomas and myself were in the group to begin with and then we got Marco (Christian's older brother) to join the band in 95. We have a friend who lives in the Virgin Islands and they have a beer over there called Phoenix… We liked the logo, and it's a beer that everyone drinks over there!'

As in so many fairy tales, the vagabond crew of funksters went exploring and a-hunting record shops far and wide in pursuit of the enviable pic n' mix of styles and genres displayed on debut LP United. 'There's not really a main influence to our sound', Thomas philosophises. 'We've been listening to lot of music; we didn't want to base ourselves on just one genre. In every style we have an idol, but we don't have a particular style.' So who would your idols be in.. punk and hip-hop, perhaps? 'Hmm..' Thomas ponders.. 'I think mine would have to be Iggy Pop and The Stooges, and Snoop Dogg or Grandmaster Flash.'

And so their tale unfolds. Rap, funk, punk, disco, rock, pop moulded into one eponymous debut record; a veritable safari through a musical theme park, shrink-wrapped and bow-tied. Thomas smiles. 'It came naturally really.. we wanted a very different album, almost like a voyage. We also wanted strong production behind the album, to link all the songs together.'

Of course, once people began to take notice, Phoenix quickly became the most talked about thing in hip indie circles since sliced bread, even securing a successful stint performing on Later.. with Jools Holland, though Thomas is ardent to point out that it wasn't actually their first appearance; 'It was our second time on Jools Holland; we played another time as the backing band for Air. We get the BBC in France, so we saw Jools Holland before and it's a fantastic show, the best!'. Christian is equally impressed. 'Usually it's the artist who moves for the cameras, but here the camera moves for the artist, from one stage to another.. they're great conditions for artists to play in.'

The future for Phoenix could be very bright indeed, and Thomas would most certainly relish every moment. 'There's no particular place where we want to be heard, but its true that in the UK you have a great scene; the strongest in Europe. There isn't a real live scene in France. Right now though things are going really well; in France our last single (If I Ever Feel Better) is selling, in fact, England is the only place where we haven't took off.'

'Too Young is perhaps the song we're most proud of, because it's a kind of song we always wanted to do, a bit up-tempo and catchy. We wanted to be funky, and like a house track but with real instruments. It was a very big challenge but we were satisfied with the end result!'

So what more do Phoenix have planned for 2001? For now, it seems, the hard work has already been done, and it's now time to embark on those pending projects which have been rattling around inside Thomas's head.

'After this ten months spent touring, we'll finally have the time to come back and do other projects on our own label, Ghettoblaster. We want to release stuff on vinyl or CDs, maybe a few tracks by other bands, and stuff by ourselves. We were playing unis last year so we might come back and do some more in the summer or autumn.'

Let's hope they do. After all, they've still got a lot of brains to raid.

Roofdog Live Review - Phoenix / Turin Brakes - Coventry Colosseum - 20/01/01