So, girlies and boylies after much blagging (more than usual – rant about it later), we are whisked away under the cover of darkness to a secret location only visited by the very few or the very drunk, AKA the Shining tourbus, to indulge ourselves in the fantasy of being real groupies. (Although of course you understand that we are not, because that would be oh so unprofessional and wouldn’t fit in well with our image of serious rock journalists. We are bandaids. Okay?)

It was all a bit surreal and dare I say it – rock and roll? Well, for us anyway. We don’t get out much! The surroundings were a bit lush to say the least. There was a nice selection of videos (but no ‘Almost Famous’ which was a little poor, but still). The place was also kitted out with a TV and other stuff, think we were too pissed to notice.

Anyway what is important to remember is that we are just feet away from the fittest man ever.

Most of the stuff we've read about you is comparing you to the Verve. Does that get really annoying?
No, I don’t think there is any comparison really because our music is completely different from the Verve, and there is really good people in it!

But, do you feel that there is a lot of pressure and expectations on your band with there being two ex Verve members in it?
No. There is pressure, because the band is great. Do you know what I mean?

(Sing along now – yeah...yeaahh)
Do you think it makes it more difficult to seperate yourselves from the Verve because your quite similar to Richard Ashcroft? (Although on thinking about it, it's more like Ian Brown).
Am I?

Yeah, I think that it shows itself a bit in your body language, but not physically because obviously you don’t look like him (you’re much fitter!), but we think that the way that you sing is quite similar.
Duncan seems to be a little stumped by this one and sits in silence for a while, then answers in a way which doesn’t really answer the question but admits that to be honest he was never a big verve fan, and that if he did sound like Richard Ashcroft it was more likely to be due to the fact that he lived about 20 miles away from him and less to do with the fact that he was actively trying to emulate him. But concedes that there will always be comparisons to the verve. He also points out that when he is singing he doesn’t just stand there.

Someone has said that you are the most important band since The Beatles. How does that feel?
Who said that?

We knew he would say that! Somebody on your website
Well, I’m flattered. If that’s somebody’s personal opinion then that is good. You can only aim to be as good as that really.

Talking of your website, on it you say how there is a "supernatural element of music which rarely gets tapped into at the moment". What do you mean by that and do you think you are the ones to finally tap into it again?
Yes. Too many bands these days are just like ‘well, fuck it let’s just mess around a little and make some music.’ Some bands could choose to use a little more feeling in their music, but don’t.

You've got a song called 'Young Again'. What would you change about your life if you were young again?
I’m 23! So I can’t really answer that question. You should probably ask Simon cos he's the one who wrote that song.

Perfect timing, Simon has just come down the stairs. We ask him the question, he stands there thinking about it for a second before saying, "right, im off to get some food". Yeah thanks for that Simon, great help!
Ok, here’s a good question then. How old do you think we are?
erm....18 and 18?

Not quite, we're 20 and 21. (when we tell him this he tries hard to disguise the look of complete shock on his face! Maybe this was the moment he knew we were destined to be together!!)
Oh, well you should take that as a compliment then!

(Oh we will you sexy beast!)
Theres another band around at the moment also called The Shining who say they own the rights to the name. Are you currently in any kind of lawsuit with them? If you are, who's going to win?
I do not know of any lawsuit with any other band. I mean there are plenty of other bands these days who want to take lawsuits out on people. Do you know what I mean?

(Time for another song....yeeeeaaaahhh!!)
Like Liberty X?
Yeah. Let the beat band win, but that is being a bit nasty though, and I don’t mean it in that way. I don’t really want to answer that question, because it is a legal thing really. Can’t really comment on it. Sorry. But it's just a name. I find it really supid people can get so worked up over it. It never used to be important. Surely it's the music that matters, not what you call yourselves.

At this point the bus starts to move...and we start to feel like we are being kidnapped. Not that we would have minded actually! We were sat next to the sexiest man ever.
Are you looking forward to being on Popworld?
We’ve been on it? You two live in a time warp! We did it last week!

So, what makes you passionate about music?
This proved to be a difficult question. He sat looking deep in thought for a while, and we sat there with baited breath awaiting an amazing answer, but it turns out poor little Duncan was too drunk and had forgotten what the question was. Bless 'im!
I'm sorry, what was the question again?! I've never done a post gig interview before and i'm feeling bit drunk.

Dunno....er....Oh yeah. What makes you passionate about music?
Having a good time doing it. That’s all it is. If you are not having a good time doing it then what can you have a good time doing? And recording albums, doing gigs, having a laugh. As long as you are having a good time you should stay with it.

Are you looking forward to playing Glastonbury and the Reading and Leeds festivals?
Yeah

Are you looking forward to Glastonbury more than Reading and Leeds?
No. Not really. As long as there are people there we will play music to them.

Is it true Mark ( the drummer, who is also the ex-Seahorses drummer) is from Peterborough? And is that why you decided to play here?
Yes, he is from Peterborough but that isn't why we played here.

Do you feel a little upset that there weren’t more people to play to?
No. Why should it matter if there were only 50 or 60 people? We have only had one single out so far.

Is it tru that you all met in John Squires' back garden?
No. Well in a way, but no! I was 16 and was round someone house and John Squires was there.

You worked with John Squires for a while. Why didn't that work out?
I think we were just going in different directions.

What can we expect of you in the next 6 months?
Well, the single is released next Monday, and in the next six months there will be a lot more touring with us going to America, and a bit of Europe. Did you enjoy the gig?

Yeah it was really good.
Oh well thats alright then. As long as you both had a good time.

Please can we take you home with us?!