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We're feeling like we're starting a new school term this week here at at Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Introducing - a month of fresh new sessions are on the way from , and tomorrow, kicking things off, .

Strange News From Another Star

They'll be no strangers to the music hubbub in Cardiff itself, but for those of you outside the gig circuit of the Welsh capital, meet the most fun, strange, fuzzed-up rock 'n' roll band since The Bronx or Mclusky. I recently caught up with Jimmy from the band.

Hi Jimmy. Time to tell me about the band Strange News From Another Star. What's the potted history?

Strange News From Another Star formed in 2007. I'd just ended my athletics career and was looking to start a band. I knew Harry because I used to train with him, and he wanted to get together and have a jam down at [Cardiff rehearsal studios] Music Box.

We gelled straight away and wrote 12 songs in a month. We played for a year as a two piece, and then Mark Foley joined the band in 2008. This took things to a whole new level of madness, and we actually started to sound like a proper band.

Your gigs are often much talked-about. Which one is the most memorable for you?

Hmmm. Our gigs can vary so much. Some of them can be completely shambolic, where guitars break or I'll talk nonsense for far too long, and some gigs can be really tight. I enjoy the shambolic ones quite a lot, but my favourite gig so far is probably the one we played at Swn last year.

We played upstairs in the [Cardiff venue] the Model Inn at midnight. The place was completely packed, I had a plastic bag on my head, Foley had a cowboy hat on and Harry was almost naked. It was a great fun. I think it was the first show where it occurred to me that people might actually like our band.

When did you discover you were destined to be a rock god?

Ha! I'm definitely no rock god, although my earliest memory is of locking myself under the stairs and pretending a tennis racquet was a guitar. I sometimes worry that I'll never be able to be normal and stop showing off!

So the NME have written about you - what did they say? Was this while you were moonlighting with Future Of The Left?

There was an article about the greatest living guitarists, and Andrew Falkous from Future Of The Left was listed there. The accompanying article said something like 'Future Of The Left have just gained a new guitarist. This must be the hardest job in rock and roll. Playing guitar next to Falkous must be like writing a diary entry next to Bret Easton Ellis'.

I disagree with this on two fronts: 1) My job is to sell wool to wealthy Welsh speakers, which is easy and 2) I don't keep a diary. I've had plenty of stick from Falco because of this article, but I'm cool with it. I'll be top of the list this time next year!"

What are the Strange News lyrics about? What inspires the writing?

It varies. Most of the lyrics are inspired by what I'm reading at the moment. I find that books and rubbish TV shows inspire a lot of lyrics. Having a terrible job also inspires lyrics.

I used to work in a call centre, and the experience inspired a lot of songs. We have a song called Miss Maidment which is almost word for word what someone wrote in a complaint letter. I sometimes skim through a newspaper and write down random words. This is how I wrote Oh My God They've Given Me The Suburbs.

I try to avoid writing personal lyrics. I find it a bit uncomfortable. I'm much happier to shout daft lyrics from a surreal world which exists in my head. Saying that though, Where'd All The Bullets Go? is a brand new song and the verses there are personal. The chorus is inspired by a Spike Milligan book of the same name.

Are you solely responsible for the double denim fashion this summer?

Absolutely. I wrote to The Guardian after they did a big article on who'd started the double denim trend this year. I said that we'd been doing it since 2007. They wrote back and said they'd never heard of my band.

You recorded a lovely session for my show. Where was it produced, and how was the experience of doing four tracks in one day?

It was a great day's recording down at Music Box with Charlie Francis. He filled a rehearsal room with microphones and we just played live and loud. I later added my vocals after a few cups of coffee and a cheeky cold can of beer, I really like the pressure of having to nail a few songs in one day. There'll definitely be some mistakes there, but that ragged ethos suits Strange News From Another Star. Sometimes the mistakes are my favourite bits.

Anything else I need to know?

Our debut EP is officially released through Music Box records and Flowershop records on 27 September. We're recording the follow up EP on 3 October. We're also playing with Pulled Apart By Horses on 14 September in Clwb Ifor Bach.