ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ

Polytechnic

Teaching tunes

The album is called Down Til Dawn. Where does the name come from?

"The title comes from a lyric on one of the songs. It's pleasantly ambiguous. And it generally suits the mood of the songs and the spirit of how they were recorded. Which was mostly around dawn time!"

Are you happy with it?

"Yes, for sure. It was a difficult thing getting it made and I think we did the whole concept justice. It's a complicated process trying to turn something you envisage very clearly into something convincingly real even without all the practical concerns that come from dealing with the music industry.

Polytechnic

"I think that the album is more ambitious and has more scope than people might have expected of us when we first started out as a band."

Which is your favourite track and why?

"Still Spinning was pretty much a live take, which we got straightaway, so that still sounds fresh to me."

The last track is Running Out Of Ideas. Was that an admission of sorts?

"Well, it's a wry touch. Actually we're always running into ideas, musically. But it's the longest track on the album, and it's a journey - where the song finishes up just seemed like the most natural place for the album to finish as well."

Man Overboard got single of the week in both the NME and the Sun. How did that feel?

"Yeah, surprising and humbling. That song isn't an obvious radio-pop-single choice, and there were no plans laid for it being successful. It was a case of β€˜we’ve just finished recording our album, we're excited by this new tune, let's release it’. They didn't make too many copies of it. So yes, it was heart-warming to see such a big, positive reaction."

You recently did a co-headline tour with Cherry Ghost. How did you decide who went on last?

"It was a race to see whoever got to the venue first. We drove slightly more recklessly, so we won out.

"No - we're all friends, we shared the headline, in a spirit of goodwill and happiness. It was great touring with such talented people."

There's a lot of great bands in Manchester at the moment. Who stands out for you?

"The Beep Seals write beautifully harmonious melodious songs, which is a very refreshing thing these days. Also, the Answering Machine and the Headlines are making waves."