Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Miranda Raison and Raza Jaffrey with Lost Levels

They can normally be found embroiled in some gruesome spy-game antics in the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ hit drama Spooks, but actors Miranda Raison and Raza Jaffrey have just become the stars of a pop video by a Norwich band.

The Lost Levels recruited the couple - who got married last year - to appear in the video promo for their debut single, Never The First, released on Monday, 4 August, 2008.

The video was filmed a couple of months ago at Norwich's Keir Hardie Hall, which was the setting for a woeful wedding.

Returning a favour

Thankfully the couple's own nuptials were a much happier affair, and is how the actors came to feature in the video.

"We played as a funk band at their wedding in Suffolk last year," said The Lost Levels' Iain Lowery, who sings and plays guitar. "So they came to our wedding party to return the favour!"

Miranda Raison as Jo Portman in Spooks

Iain became friends with Miranda through her brother Ed, a musician who owns Fly Studios in Holt north Norfolk, which the band often use.

"When I was at college in London, Ed and I used to stay around Miranda's all the time so that's how I got know her," he said.

At first, Miranda - who plays MI5 spy Jo Portman in Spooks - was only going to appear as her husband - whose Spooks character of Zafar Younis met a grisly end - was meant to be working, but on the day both actors turned up on the set.

Fun times

Despite the pair being well-known faces, Iain said working together on the video was more of a chance to share some amusing times rather than raise the band's profile.

"We thought it would be fun to have them in it," said Iain, "but the music is really what's important and the video is for fun."

The Lost Levels have released the video on their MySpace and YouTube pages, while the single has been brought out on Norwich-based label NRONE Records.

"We've been very aware of NRONE since it started and the guy, Kingsley, who started it has got an incredible attitude and he's done an awful lot for the local music scene for a lot of local bands," said singer and keyboardist Chris Cooper.

Launch gig

The group - including bassist Owen Morgan and drummer Steve Harris - officially launched Never The First at a gig at the city's Waterfront venue on Thursday, 7 August.

The Lost Levels hope it will cement their local standing having switched the main focus of their attention from London.

"I think we made a bit of a mistake - we ignored Norwich for quite a while," said Chris.

"I was living in London and we thought it would be a good idea to do most of our shows in London.

"We went for a period of around nine months without doing a single gig in Norwich. I guess people forgot we were a Norwich band and we were never embraced as one of the Norwich bands which was a little bit upsetting for us.

The Lost Levels

"We feel a bit more part of the scene now, and it's good to be a part of it. We're very proud to be one of the bands that represent Norwich because it's a very good, thriving scene," he added.

Over the four years that the band have been together, they've developed their sound, moving from a style heavily dominated by computer game-inspired electro bleeps to soaring pop symphonies.

Iain said: "I think when we started to do the poppy songs we weren't trying to do strait-laced pop songs, we were just trying to recreate the feeling you got from watching those teen films in the '80s.

"We wanted to use '80s sounds and they just ended up sounding and coming out as pop songs.

"It was almost like a pastiche thing - the newer stuff we're doing is a lot darker and a lot heavier and more atmospheric in places, which is the way we're going," added Iain.

Royal endorsement

While the band's sound is maturing, their instruments have moved up a scale in regalness, with Princess Margaret's old piano, bearing her crest, a recent addition.

The piano was given to Chris, who teaches keyboards, by one of his pupils - a royal endorsement that the band are surely heading in the right direction.