Frontman Stephen H Davidson is entering the final year of an English literature degree at Cambridge University. But his student lifestyle is fairly removed from the second jobs of his bandmates, all of whom are still in their early twenties.

"One works in a shop, one for the NHS…and Peter (Phillips, guitar] runs a coconut shy!" Davidson laughs, as our conversation punctures the band's attempts to find a takeaway outlet in York. The band played at The Junction on Monday night.

"He's become a bit of a carnie. He graduated from Oxford, but somehow ended up doing that."

But surely carnival, study and work commitments – including those of additional members Andrew Tickell (bass) and Henry Danowski (drums) – must impact on the band's touring capacities?

"Well, Peter can kind of call up whenever he wants to work, which is handy. It is hard to fit the band around university, but I work to make it work.

Strict

"I think I'd go a bit crazy if I just had Cambridge in my life, that strict academic thing, it's good to balance that with being in a rock band.

"I feel privileged as well to be able to use stuff from my course for the lyrics in the band.

"It can be tricky with deadlines, and to an extent it's limited us, but luckily Cambridge terms are really short – five months of the year I'm not there.

"So compared to another uni it's better in a way. Also I'm not too far from London, so I can always get down for practices."

The capital is where the band are based – in Hammersmith, to be precise – but despite their tender years they have already toured extensively, and released debut album Contact! Contact! last year.
"We've played in Leeds quite a few times," Davidson says.

"The Packhorse, the Cockpit…and there was Common Place, a vegan, non-political centre. They wouldn't let us eat our ham sandwiches inside!

"We made our first trips out of London up to Leeds. It's a great city, and whenever we're there we wander around and think it'd be a great place to live.

"Not only music, there's so many other artists and people interested in our kind of things.

"I'm a big fan of (Leeds band] Sky Larkin as well, they're stunning."

Fans

On Saturday, August 2 they will grace the Royal Park Cellars for the second time, as part of a 20-date co-headline tour with fellow emerging Londoners Tubelord.

Davidson is a big fan of both band and venue.

"We've known Tubelord for a while, they're from Kingston where our label's based. I grew up going to shows there, and we grew from the same scene.

"So far it's working really well. They manage to create enormous power with only three of them. They go a lot heavier than us but also have some very sweet pop moments.

"We played (at Royal Park Cellars] last summer. It was a really sweaty show! It's got a nice atmosphere.

"It's just the small basement of a pub but it's got something I really like, the sound's great. I like playing in people's faces."

A limited-edition split 7in single, released in celebration of the tour and featuring a song each from Tellison and Tubelord, will be available from August 4.

Tellison's track is Wasp's Nest, a ludicrously fun, bittersweet indie-rock singalong, with a chorus stanza which continues to see-saw around your head hours after listening.

It's like a less shrill Futureheads, with better melodies and more direction.

"That was one of the first songs we wrote after we finished the album. I wanted lyrically to be more interesting.

"It starts off big and then sucks everything out, right down to just the keyboards and vocals."

Cult

I first heard Tellison back in 2005, when a friend gave me a mixtape featuring the band's signature song, Reader. It turns that, true to Tellison's down-to-earth, cult status, she's a friend of the band.

"She's an optician as well, and a lot of the band wear glasses, so whenever we're in Leeds she fixes them for us," Davidson laughs.
Tellison clearly have a bright future awaiting them, but Davidson has several specific ambitions.

"We'd all like to go to Japan really badly. Closer to home, I'd really like to play at the Brudenell (Social Club, in Leeds]!

"It's a fantastic venue, but every time we've been booked to play there it's fallen through and been moved.

"I'd also really like to play at the London Astoria. I used to go to so many shows there, so it'd be nice to be in the other role as it were.
"Just to play on that stage…I saw Idlewild there a long time ago, there's something weird about Scottish indie bands which just hits home. And I remember so many ridiculous nights watching stupid punk bands, it was great."

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