We caught up with Tom and Rich from new indie band Clocks...

After capturing a slot on the Scouting For Girls tour, Clocks are counting down the days until they can do their own big headline tour. With their bumping beats and indie pop sound their second single Old Valve Radio is likely to get you bopping along from the first listen.

We think big things are destined for these four lively lads. Their serious sing-a-long debut album is out in the summer, but for those who can’t wait their latest single is available from April 14.

We talked tours, groupies, stardom and Scouting For Girls in a chat with the cheeky chaps, Tom and Rich…

You’re currently on tour with Scouting For Girls. Have you got any crazy touring tales?
Tom: We actually had to postpone a week of the tour because Roy from Scouting For Girls had laryngitis. But we’re back on track now. We got him a bunch of blue roses. We actually went out to get him a get well soon card but we were in Birmingham on a late Sunday afternoon and all the shops were closing. All we could find was a flower store and a balloon seller, so we bought him some flowers and a balloon dog. (Don’t mind buying us a bunch do you?)

How is Roy from Scouting For Girls doing now?
Tom: He was talking in a really hoarse whisper but not like a horse whisperer (laughs). He was really gutted though. He said to us, “I’m so sorry guys.” But it wasn’t his fault.

How do you stay in touch with friends when you are on tour – are you MySpace surfers or Facebook fans?
Rich: We have very limited internet when we are on tour but most of the venues have internet access and we’ve all got laptops. We’re on MySpace as much as we can and on Facebook. But generally we stay in touch with friends by texting most of the time.

Would you call yourselves a MySpace band then?
Tom: I wouldn’t classify us as a MySpace band. We do like to keep in touch with all our friends that we have made on MySpace. We do actively reply to comments and messages as we think it’s quite important.

What’s the craziest thing a fan has ever done?
Rich: I don’t think we’ve had anything that crazy really. I got invited to somebody’s birthday party. I didn’t go so I don’t know if it was fun (laughs.) That experience was strange - meeting someone and then five minutes later getting invited to their birthday party. But nothing that crazy has happened so far.

Sure you’ve got it all still to come though?
(They both agree and chuckle to themselves)

Does fame interest you or is it all about the music?
Tom: I think fame is a side effect; it’s not about fame. We’re still early on in our career so we haven’t experienced much of it yet. We get the occasional thing at gigs especially on the Scouting For Girls tour, people will come up to us and say they like our music.

Speaking of celebs… have you got any celebrity crushes?
Tom: No I’ve got a girlfriend.
Rich: I’ve never really thought about it.

Really? Are you sure that’s true?
Rich: Jo Whiley…no (laughs).

What have you got on your ipod at the moment?
Rich: I’ve been listening to a lot of Lightspeed Champion. It’s quite nice to listen to on the tour bus after we’ve just done a gig.
Tom: I’m not a big ipod person actually. I have one but I don’t use it much.

Where do you see yourselves in a year’s time?
Tom: Right here doing an interview.
Rich: Hopefully doing our own big headline tour. The tour we’re doing with Scouting For Girls at the moment is amazing. But when we watch Scouting For Girls every night and all those people going crazy for them – we’d like to be there.

What do you think you would be doing instead if you weren’t in a band?
Rich: I’d be in my third year of uni and would probably be under a lot of stress, writing a dissertation.
Tom: I’d be in my fourth year so I’d be under more stress!

What’s your favourite part of being in a band?
Tom: We love going off on tour because it’s an opportunity to meet new people. I suppose performing is what it’s all about.

Your album is out in the summer, what can we expect from it?
Rich: Quite a variety of stuff. It’s fairly summery so we’re pleased it’s going to be out in the summer. There’s different flavours on there, indie stuff and pop stuff. It’s just a good mix generally.

What makes you different from all the other indie bands out there?
Tom: We’re not trying to be an indie band. We’ve been writing this music since we were 14. We haven’t actively thought that we wanted to be like any other bands.

Why would our readers buy your music?
Tom: Value for money!

How much is it?
Tom: Don’t know?
Rich: It doesn’t have a serious message, we’re not trying to change people, we’re just having a laugh and

Now check out our Clocks giveaway here!