Introduce yourselves Alan Power – Lead vocals and guitar, Robert MacLeod – Guitar and backing vocals, Russell Stewart – Bass and backing vocals, Carlo Acosta – Drums and backing vocals.

How and when did you get together? It was the summer of 2007. Alan and Bert were at a party and got talking about getting together to make some music. They then pulled in Russell and Carlo as they’d been in previous bands with Alan. It just seemed to make sense.

How did you decide on the band name? Well, our mate Greg was somewhat inebriated at a party (a lot of these stories seem to involve a party). He saw a crown and kept referring to it as a king hat. We asked if he meant a crown, and he said "yeah, a king hat!" It made us giggle, and it stuck.

Describe your music Originally there was quite a big punk influence. We’ve always aimed for that aggression and intensity. At the same time, we’ve always wanted nice melodies. We’ve taken that feeling and developed it in to something bigger, more epic, but still with the energy and aggression of punk. That’s allowed us to really develop the melody-side of things too.

Lyrically, Alan’s the man with the words. Most, if not all, of the songs are at least partially semi-autobiographical. Can you tell he’s a big, romantic, softie at heart? Our music is best enjoyed live though. We just love to go mental on stage; like four hyperactive kids on the mother of all sugar rushes. That’s where you get to connect with people most; that’s where they can see all that intensity. There is no better feeling than playing live.

Name check your main influences Our biggest influences growing up were Blink 182, the first two Idlewild albums, Biffy, Radiohead, Deftones and just partying. That’s really where we’re coming from.

Now I’d say this has expanded to stuff like Foals, Maccabees, Taking Back Sunday, Brand New, the epicness of post rock with bands like Explosions in the Sky, a lot of dance music, em, could actually write a novel on this. I think we’ve never had the thought of wanting to emulate a specific band or style. We just like listening to anything, and ultimately it’ll all influence us in some way or another.

Where and when was your first gig? How did it go? It was the 13th at the 13th!

It was the September 13, 2007 at the 13th Note. We put the gig on ourselves because we didn’t have a demo and we had some songs we were itching to play. It went very well. We’d all been in different bands before this so everyone that came along really didn’t know what to expect. I think they got a shock at how up-tempo it was; but they were all cheering by the end of the first song. It was a rousing success really. Well, all except for Alan getting carried away and jumping in to Carlo’s drum kit at the end of the set. Carlo’s face was priceless, but Alan has not done that since.

Biggest achievement so far?

It’s hard to pick one really. Playing T Break was obviously an amazing achievement. Releasing our single on King Tut's Recordings was also amazing. It was such a great opportunity, and the sell-out launch night at Tut's was genuinely the busiest we’ve ever seen it. The crowd singing along at that gig is quite a fond memory. Our recent EP launch as well. We did the record in our flat by ourselves, so to put it all together and put it out there ourselves, and get to release it at our headline Tut's gig a few weeks ago certainly feels like a big achievement too.

Where are you going to be in five years? That’s a big question. Doing this for a living would be nice.

Best gig you ever saw? This is such a hard question CA: Mono at The Arches last year. I believe the term I used at the time was “eargasm”. AP: Placebo at the Barrowlands during the Black Market Music Tour. RM: Brand New at the O2 Academy in 2007. RS: Sonic Youth at the Barrowlands in 2004.

What Glasgow venue would you love to play? Without question it has to be Barrowlands.

Who would be your support? Ooft, eh, tough one. The Chariot cause they would get us right up for it (seriously, go check the video for The City; it’s mental).

Last song you listened to on your iPod? CA: What Do You Go Home To? – Explosions in the Sky RM: Away From you – Oberhofer AP: The CN Tower Belongs to the Dead – Owen Pallett RS: Caribou - Pixies

Where can we hear your music? We’ve got a headline slot at Captain’s Rest on March 2. Our mate Kyle from Cut Loose is putting that on. We’re playing with a band from Perth called WeCameFromWolves. We’re playing with them again in Dunfermline at The Jam Jar on the March 8. There are some more March dates in the works and also a Highland tour for April with a band called Naked Strangers.

Online you can hear us on Spotify. You can download the EP from Bandcamp and we’re also on iTunes and Amazon. You can buy a physical CD at our Big Cartel page. And you can follow on Facebook, Twitter and SoundCloud