Welsh band

Big Leaves are:
Kevin Tame, Osian Gwynedd, Rhodri Sion,
Meilir Gwynedd, Matt Hobbs.

All from Waunfawr, North Wales, except drummer Matt who's from Swindon.

Inspiration:
The Greats - Hendrix, Beatles, Stones, Beach Boys etc. We’re all interested in different styles, hip-hop, Dre, Outkast etc, Lee Perry, Studio 1 stuff, and electronic Aphex Twin, DJ Shadow, Kid Koala.

Big break:
Is that a TV programme about snooker? Osh and Rhods are good snooker players...!

Seriously, we got together as 'Beganifs' when we were teenagers on the North Wales club circuit. When we were about 14 or 15, we made our first recording onto cassette, which sold about 500 copies on street corners!

Your name:
On a short tour of Holland, we were introduced by an MC as "Big Leaves". We thought it was a laugh at the time!

Career highlight:
Seeing a great response to the live gigs is a buzz and doing new songs, recording them and seeing people get into them... like you will when Animal Instinct EP comes out.

Another buzz was with Catatonia on their tour in 1999 and we ended up playing the Brixton Academy. We continued with them to two sold-out shows at Llangollen and also at Margam Park, which was the biggest ever open-air gig in Wales.

Best tribute:
Being called the best band in the world by Rhys Ifans!

Low time:
Right now…‘cos Matt has broken his finger!!

Also, when Matt turned up in a hotel reception at 5am, demanding his morning newspaper - only wearing his pants!

Tips from the top:
Please forward them on to us - we are looking up at the stars. We’re always looking for stuff, always thinking up new tunes.

Job experiences before you were famous:
We’ve been in the band since we were about 14 so jobs haven't happened yet! Got away with no summer jobs because of small royalty cheques!