“I don’t know. They’ve been coming for a long time.”
“That’s what makes it even scarier,” Sam Potter concurs with bandmate Ross Matthews, “the fact that they’ve been coming for so long. People might forget and then, when they actually do come, it might be twice the disaster. It’s like the snowfall the other day, the bears came and London wasn’t prepared, so it hit them.”

Welcome to Late of the Pier’s distinctly warped universe, which tonight (thanks to their “really tough” bus driver) has torn a dimensional rip in a dressing room located in the grey bowels of Wolverhampton, allowing my mere mortal self to converse with visitors who themselves look suspiciously like male humans in their early twenties. Drummer/Ron Weasley understudy Ross and electronic whizz-kid Sam are discussing when the titular fuzzies of their shape-shifting, funk monster The Bears Are Coming are due to arrive, a debate that results in them considering penning a sequel. “Yeah,” Sam laughs, “The Bears Are Here. Or The Bears Are Still Coming.”

Joined by guitar man Andrew Faley, they are perched on a sofa – the absence of lead singer Samuel Eastgate immediately lending him an enigmatic air, when really he’s just having a shower – answering my questions very amiably. Refusing to acknowledge that they’re actually alien invaders come to claim the youth (and beyond) of our dancefloors and transport them to a different sphere entirely, the crafty beggars instead play innocent.

“We don’t know what we are,” Andrew claims, “we just know what we don’t want to be.” And all three agree this is “definitely not ‘nu-rave’”.

“When we make music we’re trying, above anything, to make something that’s unique and kind of chasing a sound that no-one’s done before,” doe-eyed Sam asserts. “It’s sad when people lump you into a group, especially one as throwaway as ‘nu-rave’.”

Of course, taking their baffling sci-fi sonics to Fabric and the like was bound to bring the Klaxons crowd. One of the more painful consequences? “I’ve got a split lip from when someone chucked this massive blue glowstick,” goes Ross’s particular war story. “It just flew towards me and smacked me in the face!”

“I don’t know whether it’s a compliment or not when fans do that,” Sam ponders, but Andrew counters that, “whatever we feel about it, in the end it’s just a bit of fun.” And ‘fun’ is the frequency debut album Fantasy Black Channel, which crash-landed on Earth last August, was turned to, laser-gunning us into submission with its glam/dance/pop/rock hybrid.

They’ve toured their set extensively, “fighting to win over football louts” when opening for Kaiser Chiefs and building a strong teen fanbase by playing at various underage clubs and festivals. “Kids see energy onstage and just bounce off it,” Andrew says.

“We developed our live style from those shows,” Sam expands. “If you play to a room of 50 scenesters, you’re gonna get a much different response so the way you react is going to be a lot less dramatic. Our live shows have been built on the fact we have the freedom to do whatever the fuck we like.”

This freedom was exercised in October 2008 when LOTP (a name with a complete “lack of sense or meaning”) embarked on a late-night “mental” tour of UK warehouse venues. “There’s a big difference between club crowds and gig crowds,” Andrew says. “Gig crowds turn up and just go nuts for you, whereas people going to a club are out to get absolutely smashed and half of them won’t know who’s playing.”

Joining them on this adventure was an array of dance-oriented acts and DJs, including coolest-man-alive Erol Alkan, producer of the band’s album. “Erol’s a friend really,” Ross ventures. “He’s renowned for playing such broad genres of music so he suited us well, because he can turn his head to anything.” 

“He’s a really normal guy who just happens to be obsessed with music,” Andrew continues. “Erol understands the properties that dance and guitar music share, and there’s not many people who see that crossover.”

With this reputation for shows lasting until 3am and a fondness for psychedelic bands like Animal Collective, I bring up the controversial subject of drugz. “We’re probably as influenced by drugs as we are sofas,” Andrew replies. But, surely, some people might really be fond of sofas?

“We don’t want to encourage anyone to do drugs,” Ross says. Andrew takes the baton with, “Drugs are pretty fucking good but it’s only the first or second time where it’s an interesting, totally new experience. Once you’ve tried it, you realise there’s nothing to gain from it.”

What they are keen on is emulating the feeling of a memorable drug trip via music. “It’s kind of like what French house used to do,” Sam says. “Five years ago, it was about packing these songs with all these frequencies that just make your heart shake.”

Funny then that these dreadfully handsome Martians claim to be from Castle Donington, home of the metalhead. Any plans to play Download? “That would be so funny,” laughs Sam. “It was definitely exciting as a kid,” says Ross. “All these Hells Angels just used to rock up, and they were the friendlist – and smelliest – people you could ever meet.”

The guys recognise that they themselves attract an “artsy” crowd, one US fan even hand-drawing an entire anime comic depicting the band as cartoon heroes. Working with up-and-coming directors like France’s Megaforce, the band have proved their own visual merit. “We haven’t really explored the medium of film as much as we want to yet,” Andrew says. “We’re talking about not doing any festivals this year and just setting up stalls with projectors or something.”

Whether it’s videos, artwork or the music itself (Sam daydreams about a “museum you could just walk into and take all the sounds”), it’s safe to say their Pier overlooks a galaxy overflowing with creative ideas. “Whatever’s next is always gonna be related to art one way or the other,” Andrew confidently muses. “It’s one way that you can go anywhere and do anything.”

The frontier beckons. Are you brave enough to join them? 

Luke McNaney