Nothing But Thieves living the dream ahead of Sheffield show

The band, formed in Southend four years ago, saw their debut album reach the top 10 on its release in October, they’ve supported the likes of Muse and Arcade Fire, and their autumn 2015 tour sold out.

Now they are back on the road, keen to keep building their profile, including a date in Sheffield.

“Things are going pretty well,” admits bassist Philip Blake, one-fifth of the band alongside singer Conor Mason, drummer James Price and guitarists Joe Landridge-Brown and Dominic Craik. “We’re really, really busy.

“We have been continually on the road, working really hard and we’ll keep on going.”

And Philip admits the band sometimes do not realise how successful they are.

“It’s only when someone else says look at it that we realise what we’ve done,” he says, praising the support the band received from BBC Radio One in their early days.

“To have that support early on was great,” says Philip. “We did BBC Introducing, and it’s kept going.

“We are always going back to when we played with Muse as a highlight. It was just the biggest thing we had ever done, playing to 30.000 people in Italy last summer.

“At that point in the UK we were doing 500-capacity rooms, but Rome was just massive.

“We still have really happy memories of it – every band dreams of doing things like that at some point.”

However, the band accept headlining their own shows to such a crowd may be a way off.

“We are focused on doing the gigs at home, building on the fanbase,” says Philip.

“We’re doing all right. We’re just really happy to have our dream jobs.

“Our fans are supporting us and its just growing.

“We were so chuffed to go top 10 with the album and we’re just working hard to keep going.”

And the band are already thinking about their second album.

“We have got a few tracks under our belt and we’ll continue writing, even while on the road,” says Philip.

“Toward the end of the year, we’ll be looking at buckling down and recording the second album.

We’re keen to get it out as soon as possible. We’re confident in what we have got so far.”

For now, though, the band are happy to concentrate on their current live dates.

Philip says: “We’re a rock band, that’s what we do,

“We’re very energetic, we’re definitely not a lazy band. I believe we’re 10 times better than what you hear on the radio – our live show is something else and something we have really worked towards.”

And Sheffield music fans can sample the live show when Nothing But Thieves play The Leadmill in the city centre on Monday, April 11. For tickets, priced £12, visit leadmill.co.uk