Hot from recording their debut album we caught up with Tom Stubbs, frontman of New Cassettes, to ask him about life, art and the Glastonbury buzz.

You first came to our attention through the Road to V Battle of the Bands competition.  How have things gone since then?

Tom:  It's been going well... a little slower than we're used to but that’s meant we got to finish our album and get started on the next one... and play Glastonbury obviously.

So it was worth entering?

Tom:  Yeah we had a good laugh and Nik managed to get a free phone...

What’s going on for New Cassettes in 2009?

Tom:  The album comes out in the UK and Japan then hopefully touring and building things for the 2nd one.

What's the album called?

Tom:  'the art of...'

Who did you work with on your singles?

Tom:  So far we've done the singles ourselves recording wise and put them out through a few small indies and then doing the same thing with the album.

What was the experience like?

Tom:  Well we didn't kill each other!

You’ve also got videos on YouTube. How did that come about?

Tom:  Much the same, either messing about ourselves or borrowing the talents of mates.

Has this helped bring you to the attention of anyone in the music industry?

Tom:  We've had a lot of people giving us their 2 pence worth but as they all want a million sales on a first album and we want to build things and not just get dropped when it flops I think we're politely avoiding each other.

What’s been the highlight so far?

Tom:  Definitely Glastonbury.  Not many people get to say they've played there so we're more than chuffed.

What was the whole Glastonbury experience like?

Tom:  Amazing...  and messy!  I’ve been a few times but it was first time for the others and my birthday so the idea of saving ourselves till we had played didn't last very long.  We hung out backstage a bit and enjoyed the indoor bar a bit

too much... but such a great atmosphere and crowd to have.

You have been linked up with the "Almost There" project on MySpace, how did you got involved with this?

Tom:  During the electric proms tour I got a call from a gent named Joe Simpson who wanted to know if we'd write a piece of music for a painting he was doing, and being as we like a bit of a challenge we thought why the heck not.   So we met up and he gave us some first versions of the painting and we left them on the bus like the professionals we are, but eventually got the picture again and then worked from there.

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