Only it wasn't. Like many forms of roots music re -popularised in the 80's - like reggae and country - folk, in its new punk inspired form, was not about to lay down and die when interest shifted elsewhere. And the reason was simple: ordinary people liked it too much. It is essentially rebel music. Not rebellious in the sense that it directly challenged governments or shocked and outraged the moral majority, but because it provided a warm and welcome refuge for younger, disaffected revellers, who liked its vague anti- establishment stance and its emphasis on friendship and fun.

As a result, hippie-ish, punky raggle taggle had unwittingly become the focus for a groundswell of political and moral frustration. However, when the Pogues - the central axis of the movement, though never champions of its more hippie elements - began their slow decline with 1989's "Peace and Love" album, folk - punk lost its leaders. Sensing the end of an era, but not, strangely, the beginning of another one, journalists put the lid on the whole phenomenon, and began looking northwards to the indie/dance sounds emanating from Manchester. Which is why, sadly, they missed out on the Levellers' early years, and the whole subculture and a loyal live following that has since grown up around them.

Make no mistake the Levellers are massive. They score Top 10 albums and singles, they play huge sell-out concerts across Europe and, whether they like it or not, they're the figurehead for the "crusties" and travellers, the anarcho punks and hippies, the festival lovers and bean-burger eaters, the young and disenfranc mysterious "Bucky", embarked on a series of local gigs. Their ability to marry rousing melodies to a robust weave of clattering drums and punchy guitars immediately won them a following, and before long, they were playing to larger crowds than their erstwhile influences. Although, like Murphy's, McDermott's Two Hours couldn't have been too bitter - especially as the Levellers covered their sprightly "Dirty Davey" on their eponymous third album.

From the outset, the Levellers had enjoyed the support of Hag Records' boss Phil Nelson, an M.A. student at Sussex University who'd started the label with the money from his British Academy grant. Now acting as their manager, he began helping the band to get gigs across the South, where the group promoted themselves with a brace of demo tapes. The first, titled, "All The Free Commons Of England", featured a handful of studio tracks, while the second, "An Agreement Of The People", coupled a further five demos with several songs recorded at a one-off gig in Amsterdam. Unsurprisingly, these are feathers in the cap of any self - respecting Levs fan, and today tend to change hands for around £20 apiece.

Third gig at the 'George Robey' in North London.

By early 1989, the Levellers, who by this time were gigging with a vengeance, had sold around 500 copies of each tape, and were keen to immortalise their talents on vinyl. Nelson's Hag records was still up and running, so, with their managers help,the group splashed out on a session at the Old Barn in Croydon, with a view to putting out a 12" EP in the spring. With producer Phil Vinall at the controls, the Levellers taped what would become a lasting jewel in their crown. "The Last Days Of Winter", a frantic, jumpy call to arms, on which Mark spits out his manifesto of positive, pacifist action against a back-drop of furious, rattling drums and wheeling guitars and violin. Strangely, the group thought "Last Days" was inappropriate as a lead track and returned to Brighton to record the equally striking "Carry Me", together with two more songs, "Whats In The Way" and the chilling "England My Home", with producer Mark Waterman.

On its release in May 1989, the "Carry Me" EP caught the attention of Cathi Unsworth at "Sounds," who gave it a glowing review. "It even got a couple of plays on Radio 1", recalls Phil Nelson, "despite the fact that it contained the line, "Too fucked to fight". I don't think anyone noticedn that". Within a few weeks, all, 1,000 copies of the single had sold out.

Around this time, the Levellers hitched up with Charlie Myatt, then a booking agent for Prestige, which proved to be an important step forward in the group's bid to develop a wider fan base. "He'd only been an agent for a short time when we met him, but he came down to Sussex to see us and was immediately bowled over with what we were doing, ", explains Nelson. "He became a very close ally, especially over the next couple of years when record company interest was nil, and folk-punk was regarded as the least popular music around. We got ignored, and Charlie and I were the two people battling away against this tide of indifference."

With Charlie quickly securing dates on the prestigious U.K. college circuit and, further afield, in Scotland, Ireland and Holland, the lads decided that a fifth member was required to flesh out their sounds - "Bucky" having disappeared several months earlier, after only a few weeks with the band. The job was offered to Alan Miles, a skilled mandolin player and guitarist, whose presence added further texture and warmth to ever - developing songs like " I Have No Answers" and "Barrel Of A Gun".

Come the late Summer, the Levellers were itching to record again. Following the success of the first E.P. Phil Vinall was recalled to the mixing desk, and the group laid down three tracks appearing on the "Outside Inside" E.P. issued in October 1989. This 12" captured the Levs in a belligerent mood, with the stomping, Motown folk-punk of the title track doing nothing to suggest a musical mellowing. Even so, the band still nurtured a quieter side, which surfaced most clearly on "Hard Fight", an acoustic lament that underlined the growing strength and maturity of Mark's vocals, and confirmed the Levellers' growing anti-establishment stance.

"As gravelly-throated singer Mark Chadwick later admits, their first two singles 'Carry Me' and 'Inside Outside' were, "so tame they were like us in cardboard." "It's difficult recording because our music is live music, it is evocative and we're not particularly tight," adds dreadlocked bassist Jeremy Cunningham. "Live you feed off the atmosphere, now recording we have to create the atmosphere." -"SOUNDS" 1990

With "Outside Inside" repeating the success of "Carry Me", the band were beginning to attract the interest of several independents, though none could offer the level of financial support the Levellers required. Then a friend suggested that they approach the French label, Musidisc, which had just set up offices in London. To their surprise, Musidisc were eager to sign them and, what's more, appeared to have a genuine liking for their music.

We had to take their offer seriously", explains Nelson, "because we just didn't have the money to record an album. We thought we knew enough between us to make a relationship work, so we signed to them for what was to be a three-album deal." In the event, the agreement resulted in only one.

Levellers circa 1989 with Alan Miles.

In the early months of 1990, the band entered Loco Studios in Wales with Waterboys producer Phil Tennant, to tape the songs which would later appear on their long-playing debut, "A Weapon Called The Word". The sessions were a success spawning fresh versions of tracks like "Carry Me", "Outside / Inside" and "I Have No Answers", as well as a batch of newies including " No Change" and " Blind Faith".

While Tennant's production added a gentle sheen to the vintage material, Mark's forthright vocal delivery and the band's death-rattle exuberance lent the recordings an air of urgency and honesty, reflecting their live energy and punkiness. Issued in May, the album split critical opinion, though those who liked it revered its brash, earthy music and message. "And the band are still pleased with it", adds Nelson. For a faster single, Musidisc lifted the opening track, the barnstorming, back-to-basic's rocker "World Freak Show" but due to administrative problems, it didn't appear until June. The group were understandably peeved, especially as the label still used two (already available) album tracks for the extra B-sides, but could do little except watch the 45 sink without a trace. To make matters worse, Alan Miles had quit the group a few weeks earlier, ground down by their relentless live schedule, leaving them with the task of finding an accomplished folk instrumentalist to fill the gap.

OTF: What is said backwards at the beginning of 'Three Friends' on the first album?

Terry: I've actually got it written down somewhere...

Jon: Baa Baa Black Sheep...

Jeremy: If you wind this backwards you are a twat. (laughter.) No actually it's "Be encouraged all you friends of freedom and writers in it's defence. The times are auspicious, your labours have not been in vain. Tremble all you oppressors of the world, take warning all ye supporters of slavish governments and slavish hierarchies, restore to mankind their rights and consent to the correction of users for them and destroy together." Written by Richard Price in 1789.

All: Hear hear!

Why did the album have different coloured sleeves?

Mark: Just to be different.

Jeremy: We wanted everyone to buy all three formats!

Why did you change "No Change" from how it was live originally?

Mark: Because it sounded better the second time round like that! And it will change again...

Jeremy: We continually change our songs...they're usually crap the first time around!

"There is a lot of anger" nods Mark, "because none of us have any money, so we can't do everthing we want to do."

"But it's urgency too," counters Jeremy. "We have to get things over very quickly. If you're playing live the words can't be that complicated; they have to come across. It's not aggression.

Fortunately, a replacement appeared in the guise of Simon Friend, an established musician on the acoustic/folk circuit, who brought to the band several of his own compositions, which were quickly incorporated into their set. With Simon in tow, the group headed out on a European tour with New Model Army (whose singer, Justin "Slade The Leveller" Sullivan, had previously worked with Friend,) which almost ended in disaster when bassist Jeremy lost the use of one arm. However, by drawing on Simon's talents as a multi-instrumentalist, the band were able to honor their commitments as the all-acoustic Levellers 2, who were revived for a handful of British gigs later that Summer, and occasionally still get called upon in times of power cuts and P.A. failures.

In October 1990, a second Musidisc single appeared, coupling the anthemic " Together All The Way" with a claustrophobic, hypnotic version of "Three Friends", judiciously smothered in an intense cacophony of violin, electric mandolin and pumping dance rhythms, which occasionally surrenders to brief, careering rock passages.

We got a guy called Luke Cresswell to remix it", says Nelson. "He was Brighton-based and had a band called the Yes No People (and later played in Beats International). It wasn't a "dance remix" but he added bodhran and all sorts of different instruments". In some quarters it was hailed as the first acid-folk record - scary or what?!

Sadly, many fans desperate to hear "Together All The Way" were denied the pleasure, as Musidisc temporarily ran out of copies after only a week. One cock-up was forgivable, but two in a row was not, so the band took steps to free themselves from their deal. "In our opinion, they hadn't fulfilled the conditions of the contract" expands Nelson. "And, in the end, it was settled out of court." Once again, the band had to stand by as a great single ended its days in the bargain bins. While the Levs' legal department struggled to reach a settlement, the group began demoing material for a new album, with several members taking time out to guest on an album by Rev Hammer.

Rev Hammer and the Levellers on the 1996 club tour"

Issued on Hag, "Industrial Sound And Magic" has since been reissued by Cooking Vinyl on cassette and CD. In the meantime, the Levellers headed out in the spring for a brief, five-date U.K. tour, topped with a sell-out show at the London Astoria. In the early summer, it was announced that the group had signed with China Records, who had in fact, been involved in the eventual settlement with Musidisc. With a renewed sense of purpose, the band booked themselves into Ridge Farm Studios, where they began work on their second album, "Levelling The Land"

Issued in September 1991, the LP witnessed the advent of a more solid, consummate sound, rich in instrumentation and loaded with lush, earthy folk-rock numbers. Simon's influence was immediately clear, with both "The Boatman" and "Another Man's Cause" embracing a rootsy, more acoustic sound, underpinned by the snap of muted drums and the flitter of melancholy violins and bells. You could almost see the flicker of late-night festival camp fires, ringed with swirling dancers, gradually losing themselves in the rising and falling wail of the fiddle. But quot;Levelling......" rocked too, with "One Way" "Liberty Song" and "Far From Home" mixing the band's vintage punk-troubadour anthems with dancey drum rhythms and chunky, aggressive bass lines.

The Album was nothing short of triumphant, and has become the band's first platinum seller, crashing into the charts at No. 14. "One Way", issued as a single the same month, mirrored its success, topping the indie charts, and providing the ever-growing army of Levellers fans with the war cry "There's only one way of life and that's your own!". On paper it looks awfully tired, I know, but chanted to the song's rousing melody in an arena full of sweaty fragglers, well... "We thought it would get into the national charts because of our live following, but it only got to No. 51", recalls Nelson. "But it certainly got us to a new level where people were actually aware of us."

OTF: How do you feel that the new album compares with the old one?

Jeremy: I like it much better and would advise anyone to buy it at the bargin price of £5.99! (general laugter.) It was more fun to record.

Simon: There was a bit more bollocks in it.

Charlie: You can hear the drums this time.

Had you improved in the studio or was it total luck?

Charlie: Fluke...!

Simon: We've learnt how to play.

Mark: No, it's better from now on.

Jeremy: It was the swimming pool that did it.

Were you suprised that the album got to 14 in the National Charts

All: No. (Laughs)

Are you a cocky bunch of bastards?

All: Yes!

Jeremy: We've been reading the Manic Street Preachers' guide to giving good interviews.

What is the front cover of "One Way" supposed to be?

Charlie: A squid!

Jeremy:If you don't know what the cover of "One Way" is then you are an asshole! No, it's just a squid.

Why?

Jon: It was a dodgy old painting of Jeremy's that he had hanging on his wall from his Art School days.

Jeremy: Yeah, I did the squid years ago and our manager liked it and had the bright idea that the squid looked a bit like a one way sign. (much laughter)

How the fuck he managed to connect those two together I do not know but if there are any Freudian analysts out there you can have a go - we'll have a competition...but no, it is a squid, it's not a rubber glove with a rocket on the end of it like some people have suggested or a turnip, and I heard two people arguing over whether it was an octopus or a squid. Well it was a squid when I drew it.

With part-time Leveller Stephen helping out on didgeridoo, the band played to packed houses at the Town & Country Club and Kilburn National Ballroom, before rounding off the year by signing to Elektra in America, where they've since sold over 100,000 records. 1991 had been the year the Levellers had come of age; 1992 would be even better. To end 1991, the band returned to the studio to re-record the catchy "Levelling The Land" track "Far From Home", for release as a single in February. "We did it with Craig Leon", remembers Nelson. Derek Green at China was convinced that "Far From Home", was going to be our big hit. Structurally the new version ended up being more commercial, but I don't think there's anything between them. It had four live songs on the CD and 12", but, surprise, surprise, it only made No. 67. It did get B-listed by Radio 1 though.

Following tours of France, Germany, Scandinavia, and a U.K. tour finishing with a sell-out show at Brixton Academy, the Levellers retired to their rehearsal rooms to pen two new songs for a fresh 45" The results were "15 Years" and "Dance Before The Storm" which subtly helped to re-shape the band into the complex, more electric unit they are today. Sketching the loneliness of a penitent alcoholic and wife-beater returning from the "midnight lock-in", "15 Years" took a fast, driving back-beat and fused it to a classic, major/minor chord sequence climaxing in a stirring sing-along chorus. Passionate, danceable and an undoubted classic, the song perfectly complimented "Dance....", which, rather like the more recent " This Garden", spliced spoken-word verses by Simon to rumbustious, melodies Chadwick choruses. Appearing in May 1992, the "15 years" EP, which also featured a live version of "Riverflow" and a cover of Paul King's "Plastic Jesus, " stormed into the charts at no. 11. Following another sell-out U.K. tour, an appearance at the prestigious U.S. New Music Seminar and a let's- be- friends - again interview with the "N.M.E" (Jeremy had sent them one of his turds in the post a couple of years earlier, effectively making the paper their deadly foes), the Levs played Glastonbury Festival uniting the disparate tribes with a moving performance that was witnessed by over 70,000 fans. As heroes of the "new age movement and with a bona fide traveller among their ranks (Jeremy,) the group were pronounced " experts" on the festival phenomenon, and were duly asked by the "Melody Maker" to name their favourite and least favourite events. The band then toured Canada and the States before returning to their native shores in December to perform three "Freakshows" featuring support from a colourful troupe of new age acrobats, mime-artists and jugglers.

Though these events were a rip-roaring success, the word " Freakshow" still left a nasty taste in the Lev's mouths, chiefly because Musidisc had, at the start of 1992, done the unthinkable and issued a new, cash-in remix "World Freak Show" without the band's permission.

According to Phil, however, it could have been a lot worse. Their remix originally had an alternative vocal track, but Musidisc obviously don't listen to their own records, because, in line five of the song, Mark forgets the words and sings "lalala", luckily I was able to get a copy of it before it came out and made strong representation to them. In the end they did another remix, using the original vocals, but it was horrendous. We were relieved when it only reached 50-something.

In the early months of 1993, the group set out on a tour of France, Switzerland, Germany and Holland, to promote "See Nothing, Hear Nothing, Do Something" an LP mopping up the contents of the first three China singles for the European market. On their return, the group started their third album in Monnow Valley in Wales and Jacob's in Surrey, before completing the bulk of the work at Real World, Peter Gabriel's studio near Bath. The LP produced by Marcus Dravs and eventually surfacing in August, was preceded by a single, "Belaruse", a pounding melee of electric and acoustic instruments, punctuated by a rousing chorus, echoing the unselfconscious sentimentality of "15 years". The B- side was equally spirited - a messy cover of Zounds "Subvert", belted out by Simon.

Stephen blows it somewhere in Europe

The album itself provided a similar feast of the fresh and familiar, and the adventurous and the tried-and-tested, with gusty rocker like "100 Years Of Solitude" sitting comfortably next to more folky fare like "The Like Of You And I" and "Is This Art?". Most striking of all , though, was the excellent "This Garden", lifted as a single in October borrowing it's structure from "Dance Before The Storm". It was a hit throughout Europe, helped along by heavy rotation on MTV.

This was the first Levellers song to be backed by a rhythm programmed track (put together by the ever present Alan Scott) and showed even more than before the bands stunning versatility. This track reached number 12, was A listed at Radio One, and was Matthew Bannister, controller of Radio One's favourite track of the year!!.

The final single release from the album was the "Julie EP". Julie was lifted from the album and re-recorded by Gil Norton whom the band had never worked with before. Once more they were inventive with their B-Sides, which included their own renditions of The Clash's English Civil War and Steeleye Span's "Lowlands Of Holland."

Never had a trio of such different singles coexisted together on one album.

At the time of the last magazine you were about to go into producer Glynn Johns own studio. What where you doing there?

Jeremy: Sleeping.

Charlie: Watching telly.

Jeremy: Riding bikes.

Mark: Getting banned from the local pub.Jon: Making really crap videos.

Jeremy: Writing one and a half songs...

Jon: In a month.

Have you got a particular approach to writing songs?

Jeremy: Every now and then a song approaches us...and we ignore it usually...!

Simon: Everytime I feel the urge I go down the pub and forget about it.

Jeremy: We are going to become a show band.

Charlie: Cabaret!

Do Mark and Simon write the songs?

Jon: They say that they write the songs!...nobody believes them.

Jeremy: Sometimes I'll have some words and they'll build it from there.

Is it true that all your words are incredibly depressing?

Mark: Yes!

So when it came to recording this record how did you go about choosing Marcus Dravs (producer)?

Jon: They gave the best head!...tape head of course.

Mark: We narrowed it down to non Americans! Fellow Europeans are OK.

Simon: We went down the Job Centre and looked under bricklayers...

Jon:...and came up with a scouse brickie who says he's a German Engineer.

Jeremy:...and a famous producer whoose name sounds like a Tampax.(Steve Lillywhite.)

What's Marcus' backround?

Mark: He's a brickie.

Jeremy: I think his father lives in Brazil.

Simon: He's been an Engineer for about...well...three weeks!!! (much laughter).

Jon: He keeps leaving the studio saying that he's going to ring his wife but really he's reading the manual, upstairs.

So where have you recorded so far?

Jon: Wales, Bath, Surrey...

Jeremy: What happens is , we get to a studio, we sit there for a week, then we go fuck! We can't write any songs, so we go somewhere else - we get to the next studio and can't write any songs and go what a shit studio and go somewhere else...!

Jon: The food's shit so we are leaving.

Jeremy: How are you suposed to write songs in this studio? The swimming pool is two degrees too cold...that's what we always say...when we get to the next studio we'll write loads of songs..

Mark: Promise.

Is it true you're trying to visit every studio in the UK while you're in the Levellers?

Jon: Monserrat would be nice!

Simon: Barbados!

What ways do you see this album differ from the last album?

Mark: Er, incomplete.

Jon: It's our third, unfinished album...they all do it...Schubert did it...

Mark: No, it's probably going to be harder...we're better musicians. Darker as well.

Jon: Black.

Jeremy: Cos I'm writing the words we are going to call it the cancer album.

Do you thinkthat musically or lyrically it's been influenced by other bands or anything that's happened in the last year?

Mark: Probably less than before.

Jon: You can never tell with other bands - we're so good at stealing now that even we can't tell.

Jeremy: It just comes out and

we don't know where it comes from.

Mark: It's less TV inspired.

Jeremy: More tension, I think! - A product of tension - that's why it's darker.

Jon: Better musically as well - I think we,ve always had the words before but not always the music.

Late '93 was a heavy touring period, and probably contained the most successful set of dates ever. Attempting to do things differently, the band played two shows at most of the venues rather than playing their enormodomes they knew they would one day have to play. To keep punters who brought tickets to BOTH shows happy, the band put on two different shows - the first with up and coming rappers - Credit To The Nation and Chumbawamba, who were appearing on the same single 'Enough is Enough' at the time. The other bill consisted of agit-rockers Papa Brittle, and the most bizarre and adventurous act to appear before 2000+ fans, The Fish Brothers. They consisted of friends of the Levellers from Brighton who for some time had been touring pubs singing their bizarre version of old English drinking songs, (with fans encouraged to join in the choruses) their own songs, cabaret, and er, beer. Some audiences were dumbfounded. Most loved it!.

In Europe the band were beginning their own network of fanclub contacts, a Europe-Wide "On The Fiddle".

This began in Germany with the appointment of Ulf and Kerstin from Wilhelmshaven. Since then this has been augmented by Agents from France, Holland, Sweden, Czech Republic, USA and Australia! In this way they felt they were able to look after fans on mainland Europe as well as their UK counterparts.

In late '93 the tour continued throughout Europe finishing in a sold out show at La Luna in Brussels, Belgium. The band played to over 100,000 people on this tour.

1994 began with a new resolution, to buy a rehearsal space in Brighton that the band could call their own. The first 6 months' search proved fruitless. Eventually they returned to the mammoth 10,000 sq. ft building they had seen previously - The Metway. Having managed to secure a knock-down price the band discovered they had their very own HQ. They moved in September!

The Levellers settle into their new home.

All members of the band , office and crew lent their hands in different ways to making it a home from home. By Christmas they had their own studio and rehearsal room, offices, merchandise and mail-order operations, pool room and bar!. They also offered free space to Justice! a Brighton based organisation fighting the Criminal Justice Act and producing their own bi-monthly 'SchNEWS' newspaper.

The band themselves and their office staff had been fighting the draconian legislation throughout the previous year, taking part in marches, organising fly postering campaigns and adverts in the mass media, setting up fund to which many bands contributed, and raising the awareness from a couple of paragraphs in National press, to a National consciousness-changing issue. As the new album loomed it seemed only right to support an organisation who could devote all their time and considerable skills to this cause.

1994 had it's fair share of gigs too - most notably a triumphant return to Glastonbury as headline act, playing to Glastonbury's biggest ever crowd. Channel Four, filming the event for the first time, decided that the Levellers were the only act to warrant two TV slots, and started a partnership with Gavin Taylor; original creator of the Tube, which would culminate in him directing the Levellers "Live in Blackpool" longform video in 1996.

The festival theme continued in July when the Levellers were invited by Peter Gabriel's WOMAD organisation to join their US festival tour alongside Gabriel himself, Midnight Oil (who became firm friends of the Levellers), Arrested Development and others. This was the bands third stateside tour; and by far their most enjoyable, having found like minded musicians and fans.

Autumn arrived and with a completed studio space and recording studio all ready, the band begun the process of writing their next album. This was to prove to be more enjoyable than the last, with less time restrictions, the ability to go home at night and lead a relatively normal life!.

'Zeitgeist' was written and recorded between October 1994 and April 1995 and is an album which the band are particularly happy with. As it became their first number one album and spawned their biggest ever single 'Just The One' (175,000 sales - two Top of The Pops appearances) they should be justly proud. With 'Hope Street' kicking off the project in July 95, the album following in August and 'Fantasy' & 'Just The One' keeping them on the airwaves, you could hardly miss the Levellers. The by-now traditional Autumn tour was booked with Prophets Of Da City, Cecil, Compulsion, the Pogues and Dreadzone in various supports, but this time the tour ended with the band's first ever headline Arena show in Sheffield 11,000 fans went apeshit!.

Jeremy how does Zeitgeist compare to the last album?

Ten times better. You see, the last album was done as a real backs against the wall scenario. We really wanted to make an album and we really had to make one , but we really didn't have the time to write the songs. We came straight off the road doing two years of 'Levelling the Land,' so it was stuff we'd written in snatches that we'd had. We wanted it to sound like we did live, so we went in and played most of the songs live, wrote a couple in the studio and went back off on tour again. So for me there wasn't much of an emotional involvement from the band in it.. We did it as best as we could at the time but we were all fucked. So this time there is loads more emotional involvement, again we played quite a lot of it live because we work best that way. This building has given us the opportunity to do that, there's a lot more commitment - we wanted to make something that we really could be proud of. We wanted to make that step from being known as a band that's good live, who makes records to support their tours. We wanted to bridge that gap and be a band that's good live and makes good records. This time we've been going on "feel" a lot more.

I have been picking up around the building a sense of pride?

Absolutely we know we've done the best job we could. We've been listening to a load of old seventies music where they did everything live and it was all done on the feel of the thing. They still sound better than most of the other records, so that's what we've been doing.

Charlie, how do you feel about the album you've been working on at the moment?

Very, very positive. It's time on our part, we feel we've been at it seven years and it's time to grow and mature. There was something a bit lacking about a year and a half ago.

About the time of the last album?

Yeah the last album - in my mind - I thought we can't really say naive things anymore. Not just that, but musically wise as well. I'm amazed at how this one is gelling and quite optimistic that we are going to continue to grow. This building (the Metway) has really brought the band together and has brought us back to what we set out to do in the first place.

Back to the days of your bedroom again?

It's like that, but obviously the professional gear is very comfortable, again a dream come true. We've been able to spend more time jamming with each other. Talking to each other with our instrumments, there wasn't often time on the road. We've done a lot of catching up and it's paid off on this album.

Have you got any favourite songs on it?

'Hope street' is a long time favourite and Exodus is a really good one, but we haven't put that one down yet. We're putting down the songs as a peformance, the spirit is there because the pressure of paying for the studio is not there. It's not the flashiest studio in the world but it's got the room sound. That's what makes this studio shit hot. We bought the desk off Tom Robinson, it was a little bit big for his living room!

I'm looking forward to getting off tour and then after a short break, straight into the studio with any fresh ideas.

'Headlights White lines Black Tar Rivers' (taken from the lyrics to 'The Road') was the product of recording every gig of the 'Zeitgeist' tour. It was accompanied by a live video shot specially in Blackpool (on a snowy February night, by Gavin Taylor who had previously done U2's 'Under A Blood Red Sky'.) - Band and fans delivering a blinder for posterity. Fiddley Jon got the job of producing the album and went mad listening to EVERY GIG to find the best version of each of the track listed songs. This done the album and video were mixed by Jon Kelly and Andy Scarth who so admirably captured the Levellers live that they were invited to produce and engineer sessions for the new studio album in 97.