After releasing their debut single 'Alright / Voiture' this week and completing a mini tour of the UK, Megarider delivered a delightful interview to the Ape office.

'Alright / Voiture' is out now.

Hi guys, hope you are all well.

We're all well but tired after the single launch parties in London & Manchester, and then in the studio all day the day after. We had great support from the terrific Loser Superhero and special guest DJ's from Chips Records & Twisted Nerve.

Nice name, is it true it came from a Manchester bus ticket?

Denis doesn't use the buses very often so when he heard the word he thought it was just great, really racy and speedy. Once you cast aside what the word is associated with in terms of buses, it becomes quite erotic, and yet is down to earth because it connected to GM buses, and this appealed to us. Heather actually owns an annual Megarider and expects this to be worth thousands in years to come.

For any newcomers to Megarider, can you try & describe your sound?

Squelchy in yer face synth rock, with B52's vocals and more noise than sense. Good fashion.

Two boys and two girls....are you the new ABBA?

No, we're the new My Bloody Valentine. It's a perfect pop equation isn't it? When we were forming the band we specifically wanted this line-up. The music came next.

Is art relevant to your group?

Art as in the process of writing and recording and performing music is our obsession. We all have a passing interest in contemporary art but this has no direct influence on our writing / performing of music.

So fill us in about the new single... (Alright / Voiture is released on Jan 19th)

'Voiture' is a fast, loud and a dirty 'shout track'. The song is about going out and getting smashed. It's about being violent and paranoid. Irritating (french) voices in your head and Catholic guilt. It's conceptual.

You've just completed a mini tour, is there anything the live shows offer that your recorded material doesn't?

Our live shows are very energetic and agressive, so lots of the subtleties of the recordings are lost and replaced with surprises; sometimes even to us! For us playing live is the best part of being in a band and the reason we are in Megarider.

Do you incorporate any visuals into the gigs or intend to?

Yes! We debuted the video for 'Voiture' at the launch parties. It was directed by Scott Abraham, who has also done videos for Alfie and Badly Drawn Boy, the final edit is a work of art.

Who is the biggest celebrity you have ever met? Mine was pensioner's heart-throb Stuart Hall when I was about 6, he gave me and my bother an autographed photo each, a stick of rock and one of those paper caps that were cool in the 80's.

Jimmy Saville. We were driving through town and my dad spotted him and stuck his thumb out of the window and shouted "Jim'll Fixit". Jim stuck his thumb-out back, he was in one of his tracksuits and all his bling.

What were your highlights of 2003?

Starting the band was cool. We got a lot of hassle the year before with our previous band, we had to start again from scratch. Going out in Manchester was cool too. That Electroclash thing thankfully ended but the legacy was more to do with fashion than music. People started dressing up to go out and that was exciting. I had more time for club nights last year

I want to buy some new records with my Xmas vouchers, any recommendations?

If you're talking newish stuff, go for M83, that'll clean your ears. Dave Clarke will sort you out too. That Ladytron mix album thingy is worth it for their cover of ooops oh my, honest. We loved the Grandaddy LP also...

Thanks for your time and good luck with the single!

Thank you, you are very polite boy.