ENTER Shikari are having a storming year.

The four-piece have just returned from entertaining their American fans on the Warped Tour, have lined up shows in a host of countries across Europe for this autumn, released a new single plus a live CD and DVD set, spent three weeks recording an album in Thailand… Oh, and they will be gracing the main stages at Reading and Leeds festivals next weekend.

Not bad for a band who started their quest for stardom by playing to punters at High Wycombe’s White Horse pub. Victoria MacFarlaine reports.

ENTER Shikari have certainly gone a long way since their early days playing in pubs and venues around south Bucks.

The band, whose sound is a unique metal-techno vibe (or post-hardcore), was formed in 2003 in St Albans, Herts. They have since gone on to sell hundreds of thousands of albums, notched up an impressive set of hit singles and secured a gigantic following along the way.

But guitarist Rory (Liam Clewlow) still remembers the early touring days well.

He tells Freetime: “We played loads in Amersham and High Wycombe. I remember the White Horse.

“I really liked it. The first time we went there, we walked in with all our gear. And like there were two strippers on the stage and it was like, oh God, have we come to the right place?

“And there was like, this old man… and um yeah, it was really strange.”

Fast forward a few years and Rory outlines how his favourite gig is now Reading Festival – where they are set to perform next week – as it was his festival of choice as a youngster.

He says: “Reading Festival was where we went as kids so being the other side of the barrier and seeing what it is like… standing on stage to perform feels like really close to home. I don’t know, it is such an amazing feeling. It just has that magic about it.

“You go and see bands play on the main stage then you go on it and it is out of this world. Amazing. Actually we are playing Leeds on Friday and we are going to Reading on Saturday – party on Saturday, then play on Sunday. We are probably going to camp out as well. My brother and sister and a couple of mates and my girlfriend are going to come down and do the Reading thing.”

Rory outlines how they also hope to break their crowd-surfing record at the festival – the last time they played the main stage it was calculated around 2,000 fans were passed over head.

He laughs: “Yeah. It was crazy, it was literally like a two tier crowd – like another layer of people lying on top of the normal crowd.”

Enter Shikari – also made up of singer Roughton Reynolds, Chris Batten on bass guitar and Rob Rolfe on drums, all aged 25 – have just returned from entertaining their North American fans in the Warped Tour before they start their next series of shows across Europe this autumn.

So do Enter Shikari have any survival tips for spending months on the road? “Vitamins? Berocca – keeps the immune system up. TV series to pass the time. There is a lot of waiting around.”

And any nerves before the shows? “Sometimes, yes, particularly before Reading and Leeds. But being nervous never helps anyone, does it? I try not to do that but sometimes you can’t help it, but if something is really important and if there are people there whose opinions you really care about then it can get nerve-wracking.”

The guitarist admits he doesn’t really have any specific aspirations for the next five years – it is hopefully just to carry on and keep getting paid enough to not have to have another job so they can keep focusing on the music.

However they would also love to headline Reading: “Oh yeah, that would be amazing. It would be ridiculously scary – I don’t know if we would get that far, but I don’t know – who knows? You have to be optimistic, I guess.”

Find out more about the band and their shows at www.entershikari.com

Questions with Enter Shikari’s Rory:

What was it like seeing yourself featured on music channels, or on the front of magazines, for the first time?

“It is so surreal. I mean you really have to watch your head doesn’t just balloon when you see that. I guess we were kind of lucky, I mean it did happen quite quickly but it wasn’t as if we went from nothing in a few months, like Justin Bieber or something. We have had quite a steady climb but we have managed to keep our feet on the ground. But it does give you a taste of what it must be like for those kind of people, how easy it must be to lose your head and think you are something special.

“My mum would take mags into work ‘look at my son’ you know, typical mums. I’d be like ‘oh mum’ kind of thing. She loves it. But at first it is a massive adrenaline rush - it is seeing yourself out there. It is really exciting when you get a cover or something and some massive exposure or you are on Radio 1 – you get a bit of a buzz.”

What did you want to be when growing up, or what would you have done if you weren’t in Enter Shikari?

“In my gap year, I was touring at the same time, I was working in an opticians, as a lab technician. So the lenses would come in, I would order the frames. I would grind the lenses down, put them in the frames. I would have ended up doing that, I guess. I did quite enjoy it. I was the only one who didn’t have to wear a uniform and I could sit at the back and listen to my music all day. And I have always enjoyed doing things with my hands and stuff.

"But after that I went to uni for about a year to do guitar making - basically getting blocks of wood and using hand tools to make them into guitars.

It was a three year course. We all went to uni for one year but dropped out to pursue the band. Which was a good move, I think. “

What song do you enjoy performing?

“Probably Zzzonked ‘cos I don’t have to play guitar [for a section]..., I can jump into the crowd, do push ups, be silly basically. I can run around and pretend I’m not in the band for a minute.”

How was your new single, Quelle Surprise, received in America?

“There are loads of singing along. It is amazing when you release a single and go to the other side of the world and they are singing it. The wonders of the internet I guess.”

Do you guys just wander around at festivals and go and see the bands?

“Yes”

You don’t mind being spotted?

“We don’t mind.”

But you must get spotted all the time wandering around Reading and Leeds festivals?

“Um, yeah, a bit, probably about five times a day or something. It is not like we are swamped or anything. It is all good.”

First album?

“Jay-Z– volume 2. It is an amazing album. That is the first time I remember thinking wow, music is really good, isn’t it?”

Any musical guilty pleasures?

“I don’t feel guilty about anything I take pleasure in.”

What is your most rock and roll moment?

“Doing a shot of whisky yesterday. That was rock and roll. That’s all! (laughs)”