‘THE AMBITION IS JUST TO DO SOMETHING WE LOVE, NOT BE A DICKHEAD AND HOPEFULLY BREAK EVEN’

then? ‘We have water and Skittles. We’re trying to upgrade to crisps, but it’s finding the space in the budget…’ And what about the groupies? Evan snorts: ‘Take a look! We’re here backstage with three middle-aged men…’ ‘It’s also kind of perverse to think, “I’m playing for this woman and I’m going to get her after,” ’ says Pete, adopting a prim tone. ‘It’s horribly abusing your role as a musician.’ To be fair, it’s not exactly the kind of music that makes teenage girls swoon. There’s no mention of any girlfriends back home, and the Webster Hall crowd consists mainly of… more middle-aged men.

As for the hard-drinking rock’n’roll lifestyle: ‘If I was in a band with someone who just turned up smashed all the time, I’d think, “What a f***ing moron,” ’ says Evan. Or as Josh puts it: ‘If the fun bit of being in a band is going out and getting pissed, just go and do that! Don’t waste your time being in a band…’

They come from the rural Irish backwater of Cavan (population c.10,000) and have acquired a sort of town mascot status. ‘It’s like if Cavan have a local football team, we’re the

School of Rock The band soundcheck at New York’s Webster Hall in January