The Thrills are a familiar face on the south coast this weekend. GAYNOR EDWARDS talks to the band's

keyboard player Kevin Horan...

There's a real feel-good feeling to classic Americana - it's there in the poster art and it's there in the music of the era. That sound immortalised by the likes of the Beach Boys is making a revival thanks to the sterling work of such acts as The Thrills.

Hyped as one of the tips for the top this year by the music press, the band found itself some early influential fans including Bono and Morrissey. The latter invited the band to support him at no less a venue as the Albert Hall. "Morrissey found us before any record executives," says Kevin. "He offered us a tour in America which we couldn't do. The Royal Albert Hall was our first gig outside Dublin, walking out to a pretty much full house."

Hailing from Ireland, there's some confusion as to where the band are actually based these days. "We don't really live anywhere at the moment," says Kevin in a bid to clarify the situation. "It all started last September - we were in LA for two months recording the album. Then we did a UK tour, then an Irish tour, then we did the NME Tour, then we did the video back in America, then another tour and then for the past month we've been going to Italy, Belgium and France."

A down-to-earth attitude seems to be a bit of an Irish trait and the five members of The Thrills are unphased by the media hype machine that has surrounded their career to date. "We've done the album (their debut, So Much For The City) and done a lot of gigs and feel that if we keep doing what we're doing we'll be OK," says Kevin.

On the subject of Americana, he explains, "I think once you get into the Beach Boys or that type of band you tend to get obsessed by it - the melody and sound. From the Beach Boys you'll move on to the Byrds and Neil Young."

The band actually met their heroes while working in the States, being introduced to Brian Wilson and Burt Bacharach within the space of a week.

As you might expect from a band with influences in the past, part of the attraction for them playing the Isle of Wight Festival is the event's place in the echelons of rock history. "It's not that large a line-up and it's a great opportunity. It'll be our first ever festival, so people can expect us to be excited."

The Thrills, like Starsailor, will be rubbing shoulders with more rock history later this summer when they have the accolade of supporting the Rolling Stones. The Thrills are the support act for the old rockers' exclusive show at the London Astoria in late August.

The band formed when they were 16, but Kevin went to school with vocalist and main songwriter Conor Deasy, who have been friends since the age of 12. All five band members: Conor, Daniel Ryan (guitar/vocals/bass), Ben Carrigan (drums), Padraic McMahon (bass/vocals/guitar) and Kevin are now all 24. To the outside world their success may seem sudden, but is backed up by eight years of hard work.

Kevin explains the set up, "Connor will normally come in with the structure of the song. Then it tends to go through a lot of phases of messing around, but the ideas are principally Connor's.

"When we were doing the album we sat around with an acoustic guitar and keyboard. We work out the structure then spend a lot of time on the harmonies and experiment with them, then we play with the drums and bass line and build it up like that."

To see first-hand if the hard work has paid off, you have two chances this weekend - so no excuses.

The Thrills play the Villa, Bournemouth tonight (Tickets are £7 in advance) and the Isle of Wight Festival tomorrow.