actually perform at the Blackest Ever Black showcase [at Corsica Studios, 13th of October]. How come? Did you stay to the end, though? Joe Andrews: No. We had a show at the Southbank, and had a really long day. I think I kept on until 4am. [to Tom] How about you? Tom Halstead: About 5, I think. I lasted until just before Source Direct [laughs]. I don't actually remember Source Direct! It seems like quite a tight-knit circle of bands around Blackest Ever Black... JA: It's interesting because it's become a tight-knit circle, mainly because of Blackest, obviously - there's a focal point which is Blackest, but actually, since our beginnings, we've never had a way for people to contact us. The Facebook that's up is not ours, someone did it for us. So every contact there's ever been, apart from live stuff, has always been through Kiran [Sande, head of BEB]. To begin with, it was just us, and Kiran putting out our record, and in the communications, others would be cc'ed, like Karl [O'Connor, aka Regis]. Blackest has just become the hub, and over time we just met all these amazing artists, man. TH: And doing live shows... JA: It's amazing to think that two years ago no-one could have expected this. I've seen you perform three or four times, so was disappointed not to see you on Saturday. Do you enjoy performing live? JA: Yeah, it's bloody great, but there are times when you don't enjoy it