“At least people know we're not a manufactured band now” jokes Elliot Minor frontman Alex Davies. The band are about to set out on their own headline tour hoping they are starting to change peoples perceptions of them.

The fivepiece from York formed in 2005 and despite praise and expectations of great things the band have met with a wall of criticism from both music fans and critics.

In 2007, with the prospect of playing in front of thousands, they chose to go out on tour with pop stars McFly. It was an unwise decision and one which has damaged their reputation.

Elliot Minor are not the next McFly; they are heavier, more intricate and they are better songwriters. So, do the band regret the tour? “I don't know really,” says Alex “I guess we got to play in front of so many people so you can't really regret that.” Keyboardist Ali Paul adds, “I think at the time we were worried about it and no disrespect to Mcfly in that but you can understand it's the British public that have got the views.”

Since that support slot the band have played rock festivals such a Download, supported American giants Fall Out Boy and released their self titled debut album. This has not been a complete success. Their album did not reach their expectations, “The first week was good. It's just not really selling. I don't think we were being promoted enough really” explains Alex. It's these small murmurings which make you think the band are under too greater influence from their major label backers.

Whether Elliot Minor admit it or not their music is, at times, over produced. “Last Call to New York City” is a beautiful song both lyrically and musically but the vocals have been added too and it is unnecessary. Live the song is simple, untouched and perfect.

Personally I was hoping that following their debut album the band would be able to spend more time doing what they feel they want to do. They are all clearly talented and possibly could grow into something great if given some freedom, something which is unlikely anytime soon. “I don't know what they're going to do [on the next album],” says Alex “I don't know what budget we're going to get. Probably not very much.” However, the band do at least know where they think their sound should be heading “It would be nice to try something new,” the frontman continued “make it a bit more rock. That would be a nice direction to go.”

They know they are considered a pop/rock band. However, it's obvious they would like to be fully accepted in the rock community. They have played heavy metal festival Download for two years running, however this year they were met with a a wall of bottles. “It wasn't that bad,” stresses Alex “we had a few bottles in the beginning but that was only within the first couple of songs so it died down a bit and we ended up having a really good set. I had this massive hole in my guitar cab because there was people throwing rocks and stuff but apart from that it was good!” Ali did not find the reaction too surprising explaining “we understood we're pop rock essentially, that's what people see it as and this isn't even a rock festival it's a metal festival.”

When a band gets bottled two things can happen. They can fold and leave or stand up and get on with it. Elliot Minor did the latter and collected many fans from doing so. Alex says this is all they want: “I wouldn't say we turn people but I hope we gain a lot more respect than we used to have.”

They clearly treasure their fans, running their own Myspace, responding to fans, greeting them before and after concerts: it's something few bands do with no complaints. The groups Myspace is updated with photographs daily and the band and their fans are constantly in touch.

However, it has to be said that the bands fanbase can cause problems for them. They would admit that it mainly consists of young females and superficial or not that can ruin a bands reputation. It's not something Alex is overly concerned about, “ I think our fans are great, there is nothing you can really do about age.” Ali sums it up, “you can't be upset about having fans!”

It has to be remembered that Elliot Minor are still young and personally the only reason I feel the need to criticize is because there is potential there. They have the personality, the determination, the talent and the songwriting ability. It's just a case of putting it all together under no pressure.

For more information on the band, check out their myspace page.