I got to talk to Sheffield four piece Little Man Tate and we discussed the X-Factor, the importance of live shows, and men in lederhosen! Read on to get to know the band a little more!

First of all, what has the band been up to recently?

We've been a bit quiet over the summer apart from the odd festival here and there but we've got a busy few months coming up because we finally get to release our second album. It's been a long time coming due to having signed a new record deal but everything is in place now and we can't wait to go on tour and promote it. We've also just finished filming the video for our new single, Hey Little Sweetie. Most of the filming was done on an old steam train which was a new experience for us. We didn't get to shovel any coal into the furnace though!

On your website you mention that you have "the type of chemistry that just can't be manufactured, not even in this X-Factor generation." What do you feel about these kinds of TV shows? Do you think they have any credibility in a music industry where bands normally have to work for years to get noticed?

To a certain extent it can be quite frustrating when you see glorified karaoke singers making lots of money because they've been exploited on a television show, but the majority of people love the fact that they can create someone into a pop star simply by voting for them. On the other hand, you can't expect the entire nation to think the same as serious musicians who aren't bothered about stuff like the X Factor. I suppose the people who win these talent shows work hard and it is their choice in life and they don't mind working for Simon Cowell, it's just annoying that there are a lot more talented people out there who haven't got the privilege of being on telly every Saturday night.

Violence at gigs and festivals has been a recent issue, particularly concerning events such as Download. You're playing V Festival soon, do you worry about things like bottling? Have you ever had any violence from the crowd at any of the shows you've played, and if so, how do you deal with it?

Unfortunately when you've got a field full of thousands of people, there is always going to a portion of that crowd that want to throw stuff at the stage; whether it be pints of piss, bottles, trainers, pants or any other type of missile object. You can't really stop people from doing it unless you've got security watching every single person. We've done gigs in the past where things have been chucked and it's not the nicest thing in the world. Venues should just have tighter restrictions when it comes to glass bottles and pint pots cos they can really cause some damage. I'm sure people in the crowd wouldn't appreciate bands throwing stuff back at them. At the end of the day you should be there to enjoy yourself, not cause trouble. The best way to deal with it is to carry on playing and not let it bother you too much. That's what we've always tried to do.

Playing intimate shows and giving your fans a great live experience seems to be very important for you. When you were growing up, did you have any particular experiences with bands that drove you to view gigs in this way?

Yeah it is important that you put on the best live show you can, whether theres 50 people there or 5000 cos they've paid decent money to come and see you and expect you to give something back in return. When we started out, we always made a point of going into the crowd after and meeting people; getting them to sign our mailing list, giving badges away and having a chat and that. The way the Clash did things was an example we liked to follow. Just because you're on stage doesn't make you better than anyone else and fans just like to know you're ordinary human beings just like them. We used to go to loads of gigs in Sheffield and they were great but we didn't expect our crowds to go as mental as what they did when everyone was first starting to take notice so it was a bit humbling to be honest.

You've played shows in quite a few countries now, what do you find are the main differences between the UK and places such as America and Japan in terms of the crowd's response?

We only did a few low-key gigs in America which we enjoyed but the crowds weren't big enough to compare them to back home. They were a bit indifferent but there were always a handful of people there who were genuinely excited about us having made the trip over. This still gave us a big buzz because we never dreamt we'd get to play places like New York, Boston and Philadelphia. Japan was a bit crazy because we got presents from fans and did a very formal meet-and-greet after the gig. They were lovely though and helped us to feel relaxed in a country we'd never been to before which was thousands of miles away from Sheffield. Europe is good too, especially Germany. They have a similar mentality to Brits where the live gig experience is about getting a bit tipsy, getting involved with the banter and stuff and having a good time.

Do you have any favourite venues that you like to return to?

It would be nice to go back to the Atomic Cafe in Munich. They put on a great spread for the rider and really promote their gigs over there. The crowd are always really up for it and theres a great club night on afterwards. We've been there a few times and it's always a great experience, especially going to the big beer hall for a pre-gig beverage where they have these huge "stein" glasses and those oompah bands where the musicians are dressed in lederhosen.

What are some of your current favourite bands or artists?

I really like what's coming out of America at the moment. Bands like MGMT, Vampire Weekend, the Hold Steady and Black Kids. They've been in the shadows over the last few years cos of the huge numbers of great British bands becoming popular. A few people have said we're only influenced by music from the UK but that's not true. I downloaded Ida Maria's album the other day and that's pretty good. They were recording at the same time as us in Townhouse Studios in London last year and I can see them getting quite big.

Finally, what do you have planned for the rest of 2008?

We've got a massive tour planned for September and October which will coincide with the release of our second album so we're looking forward to getting the new stuff out there, especially as we're going to a few places we haven't been before like Swansea, Harlow and Bedford. There are also some "b-sides only" gigs planned for next month so that should be interesting! We're letting the fans pick the songs so we hope they pick the ones that we can remember as there have been a fair few over the years! With all going well we should be heading to Europe again and who knows afer that. A trip to America and Japan again would be nice.

A big thank you to Little Man Tate for the interview! You can find out more about them and their upcoming gigs at www.littlemantate.co.uk.