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Ian Watkins: vocals | Lee Gaze: lead guitar Mike Lewis: rhythm guitar | Stuart Richardson: bass guitar | Jamie Oliver: keyboards, samples

"The thing about Lostprophets," says the band's frontman, Ian Watkins, "is that we're not a flash in the pan. We've built this thing so that it grows steadily, level by level. We haven't overexposed ourselves or gone for the quick reward. We've built up a fan base that won't forget who we are just because we've gone away to record a new album. Since we first started getting noticed there have been tons of British bands that were lauded and spoken of as being the next big thing. Almost all of them have disappeared."

Still, despite this it hasn't been a bad start for this Welsh quintet. Since the band first began receiving attention during the dog days of 2001, Lostprophets have had a top 5 album in the UK, a top 30 gold album in the US, hit singles and videos on MTV; they've sold out Brixton Academy, Cardiff International Arena, Hammersmith Apollo and, in less than a day, New York's Irving Plaza. They've appeared as part of the travelling Ozzfest caravan, as well as recently headlining the Give It A Name festival at Manchester's MEN Arena and London's Earls Court in front of 25,000 people.

"It's strange," says Watkins, "but everything that's happened to us has come about because of the fans. There's been no media hype surrounding us. Everything we've done has been built from the ground up."

It all began in the small Welsh town of Pontypridd, toward the end of the 1990s. Back then the band were known as Lost Prophetz, their name taken from a bootleg recording of a 1988 Duran Duran show in Italy. The original line-up featured Ian Watkins on drums. Soon enough, the band had altered the spelling of their name to the Lostprophets, Watkins had changed position to become the frontman – and, by the way, what a frontman he is – and the group had recruited the line up which recorded their first two albums (completed by drummer Mike Chiplin, who would leave the ranks in 2005).

Despite a lack of interest from British record labels (says Watkins: "back then homegrown labels were only interested in bands who sounded like Travis or Stereophonics, there was no room for anything edgy") the band inked a deal with the independent Visible Noise label and in 2000 recorded their debut release, ‘The Fake Sound Of Progress', which would eventually go gold (100,000 sales) in the UK, and songs such as the title track and ‘Shinobi Vs Dragon Ninja' still feature in the band's set today.

It was at this point that things really began to go crazy. By the start of 2001, Lostprophets had started to attract the attention of US labels – and lots of them. They were flown to Los Angeles to play a showcase, and were then taken to New York to play a showcase on the east coast, where a massive US industry turnout saw the band perform. For the band themselves, it was their first time in the United States and they were being wined and dined by every label that mattered. One corporation gave the group a box of free pornography and offered a night with any of the performers that took their fancy (they declined). Deciding they were ever so slightly out of their depth, Lostprophets sought the advice of a high profile music business lawyer. His advice was, don't sign any management contract – that is, unless Q-Prime came knocking. Q-Prime represent, among others, Metallica and Red Hot Chili Peppers, and are not in the habit of calling for fledgling bands from a small town in Wales. Only thing was, Q-Prime did come knocking, and so the band found themselves with heavyweight management.

The band then signed a worldwide record licensing deal with Columbia (while continuing to be represented by Visible Noise in the UK) and in the summer of 2002 they re-recorded parts of their ‘Fake Sound…' debut, using Guns N' Roses producer Michael Barbiero. The disc would sell more than 150,000 copies in the United States alone.

After touring the world what seemed like umpteen times, finally it was time for Lostprophets to record their sophomore album. Working with Queens Of The Stone Age and Dwarves producer Eric Valentine, the band decamped to Los Angeles in the spring of 2003 to record ‘Start Something'. The album's lead single, ‘Burn Burn' was released in November of that year and became the bands first top 30 chart hit in the UK. The album entered the UK album chart at number 4 and the Billboard US album chart at number 24. To date, ‘Start Something' has gone on to sell more than 1.7 million copies worldwide including achieving platinum status in the UK and gold in the US. The next single ‘Last Train Home' was a top 10 single in the UK as well as reaching the number one slot on the US Modern Rock chart.

"The thing about ‘Start Something'," says Ian Watkins, "was that by the time it was released so many people had written us off. And that album was like a real smack in the face to them. It was like, Look, we can write songs, we can play, we are good, we're not just going to disappear. "But," says Watkins, tellingly. "Although that album was the best album we could have made at the time, I knew it wasn't as good as we could be in the future."

Come the summer of 2006, and the time has arrived for Lostprophets to show just what they can do. Their third album, ‘Liberation Transmission', is ready for release on June 26th. Produced by Bob Rock (Metallica and Mötley Crüe) and recorded in Hawaii, the disc is, according to Watkins, "by far the best thing we've ever done." Featuring lead single ‘Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast) '(released on June 19th) and such immediate classics as ‘Town Called Hypocrisy' and ‘Everyday Combat', ‘Liberation Transmission' is a story of triumph, of doing exactly what it is you want to do, regardless of what your detractors might say. Featuring the drum work of legendary session man Josh Freeze as well as two tracks from the band's current touring drummer, the 17 year prodigy Ilan Rubin, this is the sound of five young men from Pontypridd fully coming of age.

"How would I describe the new album?" wonders Ian Watkins. "I would call it a vicious, indignant rock album that is as accessible as a pop album. By pop I mean bands like The Police and The Clash. But we're delighted with the record, and that's not something I'm just saying because it's what people in bands are supposed to say. We worked so hard to make this album right. We made sure that if people only heard one song from this album that whatever song it was it was good enough to represent our band."

And the end result of all this work?

"Put it this way," smiles Ian Watkins. "If people liked the Lostprophets before, they're going to love us now."

http://www.lostprophets.co.uk/ | http://www.myspace.com/lostprophets