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Strong words possibly, but its such determination that brings Proxy’s music to your ears. Theirs is a tale of talent and determination whose seeds were planted in stuffy pre-teens classrooms. Though Proxy are English and London-based, the four members of Proxy were born and raised in three different continents – half-Chinese frontman Jon Brown in Hong Kong, Will Hanson in Paris and the Grindy brothers who form the unwavering rhythm section in South Africa.

It’s possibly these returning alien beginnings that have made Proxy a singular entity. “We always wanted to create our own little world to inhabit, as much as create a band.” says Will. “We’ve never aligned ourselves with any regional music scene, but we’re just not one of those bands. We exist in own self-created isolation and like it that way.”

Given that guitarists Jon and Will have been playing together since the age of ten, Proxy’s recent singing to A Records/Island has been a long time coming. While early shared influences included Queens Of The Stone Age, Lift To Experience, …Trail Of Dead and Jeff Buckley, the early years of the band were defined by a relatively blasé attitude to what being in a band meant. At that stage this meant sporadic gigs when at school or, later, when the members were back home from college commitments - and little more. “This band is a long-distance girlfriend,” says Jon. “It’s something we kept returning to, wherever we were or what we were doing.”

When all four members of Proxy found themselves back in London two years ago and inspired by seeing live bands such as The Mars Volta or Mogwai, they unearthed a new-found dogged determination and decided to get serious. “We said we’d give it a year, a full-on assault,” says Jon. “It’s a complete myth that if you’re merely out gigging around London or have a strong MySpace profile you’ll get snapped up. You have to go the extra distance.”

The twelve month plan worked. In the summer of 2006 Proxy found themselves being flown to New York having won the unsigned wing of US-wide Britbus Tour (literally, a London bus travelling the States throwing listening parties) – as voted for by music scholars at NYU. Despite gaining BBC Radio and XFM airplay, the band treat the competition with a shrug and a smile.

"Being in New York basically provided a photo opportunity for the company,” explains Jon. “But still any element of recognition means everything at that stage. It showed that people like us, people out there at least get it. And it was when we got back from America that things started happening.”

Galvanized into action the band recorded their debut EP ‘Dawn Raid’, which before it’s release caught the attention of producer Nick Thompson from their long-term Kent studio, then in the process of starting a label. The band seized the opportunity – the all-important and ever-elusive lucky break – and a deal with Island soon followed. In spring 2007 Proxy hit the same studio to record their forthcoming (2008) debut album ‘Between Screens’.

Proxy paint from a wide palette of rich colours. Debut single ’Jet Lag’ is a crafted piece of tender pop with a soaring chorus and neat word-play, while ‘Strangers In A Fight’ is an elegiac doo-wop love song, whose fuzzy melodies belie a deeper bitterness. Then just as you have Proxy pinned, future single ‘Clowns Of Hell’ thrusts forth with some arch and highly knowing glam rock riffs and Smashing Pumpkins-style album opener ‘Binary’ turns numerical coding into a blank statement on – what – a failed relationship, maybe?: “Zero – one, zero – one / One - zero…whatever".

Lyrically, Proxy blend metaphors with abstractions, emotional insight with detachment. ”We’re very self-critical people,” says Jon. “The question we’re always asking is, is this pompous? Is this self-indulgent? Because even though we want to make intricate music in the way that a perceived ‘indie’ band like Radiohead are intricate and challenging, it’s not at the expense of the raw, carnal element that attracts you to music in the first place.”

Though they’ve cut their teeth playing gigs for years, such is there ambition that today the band contest that they’ve yet to play a ‘proper’ gig. “Endless shows in far-flung towns where fans know the word to every single song,” enthuses Jon. “That’s our next move, our next ambition. We want people to become obsessed.”