Mystery Jets: The Jet set fly in to rock Truck Festival

Jack Flanagan laughs as he tells me about his new life in one of the country’s most unusual bands.

“Joining Mystery Jets has been an amazing journey,” he says. “It has already taught me so much.”

Since being initiated into Mystery Jets, two years ago, the bassist has certainly settled in well. An accomplished musician with a light touch and devious sense of humour, he is already a key member of the gang which began life more than 10 years ago.

“It’s been a weird one to fit into,” admits Jack. “They have known each other for a long time, but I am bringing other things to the table – I look at things a little differently.”

It’s easy to overlook the impact Mystery Jets had on the UK indie scene when they broke through with their debut Eel Pie Island EP – named after the bohemian west London neighbourhood, in the River Thames, where the band began life. In a world of lookalike bands, here was a group that stood out.

Flamboyant frontman Blaine Harrison has spina bifida and uses crutches to get around – not that it stops him (he is easily one of the most dynamic artists playing today) – and the band also features his dad Henry.

Then there is the music: an odd, wobbly take on indie-pop which reveals a deep love of 70s rock, prog, psychedelia and nu-folk.

And while lesser bands have faded away, Blaine, Henry, fellow Eel Pie Islander William Rees, and Wembley lad Kapil Trivedi have stayed, growing even more confident and accomplished, constantly experimenting and rediscovering new sounds.

If debut album Making Dens was a playful nod to nu-folk and prog-rock, the Erol Alkan-produced Twenty One was slick rock and electro; Serotonin was heartfelt polished pop and Radlands way-out-West Americana.

Now, four years on, they are back with something entirely different – Curve of the Earth.

The album was recorded on the other side of town to Eel Pie Island, in an old button factory near Stoke Newington. Unable to stay away from the river, however, Blaine did much of the writing in splendid isolation in a cabin out on the mudflats of the Thames estuary.

The band produced it themselves and, in the process, re-found each other, along with new recruit Jack, who replaced original bassist Kai Fish, who left four years ago.

“We’ve all got different tastes but all have the same mindset and get along very well,” says Jack.

“They have been around for such a long time but it has felt like a new band since Kai left.

“And it has been amazing to work on an album at this time in the band’s career. It felt good to get together and have this exposure.”

Jack describes how he kept bumping into Blaine at parties, before eventually working with him and ultimately joining the band, which had gone to ground before coming out with this new record – considered by many as the most accomplished of their careers.

“All their equipment was in a lock-up gathering dust, but we thought it should be used to make an album,” he says. “And it’s sold more in the first few months than any other – and went back into the charts weeks ago.

“People are still coming up and saying they love it.”

He goes on: “It’s the most personal record. A lot of it is based on scale and perspective. It follows 10 years of travelling the world and is a reflection on change.

“A big theme is growing up – with the band seeing everyone else growing up and starting families.

“For Will, especially, making this record has been important, and an opportunity to talk about everyone’s lives but from a distance.

“Everyone is in the same boat, and there’s a lot of passion in it.”

And why the proggy-sounding title?

“Curve of the Earth is just something that stuck around,” he says. “We wanted to make a space-rock record when we started, but then thought ‘what are we doing?’.

“It’s really about us – and the time we are at.”

He admits it is also about the place they recorded it; that dusty old Button Factory HQ. “That room meant a lot,” he says.

They all played key roles in its creation, including Henry, who no longer appears on stage. “He is still very much a part of the band – as much as we are,” says Jack. “He helps write lyrics and is a sounding board. We have all got the same mindset.”

On Sunday the band return to the scene of a previous triumph – Truck Festival, in Steventon, where they join a bill also featuring Jurassic 5 and Catfish and the Bottlemen, tomorrow; The Manic Street Preachers, Circa Waves and Young Fathers, on Saturday; and Kodaline and Everything Everything, who join them in closing the event.

“We are so looking forward to it and are up for it,” says Jack.

“It’s such a beautiful place and is special for the band. And there are a couple of other bands I want to see.”

And fans, even those of us who used to spend their early shows down the front shouting for Zootime, can expect all their favourite songs.

“Ignoring the past is not a thing for the band,” says Jack.

“There is a fine line in fitting in old songs and new, but Mystery Jets fans won’t feel disappointed.

“There will be something for everyone.”

Their previous visit to Hill Farm, four years ago, and the shindig that followed, is still talked of in hushed tones. So do the band still enjoy a party?

“They do like a party!” laughs Jack. “Though everyone has chilled out recently and Will has stopped drinking.

“So maybe this time it will be all about soya lattes and yoga.”

May also be about thin-crust Neapolitans, because trivia fans may be amused to learn Jack also has a culinary sideline – as a pizza maker, serving them up for tourists in Covent Garden before joining the band.

“I cut my teeth making Margheritas,” he says.

So what pizza topping would he describe himself as? “Artichoke. He says. “A wild card that some people like and some people don’t, but that those who do like really like!

"Kapil, meanwhile, would be olives – a key ingredient; Will would be tomato sauce and Blaine the chilli.

“After all, we all need a bit of chilli on the top!”

Mystery Jets play Truck festival, at Hill Farm, Steventon, on Sunday. Tickets have sold out for the weekend.