The phone line is fraught with faults from the get go, a situation probably not helped by the fact that we’re both on mobile phones, me in Melbourne, he whipping along a Pennsylvania freeway.

“I make the music and Jakob does the lyrics. We work pretty well together there.” This is the last thing that Anders Find Axelsen, guitarist for The Fashion, says to me before the line is forever severed. His brief summation of his band’s songwriting is understated; delivered in an endearing accent – schoolbook English via Denmark. He is in a good, if tired mood and his sometimes simplistic language could convey seriousness, but for the warmth, and wry humour, in his tone.

“I’m sorry… really bad connection…” is the first thing I get. I am, at 8.30am on a Melbourne Thursday, trying to work out where he is, given the tour dates in front of me.

“What day is it where you are?” I ask. “Yeah, we’re fine,” he stops short of thanking me. “This is our day off.”

I’ve just been on the net looking at a series of hilariously trashy photos of a couple of the boys nudging the bar on their last day off. “Right,” Anders laughs, “That was also a fun day. We wanted to go sightseeing in New York and unfortunately we went by a bar that had happy hour. We ended up staying there for eight hours.”

“That was the nice thing about South By South West,” he explains to me later in the call, ‘We were there for a couple of days so we got to see some of the city. But this time it’s mainly been motels and highways. We were aware of that – it’s part of the game. There’s really no time for [sightseeing] when you’re on tour.” Especially not with all those pesky happy hours.

Their inclusion in the annual South By South West showcase this year was double-pronged: as well as swinging the spotlight onto the band’s music, the clip for their single Solo Impala was also screened. It must have been a personal highlight for Jakob Printzlau, lead singer for The Fashion, and creator of said music video. “It was incredible,” confirms Anders. “The audience really responded well to us, there was a full house and it was fun to be in Texas – it’s so different than Europe. The climate and the architecture is something that we really enjoyed. We are looking forward to seeing Austin again, that is for sure.”

Before that though, Anders, Jakob, the other Jacob ( Ankær, drums) and Christian ( Lignell Bækholm, bass) are zooming from one Pennsylvanian date to another, then to Michigan, all within about seventy two hours, as support for Alkaline Trio. The upcoming weekend sees them jetting back to Europe to appear at London’s Wireless Festival, after which they will do Roskilde (the very next day) before heading back to the US to meet up with Alkaline Trio for the second leg of the tour. “That’s gonna be a couple of hectic days,” Anders quite seriously informs me.

As the line crackles and we yell, “What was that?” and “Can you repeat?” I finally convey to Anders that is seems a pretty big touring calendar for such a new band. “We enjoy going on tour, but touring is something we’ve been doing for the last ten years,” he points out, his voice fading in and out, as his vehicle hurtles on, “so we are getting used to it now.” After a little pause he admits, “It’s the interviews that are new to us, but it’s something you get used to – it’s also fun.” The prospect of being misrepresented is often something that artists are concerned with, I tell him. His outlook is a refreshing change from the paranoid barbs I sometimes hear. “It’s always nice that people are interested in what we do.” An attitude that I hope isn’t knocked from him by some dodgy music journo in the future.

For a band who is purportedly Sony BMG’s Next Big Thing, he’s pretty laid back about the whole affair. “We just take it one day at a time,” he says carefully. And then the truth, “We actually been together about thirteen years, you know, just making music. This hasn’t come overnight. This is something that we really worked hard for. And we’re not quite there yet, I must say.” Surprise surprise. Next Big Things who have actually been plugging away, undiscovered, for years on end. I thought they just made them over the weekend and uploaded them on Mondays.

Rising from the ashes of Joyphilter, the band spent its first couple of years mucking around with new material and switching their lineup around. 2003 saw the European release of their debut album, Rock Rock Kiss Kiss Combo, prompting comparisons to Junior Senior, The Raveonettes, The Hives, even Franz Ferdinand. The release ended up exploding on European radio, the boys toured extensively in Europe and Rolling Stone magazine practically organised a parade.

Once the material was aired at Sony BMG, the label signed them and sent them into the studio to record “their self titled debut”. Doesn’t the European album count as a debut now? Are some of these original tracks being incorporated onto the new album? Anders sets the record straight. “It’s a completely new album that we recorded at the end of 2007 – I think there were a couple of people at our label in Australia who really liked some of the old songs and decided to include them on this new album.” If this is true, there’ll be some lucky fans getting a couple of bonus tracks by the sound of things.

I wonder whether Anders and his bandmates are content to include tracks that were recorded five years ago. Or if they had any control over the tracklisting in the first place? He is very clear about the standing The Fashion have with their label. “We are in the fortunate position to have total control of everything. That was something that was important to us. And we are very proud of the first record as well so we are just happy that as many people as possible are hearing the music that we’re doing, regardless of whether it’s the old or new album. It’s not a problem.”

As previously alluded to, lead singer Jakob Printzlau contributes in many facets: artist, film maker, editor, animator, graphic designer. This is an ethic and an enthusiasm that is mirrored by all band members. “We always been a band that have done everything themselves. Not just the music, but the video, the album artwork, the homepage, the t-shirt. We wanted to maintain that control even though we signed to a major label. We are fortunate our singer is a gifted graphic design artist, that way the visual side of our band does not have to be in jeopardy by our record label.”

Anders’ tiny sidesteps from grammatical English are sweet, and often, better use of the words than if they were delivered by an Eton graduate. He also eloquently addresses a musician’s ‘art’ as consisting of all aspects of the image, not just the songs – a distinction that some labels have trouble making, to the frustration of their stable. “It’s a way for us to match the visual side of The Fashion to the music,” and as well, “When Jakob is so good at these things, there’s really no reason why we shouldn’t do it ourselves.”

Does he think that’s a unique position to be in, where they can still do whatever they like? I hear tiny snippets of apologetic Danish-tinged static popping through the phone speakers. “We went through a bridge or something…can you repeat that question?” Distracted by the thought of them going through a bridge, rather than, say, a tunnel, I unsuccessfully try to pose the question before aborting mission and asking about the comparisons that have been made between The Fashion and other bands. Bands which, if they don’t sound like The Fashion, are often mentioned only because, they too, are Danes.

“We are four very different kinds of people, all coming from the punk and hardcore scene. But in reality we all grew up listening to anything from punk and hip hop, rock music, so we try to incorporate all of these elements into the music.” This is no surprise, FL readers. And it’s a very good reason why you should stay away from boring questions demanding clarification of genre and influence. However, in this instance, Anders is happy to go with the music-writer-flow on this one, “I think it was someone from the Rolling Stone magazine who said we were anything from LCD Soundsystem to the Beastie Boys – I think that’s a pretty accurate comparison.” However, he’s quick to point out that while “they’re a couple of the bands we grew up listening to, we always been focused on not devoting ourselves on one particular genre, because that would mean putting a limit on our creativity. We just keep our minds open to anything really.”

At this point the reception quality of our call is becoming a bit too much to ignore. I make noises about the fact that I am interrupting their day off and we have a convoluted chat about the logistics and drawbacks of touring. Anders outlines their daily checklist, point by point, underscoring the obvious, “Touring is actually a lot of hard work. It’s always worth it, but it’s not always as fun as it’s made out to be. We’ve been here for three weeks now, and we have only had two days off so we have to make the most of it.” Probably grinning, he continues, “As you saw on our MySpace, we do a pretty good job.”

Despite the years of experience this band has in the touring department, we cannot brush over the fact that their present tour of the US is extensive, and probably hard for their families back home. This is true, says Anders. “We spend a lot of time on the phone and the computer. And I think the Christmas presents are going to be a bit more expensive this year. I know our singer, at least, has spent a couple of bucks in Toys R Us to make up for it all.” And of course, after more than a decade of striving toward their musical goals, the people most important to them understand how bittersweet success can be. “They all accept it and are just happy for us. They really support us.”

The Fashion self-titled album is out 5 July on Sony BMG.