We pose Jason Hart, vocalist and guitarist of The Orange Lights some questions ahead of their upcoming releases.

R13: Both of you have played in other bands before, was there a sense that everyone was coming from different directions to start, or did you all have the same vision for The Orange Lights?
Jason: We had the same vision from the start, both of us have always loved big tunes in a cinematic setting - think Joshua Tree by U2, Regatta de blanc by The Police, Urban Hymns by Verve and also Marvin Gaye and Bob Marley. The day we met we sat around playing each other our tunes, listening to our favourite records and we knew straight away that we were on the same page.

R13: You approached producers with your material rather than labels and set up your own label, where does that reluctance to work with labels come from?
J: A bit older and a bit wiser. This path is the new route for bands thanks in no small part to the online revolution and access to so much recording gear. Major labels are miles behind when it comes to developing acts, it's instant cash return or you are dropped. We wanted to take our time and make the record we wanted to make. Its all about the music for us, as opposed to being all about the money. Our set up is good for us, we're an indie label with major distribution, so we don't have anyone breathing down our necks. However, we know how to get the record into the right places...

R13: Speaking of the online revolution, your top MySpace friends are all other popular bands, do you not feel any competition with them then?
J: I'm not competitive. I love what we do and its the best we could have
done, so that's all that matters.

R13: Who are the nicest people that you've met in the music industry?
J: The boys from The Fray. In fact, all of the bands we've played with have been great to us. Ken Nelson and Mark Pythian who produced and engineered our album are the real deal though, inspiring times.

R13: What can we expect from your album?
J: Big tunes you can sing your head off too, a bit like the Verve and Radiohead but more uplifting. More radio than Radiohead!

R13: The album's named after the track 'Life Is Still Beautiful', was there a particular moment that inspired this title?
J:It's a song about hope, and finding a light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. Paul Tucker (Keyboard player) had experienced the worst kind of personal trauma and this tune was his away of getting through it, sort of writing himself out of a terrible situation and finding the light basically. In fact, it's the first song he played to me when we met up.

R13: Is it nerve wracking releasing your debut single, will you be paying attention to how many copies are bought or the fans' reactions?
J: Yes and no, being independent means that whatever happens, we're still standing and we'll still be pushing hard to break our music into the mainstream.

R13: You've got some festivals lined up this summer, how do you cope with playing to such a big audience, which probably contains at least a few indifferent listeners?
J:It's festival gigs where we're most at home. Our sound works better in a big space, we believe we're a "Glastonbury Sunset" band. We had a taste of it last summer when we played Channel 4's Ibiza Rocks with the Editors. San Antonio Bay on the beach, sun going down and a big crowd singing our choruses even thought it was the first time they could have heard us. That's what it's all about for us.

R13: Is you were to put on your own event, who would you most like to see play?
J: Radiohead, The Verve, Stone Roses, U2, The Police, Marvin Gaye, The Beatles and Bob Marley .

R13: What's your personal favourite summer anthem?
J: I have a different one each year.. 1987 would be 'Let's Dance' by David Bowie. 1996 - 'Live Forever 'by Oasis. 1998 'Lucky Man' by The Verve. 2005 'Lola's Theme' by Shapeshifters . I wouldn't mind adding us to that list for this year ...