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After standing out in the cold for what seems like hours, being let into the relative warmth of Southampton Guildhall comes as a bit of a shock to OS. So much of a shock, in fact, that very little notice is taken of which of the labyrinthine passages we are led down en route to LostAlone's sparse dressing room, a thought that is soon pushed to the back of our minds as we are introduced to the band.

Tall, dark haired and skinny, bassist Tom Kitchen and drummer Mark Gibson greet us, albeit reluctantly at first - understandable, as they arrived merely half an hour earlier, due to various inconvenient delays. Singer/ lyricist Steven is nowhere to be seen, meaning any questions about the bands lyrical meanings (something that is often cited as being one of their best features) are firmly off. Indeed, it seems at first that all questions will elicit a short response, the band wanting to be doing anything other than press duties. However, as we all relax and warm up, the band too open up - laughing and joking with us - although there is a definite businesslike air to proceedings. It could almost be described as off-putting, at least to start with; while LostAlone may just be small fish in a big pond for now, they are a band with the attitude of one much bigger - a trait that, one suspects, will stand them in good stead when they finally make it.

"Being on tour with 30 Seconds To Mars is great; there's no problem with talking to the guys, and the fans are all being quite accepting really, it's nice to know we're reaching a new fan base, even if you do see the same faces down the front most nights!" Mark enthuses.

The band released their debut album, 'Say No To The World', early last year, and it garnered good reviews with both magazines and celebrity fans - the main being a certain Bruce Dickinson, the lungs behind Iron Maiden. Whilst talking about the reviews for the album, the guys are clearly going through the motions, answering questions that they must have fielded ten times before.

"The title for the album isn't really an angst statement, we're not saying "shut yourself in your room and don't do anything any more, we're more saying stick true to yourself and don't be what people want you to be, go your own way," Tom gives us what must be quite a stock answer nowadays, especially as 'Say No To The World' is over a year old now.

However, as soon as Dickinson, one of their idols from the very first incarnation of the band, is mentioned, they visibly brighten, and indeed this marks the turning part of the interview.

"Haha, yeah, it's incredibly surreal really. I mean we grew up listening to Iron Maiden, they inspired us to be in a band and now we hear Bruce Dickinson saying he loves our album. It hasn't really sunk in yet!"

The band have an image that, unfortunately, lends to them being placed into a certain "scene" - skinny jeans, shocks of black hair and eyeliner abound, as much within the band as the kids that follow them. However, their music really does go against all the preconceptions of this image, and the band themselves are keen to speak out about it, emphasising their admirable "what you see is what you get" attitude.

"We never really set out to be part of a certain scene, you know how you see people who are clearly trying to fit in, we never wanted that, I mean this is just us, it's who we are and how we've always been," Tom is fast becoming the more chatty of the two, taking over from Mark, although everything he said is accompanied by nods of agreement from the drummer.

Both the guys Tom and Mark talk in incredibly broad Derby accents; after all, it is their hometown, and why shouldn't they be proud of it? It is a common theme in the music scene of today for people to hide where they come from, but this is not how Lostalone work.

"Yeah we are proud to come from Derby, we aren't going to change our accents because we don't think people will like us for it. But at the same time we aren't going to be singing the praises of Derby all the time, it's a great place and we love it and are proud to come from there."

Despite all of this, and wanting to "keep it real", they have recently moved their management to an LA based company. This is a true sign of a band with ambition, a band who, although they want to be loyal to their early fans, make no secret of wanting to be bigger. Indeed, although the 30 Seconds To Mars tour is one of their highest profile to date, it is not by far an exception - previously they have shared a stage with bands such as Paramore, Enter Shikari and My Chemical Romance, as well as completing three of their own headline tours.

"It wasn't really a conscious decision with regards to breaking America, so to speak, but the album has just taken off in Europe and we're starting to get bigger over there, and we figured having management with a bigger range would be better for us. We have only just completed the move though, so it's all very new," Mark answers the question of business with a very swift, businesslike answer, before Tom jumps in to answer my question about their setlist for this tour: "We are opening with a new song, the album has been out for a while now, as Mark said, and we are all really eager to get a new one written and out there, but it's really strange as it's only just come out everywhere else. But it's not really a risk to open with a new song, most of the people out there have never heard of us so they don't mind: it's just us trying to win them over."

With this, our time with LostAlone draws to a close, and following brief words of wisdom from Tom about why BT should not be trusted, we wish the guys good luck and are shown back out - thankfully guided, or we may not be here to tell this tale! Walking past a distinctly dressed-down Jared Leto sound-checking, Lostalone's ethos of being true to themselves and where they come from resonates. After all, the competent trio that belt out song after song for a gruelling half hour in front of some of the most famously dedicated fans in the world, and leave with their respect, are completely different to the quiet guys chatting to us earlier. Both of these separate images are clearly just facets of Lostalone's publicity machine, but it is one that sets them up to be endearing, believable, and, more importantly, is going to get them precisely where they want to be.