"The world is overloaded with depressing bands who are more than ready to give you their twopence-worth on their relationship break-ups and heartbreak.

“I think there are 1,001 other things that occur in everyday life which aren’t talked about which aren’t as depressing but are worthy of comment.”

So says The Hornblower Brothers’ frontman Nathaniel Forrester, as the five-piece band prepares to play a charity concert at the Latest Music Bar this weekend.

The band formed three years ago in Brighton, after the core members moved from their native Yorkshire to attend the University of Brighton. Nathaniel, whose alma mater was the University Of Leicester, had known fellow vocalist Alistair Johnstone from secondary school.

“Brighton is a really good place to be as a musician,” says Nathaniel. “There’s always opportunities on your doorstep and lots of great venues putting on good nights every night of the week. We made the right decision coming down here and giving it a shot.”

The release of their debut EP Adventures In The National Geographic has seen the band turn a corner in the past few months. The four-track record was unleashed in June last year on the DIY label Bellboy Records.

“We began getting a lot of interest from big cheeses like Steve Lamacq and Marc Riley, and a lot of press off the back of it too,” says Nathaniel.

The EP led to a contract with vinyl-only indie label Static Caravan who are releasing the band’s follow-up single. Give And Receivers/The Ghost Of Jack Kerouac later this month.

“They wouldn’t have approached us if it wasn’t for the exposure on the radio,”

says Nathaniel. “It’s like one thing leads to another in the music industry.”

When talking about the band’s sound, one name regularly thrown into the conversation is Birkenhead’s finest, Half Man Half Biscuit, whose songs similarly focus on everyday life.

“I’m writing lyrics that build up a picture of what it means to be a 24-year-old male in the 21st century world,” says Nathaniel.

Give And Receivers is an autobiographical song about The Hornblower Brothers’ journey so far as a band, and some of the characters they have met along the way.

“We have played London and Camden and been inspired by these people who are essentially cheap wine, but present themselves as chardonnay,” says Nathaniel.

“In so much of the music industry it seems it is more important to have the right connections than to have the skill and talent.”

Unlike Half Man Half Biscuit, though, The Hornblower Brothers aren’t about to throw away a chance of exposure just to see a football match.

“My respect for Half Man Half Biscuit reached an all-time high when we heard they turned down the chance to do a John Peel session to see Tranmere play,” laughs Nathaniel.

“We have always aspired to be musicians. We would like to live that way and not have to worry about nine-to-five jobs.

“We are a hard-working band, we are always playing around Brighton and different cities in the UK.

“We’re not at the point where we have been offered the million pound record contract yet and we’re still trying to juggle music with work, which is getting rather more difficult as we get more successful.

“I’m happy with our current position, we have already achieved more than we expected this time last year.

“We had a band practice last night, and decided that the next logical step would be an album. It all hangs in the balance – we will have to see how this single goes.”

* The Hornblower Brothers hold their single launch party at The Prince Albert, in Trafalgar Street, Brighton, on Friday, May 7.

Doors 6pm, tickets £4/£3 in aid of Scope. Call 01273 687171.