KEY POINTS:
As first flats go, it's not a bad one - the top storey of an old English mansion in Kilburn, north London, has been the Checks' home away from home for the past year.
"It was kind of interesting moving straight out of home and to a completely different thing in London," smiles bass player, Karel Chabera jnr. "But it's good having your friends along for the ride because you're all experiencing the same thing."
And for a place shared by a five piece rock'n'roll band and their manager it's surprisingly clean, albeit cluttered and musty from cigarette smoke.
But hey, it's a bit of a hike downstairs every time you want to have a fag.
The lounge is a tangle of cords with three laptops lying open and an electric toothbrush charging on the floor in the corner. Pinned to the wall are photos from home; sitting on the mantelpiece is a bottle of Grenadine Alcoholic Cordial; and there's a collection of pint glasses - presumably nicked from the pub - that double as ashtrays.
In the hallway there's more chaos with instruments, other musical equipment, and boxes of Checks' merchandise, including a stack of seven-inch vinyl copies of new single, Hunting Whales, off their debut album due out in August.
"Kilburn's not like a cool area or anything but maybe we'll make it cool," laughs drummer Jacob Moore.
They frequent a few of the "cool dingy pubs" and live music venues in the area and apart from the regular rattle of passing trains, which they don't even notice now, it's a quiet suburb.
Their neighbours hardly complain when they practise - although they did have one who kindly asked them to turn it down.
"You can't really practise like full tit in this place," says Moore.
"But they're so polite," laughs guitarist Sven Pettersen.
The Checks' London-based indie label Full Time Hobby found them the flat when they went to London in June last year.
"The label are just down the road in Edgeware Rd, straight down there," says Moore, who's perched on the windowsill, smoking. "It's so they can keep an eye on us," he smiles.
While the quintet all dress like Roger Daltrey from the Who, or Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant, personality-wise they are all distinct. Curly top guitarist Callum Martin (21) is shy; the waif-like Pettersen (20) stares out from beady and slightly shifty eyes; Chabera (19) is a brawny bassplayer who chimes into the conversation occasionally; Moore (20) is the most talkative drummer you're ever likely to meet; and frontman Ed Knowles (20) looks and sounds grumpy but he's not.
Last year they barely left the flat and apart from having a few New Zealand friends, like the Datsuns and the Veils, they felt a little isolated.
"It's slightly maddening. I think we all lost a lot mentally," says Moore.
However, this year they're living it up - both musically and personally - because they've made more friends and have been on tour, including support slots for Oz rockers Jet, label-mates the Hold Steady, as well as headlining a string of shows around Britain last month.
"Making the album was the first part of the plan when we came over here and that happened last year," says Pettersen.
"And now," adds Moore, "we're aiming to get the music out there and ourselves out there more."
"We didn't really play that much at all last year, and this year we've done two big tours already and this is the third," mumbles Knowles.
They gained a big following in New Zealand off the back of their unhinged and high-powered live shows and the What You Heard EP, which was released in May 2005. And even though they've been away a year they're still popular - one of the band's two shows in Auckland next week is already sold out.
However, considering their early promise, can the Checks make it overseas? Of course they'll say yes, but moving to London has meant starting all over again.
Two nights before this interview they played a gig in Sheffield to 10 people.
"It's cool though," says Pettersen, "because there's something special about people seeing you for the first time, because you get to see whether they get it, as opposed to someone who knows the songs already."
Before Sheffield they played in Edinburgh to a slightly bigger crowd - around 25 or 30 people - and they rate it as one of the best gigs they've played in a long time.
"After the show we were so fired up and immediately after the show we went up to Macbeth's Castle ... " says Pettersen.
" ... with a box of beers," adds Knowles.
"But it's good playing to those adverse crowds," adds Moore.
"In New Zealand, if you play at the Masonic you know there will be lots of people there and there will be lots of energy and you just play but you're not really as conscious of what you're playing and how the gig is going. So if we continue to get better with no crowd support, and get to the stage where we do have that, then our shows will be even better.
"It's also good for us to cut our teeth on those really small shows, because we hit into it pretty quickly in New Zealand and I think it's good doing the hard yards again over here because you learn a lot about how you play and how you play together as a band."
Pettersen: "It's forced us to integrate our sound and play together."
Martin: "Also, we've learnt a lot about touring and how much organisation is involved and we realised we had to step it up a lot. It's become a job, 24 hours a day."
Chabera: "There's been all this waiting for it to start happening and we've finally cracked over into doing it full-time."
The Checks have bided their time since forming at Takapuna Grammar on the North Shore in 2003. Their managers, Alan Pettersen (Sven's dad) and Phil Moore (Jacob's dad), ensured they didn't rush into recording their debut album and signing a record deal, and there were many offers.
Since those school days they've supported REM in New Zealand after the band heard a Checks song on a compilation CD; they toured with Oasis and the Hives; were chosen for the NME New Music Tour in 2005 after the editor saw them play in Auckland; and signed to Full Time Hobby last year.
They had enough songs to record an album two years ago but they're glad they waited.
"It just diversified our musical tastes and our abilities," says Pettersen.
"It also gave us a chance to form a sound that's just ours and having this isolation in London, and spending time together sponging up things, helped us come together with our own sound much more, I think."
"Our music isn't the same as the music scene here. We're on this sort of island," explains Knowles, as the others burst into laughter.
"But," continues the singer unfazed, "that makes what you're creating more pure and more and more honest because there's nothing coming in from other [music] that you're listening to."
"By not doing the album three years ago it's given us the chance to do what we really want to do," says Martin.
The album was recorded in London during September and October last year. While that trademark Checks' rock'n'roll bluesy swagger remains, like on a re-recorded version of What You Heard - "I was listening back to it and it was like a huge dance track," says Martin - the band's sound has developed and diversified.
"We didn't want to make a sort of basic rock album like we may have done if we'd done an album when we were 18. It's almost like the fact we left it that long that it gives us the chance to have a broader album. And there's still the meat and potatoes on there, like the rock'n'roll songs," says Moore.
"We just wanted to capture all the songs that we had at their absolute pinnacle," says Pettersen, "because you play them live and that's one way to do it but in the studio you get the opportunity to take the song that you've written to its full potential."
Knowles: "The songs had a new life and we thought maybe they wouldn't. But they did and they were brand new."
They all believe listening to the album is like the band playing their perfect gig.
"But to play it live it's just that little bit more aggressive," says Moore.
The perfect example is latest single Hunting Whales which was released last month as a CD single and on seven-inch vinyl.
"It's an important song," declares Pettersen. "It's a good statement because it's not a commercial track but it cuts across that generic sound. It's like, 'Well stuff it. We've got this and it sounds like you should hear it even if you don't like it'."
"People either turn it up, or turn it off. Get hard, or go home," says Knowles.
And the Checks are sticking with the former.
Lowdown
Who: The Checks
Line-up: Ed Knowles (vocals); Sven Pettersen (guitar); Karel Chabera jnr (bass); Callum Martin (guitar/vocals); Jacob Moore (drums/vocals)
Where and when: 4:20, K'Rd, June 14 (sold out) and 15
Music: Hunting Whales single (2007); What You Heard EP (2005)
Debut album: Out in August.
