At the tail end of 2012, a shiver of Birmingham based bands emerged, subsequently herded and heralded as the colourful injection guitar music duly needed. In a clamouring buzzword frenzy, the scene was unimaginatively dubbed ‘B-Town,’ contrasting to the imaginative lashings of breezy guitar pop and reverberated hooks that linked the trifecta of Peace, Swim Deep and JAWS, ensuring one wasn’t mentioned without being filed alongside another.

Harnessing yourself to the uprising of a particular musical scene can be both beneficial and harming in differing ways, but what is notable about JAWS is that whilst they were more than happy to be associated with their Birmingham brothers, it was their consistent standalone indifference and ‘let-the-music-do-the-talking’ attitude that earned them the accolades they deserved.

Perhaps once overshadowed, but never underappreciated, the apparent dispersing of the aforementioned scene has allowed JAWS to garner their own excitement – done so, so far, through the likes of their sold-out, re-issued and re-sold out EP Milkshake, which was then capitalised on with the boundary pushing atmospherics of single ‘Gold.’

Enter the New Year. A stark step in a different direction and JAWS parted the echoing ebb and flow of their usual swirling songwriting with their latest offering; the groove-ridden single Think Too Much, Feel Too Little. It’s a taster of the multiple musical directions JAWS have at their disposal, coming as word gathers on their impending debut album, slated for a 2014 release.

Humble frontman Connor Schofield still harbors an affinity to his low-key home recording and remains unchanged in his approach to anything JAWS, feeding the ethos rather than the ego, despite the growing reaction from fans.

Matthew Liam Fogg: There seems to be more of a definitive groove to your latest single, Think Too Much, Feel Too Little, than your previous tracks. Why was this the rightful choice of lead single for your impending debut album?
Connor Schofield: I think it’s because it’s a bit different to the rest of the album, but still has our sound, it just works nicely as a single.

MLF: When can we expect the album?
CS: Later this year, for sure.

MLF: What influenced you to put out a second EP, rather than work towards an album after your initial EP?
CS: We wrote Gold as we had just finished recording the EP and we were just like, ‘shit, we need to put this out.’ So, we booked the studio and just put it out as a single last summer. It worked nicely to be honest because Gold was a step in a new direction for us and the reaction it got was amazing. It gave us the opportunity to try out more stuff when we were writing songs rather than being worried about whether the people who are already fans of JAWS would like it or not.

MLF: We’re constantly reminded your from Birmingham, for reasons we’ll get onto next. Is there anything about your hometown that influences your writing/songs?
CS: Not really, to be honest. I don’t think I’ve written a song specifically about Birmingham yet. Maybe a couple about people from Birmingham, but not the city.

MLF: Early in JAWS’ incarnation, you were banded with other well-known Birmingham based bands Peace and Swim Deep as part of an emerging scene. Do you feel this limited you in any way, or did you welcome the associations?
CS: Welcomed it. Peace and Swim Deep were both signing to major labels, of course we want our name next to there’s. All press is good press!

MLF: Now the ‘scene’ has dispersed somewhat and you’re on your way to a debut album, do you feel it has allowed you to rightfully create your own, standalone identity? Or was it always there?
CS: We don’t feel like there’s ever been a pressure to sound like this or sound like that. I pretty much write a song and if I like it, it’s a keeper. So I think we’ve always just sounded like ourselves. I think people will always write us down next to Peace and Swim Deep, but having an album out puts you on your own two feet.

MLF: Your album has been partly funded by the PRS and you recently won the Momentum Deezer award of £2,500. How helpful has all of this been in achieving what you want to achieve with the album?
CS: The album wouldn’t have been possible without it. I didn’t realise how much it costs to record an album! We’re really thankful for the support of PRS. Without them the money just wasn’t there and we could have just faded away.

MLF: It’s not long since your music was taking shape in bedroom-demo form. How does it feel to be where you’re at now? Did you expect such a reaction?
CS: To be honest we still feel like we’re in the same place. We still practice at my house and I still record demos of everything in my bedroom. I think people expect us to have changed, personally, I just feel like the same person.

MLF: There’s something assertively big and atmospheric about your sound. Did you always envisage your music like this, even back when you were first writing?
CS: Kind of, my bedroom demos are sort of like 50% how I imagine the proper studio versions are going to sound and then we get into the studio and it just sounds a million times better. So the idea is there but it always sounds bigger!

MLF: With 2013 being a busy year for you, are there any plans to match it in 2014, other than your potential album release?
CS: Yeah, we spent all of January either on tour or recording the album. Also, we’re touring all of April as well. We pretty much want to be out of the house as much as possible this year and really push the album.

Visit JAWS’ website, Soundcloud and follow them on Facebook and Twitter