Biffy Clyro make second attempt at America

Biffy Clyro are trying to crack America for the second time.

Bass player James Johnston says the 'Many Of Horror' groups present tour of the US is their second bid to "conquer the world" after a disastrous attempt last year saw them stranded in the UK after a passport mix up.

The musician said: "Bands always want to conquer the world. We want to get to a larger audience and it has been a dream for us to come to the States. We grew up listening to American bands. It's a huge country that has the variety we like."

"This time we will be pretty busy with lots of shows. It's nice to play gigs in a different city every night. That's the exciting thing about band life."

The 31-year-old Scottish musician also admitted he and his bandmates - singer and guitarist Simon Neil and drummer Ben Johnston - are grateful for their conquering the UK charts, after spending nearly a decade as a cult band.

He explained: "We went for 10 years as a band without anyone giving a s**t. We've been doing it a long time but we were fairly underground for some time. We had a hardcore following but were not on magazine covers. But we've got better as a band and had time to develop."

He also told how being nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize - an annual award for the Best British album, as voted for by an industry panel - as a marker of the group's achievement.

He added to website artistdirect.com: "It was a big deal for us since it's not the type of thing that includes rock bands since rock music isn't cool to the mainstream."

Biffy Clyro's fifth album 'Only Revolutions' is out now.