Biffy Clyro: School friends who went platinum

BIFFY Clyro was formed in Kilmarnock in 1995 by ­Simon Neil (guitar, lead vocals), and twins James Johnston (bass, vocals) and Ben Johnston (drums, vocals) when the musicians were still at school.

According to their website, the Ayrshire trio were “united by a love of underground, experimental rock and post-hardcore bands such as Braid and Karate, along with the starrier likes of Guns N’Roses and Metallica. They quickly honed their own unique sound, a mix of off-kilter tempos, itchy, unpredictable guitars, soulful ­choruses and feral screams.”

After their first three albums – Blackened Sky, The Vertigo Of Bliss and Infinity Land – the band gained mainstream success in 2007 with their fourth studio ­release Puzzle. The album peaked at No 2 in the official UK album charts in June 2007, eventually going ­platinum in the UK in 2012, selling more than 300,000 copies. In 2011, they won the ­Kerrang! award for Classic Songwriter.

Their latest album, Only Revolutions, reached No 3 in the UK chart and went gold within days of its release in 2009, later going platinum in 2010, and was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.

The album included the single Many Of Horror which was recorded as a studio version by 2010 X Factor winner Matt Cardle under the title When We Collide and ­released as his debut single.