GOGO Penguin have one of the most original names and their music is pretty original too.

The Manchester trio blend classical with dance and electronica among others and are receiving rave reviews. In fact, there album V2.0 was proclaimed one of the Mercury Prize Albums of the Year in 2014.

Matt Westcott spoke with bassist Nick Blacka ahead of the band’s gig at The Independent in Sunderland on March 5.

Matt: What was your reaction to the Mercury Prize news?

Nick: Genuine joy and surprise. We'd forgotten exactly when the shortlist was due to be announced so nobody was thinking about it either way until we got the news.

Matt: Did this recognition help and if so how?

Nick: It helped us hugely. We were definitely the least known act on the shortlist. The main thing to come from it for us was having more people check us out and listen to the album. Without the Mercury nomination it would have been more difficult to get that many people's attention.

Matt: Obviously everyone will now be clamouring for a copy of your album, but if an Eskimo was on iTunes how would you sell Version 2.0 to him?

Nick: If you buy this album we'll stop calling you an Eskimo.

Matt: You sound like a band that prefers to carve out your own path. How important do you think originality is and can it be a curse as well as a blessing?

Nick: Originality is a big question. I once read that there are no original thoughts, just original people. Like any band we just take the elements of music that we like and try and build upon them. Perhaps what makes us sound original is that our influences are pretty varied and we're often adapting electronica techniques into an acoustic setting. The only mild frustration we sometimes have is being classed as one thing or the other because our influences are so varied and we don't personally view music within such strong parameters. However, we definitely feel more blessed than cursed right now.

Matt: Your overall sound is very much your own, but you're a Manchester band, so is there any influence from the legendary Manchester scene in your music at all and if so where can it be found?

We are from Manchester and the city itself is definitely an influence. It's really the same for anybody from anywhere though. You create your environment and your environment reflects you as a person. Some of that inevitably will translate into music. As for the legendary Manchester scene, it's amazing that so many influential bands have come from Manchester but we're not exactly listening to Happy Mondays records searching for inspiration. It's unlikely you'll find any direct linkage between us and Joy Division for example, as good as they were.

Matt: Is it easy to replicate your sound in a live performance?

Nick: Yes and no. It's easy in the sense that we're an acoustic trio and can set up in a room and play through our tunes comfortably. No in the sense that our live sound is actually quite complex as we're always striving to attain the level of production that's on our album wherever possible. Our live shows involve some creative ways of amplifying the double bass and the piano to match the level of the drums. We have our own live sound engineer, Joe Reiser who also co-produced v2.0 with us so we definitely keep him busy.

Matt: What are your plans when this tour ends?

Nick: We'll be writing and recording material for the next album. We're gigging fairly consistently throughout the year so if we're not writing we'll more than likely be on the road.