It's been a pretty exciting year so far for DARTZ!, what with the release of their critically acclaimed debut album This Is My Ship' on Xtra Mile Recordings, as well as two top ten indie chart singles.

Then of course there was the small matter of tours with I Was A Cub Scout and Hot Club De Paris, in addition to their biggest headline tour to date throughout February, March and April - which took in venues all over England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Spain, Luxembourg and Austria!

They also recently put pen to paper with legendary indie label Deep Elm for the release of This Is My Ship' in the USA and Japan later this year... given all that excitement, it may surprise a few people that Philip, William and Henry are taking a break from band life after a short tour in September.

"We wanted to do a tour of small venues, with the gigs being put on by DIY promoters who helped us out when we first started the band. For the most part, they might not be the kind of places that you would ordinarily expect to see us playing these days - but for our last UK dates for a while, we wanted to do things our way" says guitarist Henry Carden.

"As much as we've loved doing some of the bigger tours that we've done, you lose a lot of control. Ticket prices can start to feel a bit uncomfortable, support bands just seem to be chosen at random by a suit in an office and a lot of the venues have a complete lack of character or soul. One thing you can't accuse The Jockey in Wakefield of is lacking character!" he continues.

"When we started the band at the beginning of 2005, we never imagined for one moment that it was going to become such a massive part of our lives. I'm glad it did, because it's been an incredible experience, but for us to progress musically and for us to make sure that album two is even better than album one, we feel that we need to take a bit of time out to concentrate on some non-band things. Philip and William are both off to Uni, and I'll be forcing nu-rave kids to listen to Fleetwood Mac in Middlesbrough's finest night spot. There's talk of heading back over to Spain before the year ends and possibly going to the USA and Canada early next year, but as for UK dates, these September gigs may be our last for a while. We'll see"

TOUR DATES

31.08.07 LONDON The Water Rats *
07.09.07 WAKEFIELD The Jockey
08.09.07 NOTTINGHAM The Old Angel
10.09.07 BRIGHTON The Greenhouse Effect
11.09.07 KINGSTON The Peel
12.09.07 CAMBRIDGE The Portland Arms
13.09.07 LEEDS The Packhorse
15.09.07 MIDDLESBROUGH The Empire