Introducing...rising York band PartyClub, already being aired on BBC Radio 1.

BEING in a band at university is an age-old cliché, with students and their mates playing at house parties or dingy basement venues.

However, some student bands manage to turn this into a career. Four University of York students are hoping that dream might become a reality. Law student Tom Banks, physicist Alex Beevers, historian Will Cooper and chemist Sam Sackville are PartyClub, who in a matter of months have attracted the major record labels to their upbeat, summery brand of indie rock.

Ahead of their York headline slot at The Duchess on Tuesday, Freddie Nathan put his questions to band founder and lead singer Banks about their origins, style, the rise of social media and their bright future.

How did you four meet and form as a band?

“We all met in Freshers week and have been mates ever since, but we came together at the end of December 2011 when I brought some songs I’d already written that we could essentially all jam to.

“From then on, we’ve written a load more together and that is essentially PartyClub. The music has to be upbeat, happy, sort of the kind of song that you’ll listen to and it’ll put a smile on your face or make you do a little dance.”

You’ve come quite some way in only a few short months.

“It’s certainly been crazy. In April we were made the BBC Introducing artist of the week, thanks to the fantastic Jenny Eells at BBC Radio York, who forwarded our song Young And Free to the Radio 1 bosses.

“From that, we had loads of label and management interest. Now we’re working with Takeover Entertainment, who manage Dappy and Tinchy Stryder. They’re really working hard to get our stuff out there. We were on the ASOS online store playlist in May and have just played Beach Break Live Festival in South Wales, which was an amazing experience. Now we’ve a full line-up of dates to look forward at the end of June, including our headliner at The Duchess on Tuesday, which we’re excited about. We’re also in discussions about a possible link-up with a worldwide clothing brand to potentially play one of our songs in their stores in America, which we should be able to announce very soon.”

You’ve attempted to create your own genre, ‘indiebounce’, on Twitter. Does it reflect your music?

“It’s definitely a reflection of our music, 100 per cent. Understand-ably you have to stand out as a band at the moment because there seems to be more out there than ever before, but labelling our music ‘indiebounce’ is the product of the work we put into the songs to make sure the drums are big and the basslines funky.

“We just want to make happy, upbeat music that people will hopefully love.”

You are still studying, so how hard is it to combine work with music?

“Yeah, we all do some pretty tough degrees, so it can be hard at times, but we’re all pretty level-headed. We’ve only got one more year left and it’s actually quite therapeutic to be able to just get together and play gigs or rehearse to take our minds away from atoms or the Human Rights Act.”

Given your success with BBC Introducing as Radio 1’s new band of the week, how important is it that unsigned bands get this exposure?

“Absolutely essential. I think there’s loads of great bands in York that really gig hard and work tirelessly to get their music out there. I’d definitely say if there’s ever a chance to do a gig or do a radio interview or anything, then do it because exposure is just so important.”

How important is social media to up-and-coming bands?

“Again it’s so important to have a Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, Youtube and every other online outlet. People are getting so clever with how you can get your music out to people, so it’s good to be signed up to as many things as possible.”

What are your plans?

“We’ve got loads of dates this month thanks to promoters DHP Concerts, so we’re playing in Manchester, Nottingham and on a boat in Bristol, along with a few university summer balls, including York and Clare College, Cambridge.

“From then, we’ll be working hard to push our follow-up single, Shake, in the summer. We’ve also got a lot of interest from labels, so we’re hoping to push on with that and really try and capitalize on the success we’ve had so far.”

• PartyClub play The Duchess, York, on Tuesday, supported by Captain Zippy and Stencils. Tickets: £4 on 0844 477 1000 or £5 on the door from 7.30pm. Young And Free is available to download on iTunes.