The 1975 have had a golden year. Opening for the Rolling Stones, a summer of festival appearances, heavy radio play of their devilishly incomprehensible single ‘Chocolate’, and the small matter of their self-titled album debuting at number one have launched the band from indie obscurity to musical mainstream.

Although the band’s ascendency appears swift, the 1975 – made up of Matthew Healy (vocals, guitar), Adam Hann (guitar), George Daniel (drums) and Ross MacDonald (bass) – formed when they were only 13 years old. Healy says that in the early days they were “making music for fun. We always played music for ourselves.”

It’s this belief in playing music according to their individual style and essentially for pleasure that has seen the band grow and develop through various name changes and musical styles. Listening to their debut album, it’s evident that their years together have created a broad, eclectic sound.

It’s difficult to pigeonhole them into narrow generic definitions: “I think we define ourselves by the way that we’re able to write because we’ve got so much history there, we all share the same musical interests and vocabulary.” Although The 1975 might appear the typical alternative-indie band, their debut album includes streaks of R&B, electronica and straight-up pop.

When asked to pick one song from the album which he thinks encapsulates the band’s sound, Healy finds it impossible to choose: “There’s so much to say with our band sonically and stylistically that I’d hate to pin it down on one song. You’d get ten different bands if you thought we sounded like one song you’re listening to.”

Despite the disparate genres of the songs, they are all united by a lyrical wordiness. It is unsurprising that Healy describes Mike Skinner of The Streets as a songwriting inspiration.

More surprisingly, it isn’t musical but visual inspiration that Healy considers to have had the biggest impact on their style. He remarks: “I think that whenever I write, whenever we all write, wehave a very visual idea of what we’re creating, with the idea of music and visuals being intertwined.”

“The idea of incidental music being used to heighten an emotion has always been really interesting for me.”

He points to the iconic 1980s film director and writer John Hughes as the band’s biggest inspiration: “I think John Hughes’s movies are a perfect testament to that; the overly romantic, kind of apocalyptic music.”

Indeed, singles like ‘Sex and The City’ seem to be infused with the same yearning, angst-ridden charge that films such as The Breakfast Club were plugged in to.

Away from the recording studio, The 1975 have become a formidable live act. Whilst they are currently on a worldwide tour until next year, this summer saw the band jump on the festival circuit which culminated with a triumphant return to the Reading and Leeds festivals. After previously playing the iconic festival in 2012 on the BBC Introducing Stage, 2013 saw the band nudged up to a position on the Festival Republic Stage.

The band, however, were keen to demonstrate their respect for where they had come from and, in a brilliant touch, returned to play a secret set to a heaving Introducing Tent before their later performance, an experience which Healy describes as “pandemonium”.

He says: “I think Reading and Leeds was really special to mark the end of festival season. It was a couple of days before our album came out and there were so many people in the tent. We just walked on and nobody knew we were going to be there, it was really cool.”

The 1975 have worked for years to gradually build up a solid fan base, and have only recently enjoyed mainstream recognition and success. You wouldn’t blame Healy for feeling resentful to TV talent shows like The X Factor for dishing out overnight fame and success to its contestants while bands like his strive for recognition.

Other than an understandable dislike of the show’s penchant for “wheeling people out to be laughed at by the nation and millionaires,” Healy has a refreshing perspective on the opportunity it provides: “I’ve got to remember that I’ve been brought up in an environment where being creative is allowed, endorsed and financially supported.”

“A lot of people don’t come from that environment. They see stuff like The X Factor as their only way. I hate it when you get 16 year old jumped up kids that just want to be famous; that pisses me off.

“But when you get that woman who was a prison officer, she doesn’t really have any other outlet to express herself and she can be like,‘Well if I go on The X Factor it might actually change my life’, I don’t have a problem with that.”

If 2013 is anything to go by, The 1975 are destined for great things. But before world domination beckons they are keeping their heads down and sticking to what they have done since they were 13: “We’re just doing lots and lots of shows and writing lots and lots of music.”

If they stick to that mantra they can’t go far wrong.

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