It may seem unlikely, but life is panning out well for kitchen sink sound band ALT-J, who produce a unique sound using kitchen implements. Set to be this years 2012 most unusual breakthrough act, and a favourite on Radio 1, the band, whose drummer uses a saucepan instead of a drum-kit, is stunned by its overnight success. Saucepan-bashing drummer Thom Green says It feels very strange to hear our music on Radio 1. And I dont always understand how its happened. It makes us proud because weve worked so hard to get to this point, but we cant actually believe were doing this full-time, and that weve recorded an album. In a way, it still feels weird being on stage. Its about mixing the simple and the intricate, he adds. We like to create inspiring music, but we manage to keep it very minimal like using acoustic guitars rather than tons of effects pedals. Our only plan is to do something different. We deliberately make things as interesting as we can but weve never sat down and said, We want to sound like this. Its always, Lets see what weird sounds we can make. Many of ALT-Js most eccentric sounds came about from typical student challenges. Green only started using saucepans instead of cymbals because he couldnt fit a full drum kit into the bedroom where they rehearsed. It ended up defining my drumming style, he laughs. Even now I still use a saucepan when recording and performing. I dont look at it as a pan anymore.