Playing at nine festivals in the next six weeks, The Invisible will be anything but. Their brand of soulful nonchalance will be a godsend for many a worse-for-wear funbunny, liable to induce gentle head nodding and relaxed appreciation. We seized frontman Dave Okumu in the leafy surroundings of the Tate Britain.

Good Afternoon Dave. So what distinguishes The Invisible form all the other bands you have been in?

This is our baby. We learned to make music from other people and we'll continue to do that but we were longing to do something that was our own. It's nice not to have any master but kind of scary too.

Monster's Waltz is a banger, but what's it all about?

Someone who is in a pretty conflicted state, someone who has a me-against-the-world thing activated and defines himself in that way. I think there's something tragic about that kind of isolation. I like to explore the person that takes solace in isolating himself.

You're renowned for an experimental approach to music. In other aspects of life are you a willful experimenter?

I'm not comfortable with the idea that we set out to be really original or experimental, but we are surrounded by so much info and it's only natural that those things come out when you're trying to express yourself creatively. I hope the values of our music express themselves in my life.

I understand you work part time as a teacher, is that a nightmare?

I don't really think of myself as a teacher but I find myself in this position. It's quite a loose arrangement and I find it really rewarding. I teach music at Goldsmith's university and at my old school. It has been cool but I still feel like a kid, like any minute they could tell me off for something. There are still plenty of institutional problems; class sizes for one and I really question the value of exams, which to me are just making people jump through hoops.

The festival season is upon us, what does that mean to The Invisible?

It's so exciting every time someone asks us to play. We're doing the Moscow Yacht festival on a floating platform previously used to transport tanks. The Loop festival in Brighton should be massive as well.