Tyne for Kloot

"There's nothing we've recorded that we're embarrassed by, or don't think is good," notes 50-year-old Bramwell. "Well, I say that, but I don't listen to the songs. When we finish an album, I think, 'Great. We've done a superb job. That was all brilliant', but who knows? In my mind they're all great, but they might be terrible."

With the way the music industry has shifted in the past 12 or 13 years (almost the entire life of the Manchester three-piece), not so many bands tour to promote a new album. Live shows are where what's left of the money is.

To prove a point, I Am Kloot have recently released their first live album. "You could say we're very clever. But you could also say, 'Those Kloot lads have no idea what they're doing'. I'll leave you guessing which it is," says Bramwell.

He performed around 50 solo shows last year as Johnny Dangerously, the guise he used before forming I Am Kloot (the band is named after the left-handed card game described in Jerome K Jerome's novel Three Men On The Bummel).

Hold Back The Night was recorded during the band's year-long voyage around Europe in 2013. Their sound engineer, testing out some fancy new equipment he'd got, recorded their gigs – without telling them what he was up to.

"In many ways, it's a record in the truest sense of the word," says Bramwell. "It's a real monument, and we had our friends Tom, Alan and Nicky playing with us, to do justice to the songs from our fifth album Sky At Night. We're unlikely to have that many musicians on stage with us again. I think of it as the end of Phase One of I Am Kloot."

After releasing their 2001 debut, Natural History, the band built something of a cult following. They hit a new peak when the aforementioned Sky At Night was released, and were duly nominated for the 2010 Mercury Prize.

Bramwell believes the renewed interest in the band was down to the fact old friends Guy Garvey and Craig Potter of Elbow produced the album for them, but that does slightly underestimate how good it is.

Nevertheless, the record that followed, Let It All In, was put under more intense scrutiny when it was released in early 2013. It entered the album chart at No 10.

"That was incredible for us," says Bramwell. "Although it actually sold the same amount as our other albums, it just sold the copies a lot faster. The achievement is even greater when you look at the bands that were around us in the chart that time, and think about their marketing budgets compared to ours. We just cobble together whatever money we can from gigs, really."

The live album may mark the end of Phase One, but Bramwell has no idea what Phase Two will consist of. "I was just making that (Phase One stuff) up to sound good!" he admits. "But really, I think we're done with the way we normally make records, where I take some songs in to the others and we record them.

"We've done that, and I think we perfected that method on Let It All In. We don't want to make a second-rate version of something we've already done. I think next time, we'll all work on our own things and collaborate more, but who knows?"

For now, the tour is the main thing on Bramwell's mind, closely followed by walking his dog and an afternoon pint.

"I liked playing songs on my own at those little gigs I did last year, just words, guitar and me, with no consultation," he adds. "But having said that, I love everything that I Am Kloot is."

• Friday, July 10: Mouth of the Tyne Festival Tynemouth Priory and Castle headliners are: Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott with I Am Kloot.
• Saturday, July 11: The Specials, Roots Manuva. Sunday, July 12: Matha Reeves and The Vandellas, The Christians, James Taylor Quartet, Ben Ottewell, Kosoti, Olivia Devine. Box Office: ticketmaster.co.uk or 0191-200-5895
• Events linked to the festival include: Wednesday, July 8, Rufus Wainwright, Whitley Bay Playhouse; 0844-248-1588. Friday, July 10, Jack Savoretti sold out at Whitley Bay Playhouse; iamkloot.com