SOUTH Wales' soon-to-be metal megastars, Lostprophets, release Fake Sound of Progress, the single next week. Matthew Blythe spoke to vocalist Ian Watkins about the resurrection of metal and hatred for the local scene The late 20th century and early noughties have seen vast sums of cash handed out to wannabe pop stars and penniless musicians.

A few grand here, a few grand there, the likes of New Deal, PYNCI, The Welsh Music Foundation and Community Music Wales have funded recordings and bought equipment for unsigned acts.

But for one Pontypridd band the cash train passed them by and now that they're famous, they don't mind bragging and a little slagging.

"They are ploughing all this money into whatever, 'indie indie indie,' but the band that actually flipping does something, and sells out tours and does all this, they didn't know anything about," said Ian of his Lostprophets. "And they didn't want to know about us. They didn't care - they were like, 'what is this flipping metal band, what are you talking about? They are rubbish - give me the art rock - give me the indie - give me the intelligentsia."

Lostprophets hail from Pontypridd where from 1997 the one time school friends have developed an infectious metal sound that's currently being raved about everywhere. Last week they won Best Metal band at the Brit Awards, they scooped Best Newcomers at the inaugural Welsh Rock and Pop Awards, and are so famous the BBC had a very nervous looking Ian on Nevermind the Buzzcocks.

There is one Lostprophets' album, The Fake Sound of Progress, which was released for a second time once the band had signed to Sony, one single Shinobi vs. Dragon Ninja, and single number two, The Fake Sound of Progress out on Monday March 11.

They look good, sound great if bouncy soft-as-you-like metal is your thing, and have the backing of Sony. They filmed the video for The Fake Sound of Progress in Las Vegas, are currently headlining shows on the continent in countries they'd never visited before as tourists let alone as a touring band, and in December 2001 they played a gig at the Coal Exchange to a den of adoring fans. Prophets mania had arrived.

"It was incredible," said Ian. "It was only a few months before that that we played the Barfly. That was cool, but then to play the Coal Exchange (and we were like, isn't it a bit big) and then to have it sell out in advance... It's really nice to play your hometown to a sold-out venue and a crowd that's really into it, I guess. It was nice, it was really cool since we've been playing every venue we can in Cardiff for years.

Everybody who's been around on the scene knows who we are and it was nice to have that kind of recognition."

Ian was mobbed after the gig along with the rest of Lostprophets but still finds it annoyingly easy to walk down the street.

"I'm waiting! I'm like, come on, why won't anyone recognise me," he joked. "We do go and hang out with the fans. A lot of bands forget who placed them in the position they are in. The fans in the audience - they are in control of your career, nobody else, it's not the record company, it's not your manager, because they just get paid by record sales.

"It was a bit weird at the Coal Exchange because usually we just go and hang out but at that gig it was mental and people were rushing to get things signed, but it was like, 'there's no rush, do you know what I mean, I'm going to be here all night."