Imagine being in your late teens, having a number one album and a member of the most exciting band of 2007.

Meet Andy Hopkins, bass player with indie band The Enemy who, to coin a well-worn cliché, is living the dream'. Arriving to Bournemouth as support to the Stereophonics at the BIC on November 4, The Enemy have a fiery reputation for being one of the most entertaining live acts on the circuit.

"Touring is the best part of it all, we love it. We've been doing festivals the last few months all dotted around, so I can't wait to get on this tour. Your mind gets set into doing gigs every night," enthused Andy.

Speaking with young Master Hopkins, you can't help but get swept along with his infectious enthusiasm and passion for performing live. To say The Enemy are hungry for success is an understatement, these guys are plain ravenous.

"We've done literally every festival known to man this year! Glastonbury, Reading, Leeds, T In The Park, Jersey Live and Summer Sonic in Japan," said Andy.

The Enemy made the breakthrough to mainstream success earlier this year with a string of incendiary singles: It's Not OK, Away From Here, Had Enough, You're Not Alone and forthcoming single Aggro. Two of the tracks reached the top 10, and the band's debut album, We'll Live and Die in These Towns, went straight to number one in the UK chart on release in July.

All of the band members hail from a working-class background in the Coventry area and this proves to be a driving influence throughout the music. The single You're Not Alone is packed with acerbic lyrics criticising the closure of the Peugeot Ryton Plant that left 2,000 workers unemployed earlier this year. Bass player Andrew Hopkins is from the Eastern Green area of Coventry and singer guitarist Tom Clarke is from the Castle Bromwich area of Birmingham/Solihull. Drummer Liam Watts is from the Keresley/Holbrooks area of Coventry.

Brought together through a shared love of bands such as Oasis, Blur, The Jam, The Clash and The Who, in August this year the band were handpicked by rock royalty The Rolling Stones as support act on the last date of their European tour at the O2 Arena in London.

"We saw these old guys come shuffling out and we all thought they'd never last the whole show. But we were all blown away. Mick Jagger's amazing, the energy he has on stage," said Andy.

With the band's growing ascendancy, Andy got the chance to meet one of his musical heroes this summer.

"I met Noel Gallagher at the NME after party, he just emerged out from between two big bodyguards. I patted him on the chest and said all right son?'. I'd love to meet him again on the level without being a drunken idiot!"

With plans afoot to tour America, The Enemy may be able to enjoy the stateside success that always eluded Oasis.