THE Guardian did a question and answer session with Electro Velvet when Eurovision expert Paul Marks Jones caught up with them to ask them about themselves and their Eurovision experience.

One half of the group Bianca Nicholas said:"I have been singing really for as long as I can remember. I'm not really your typical singer who has had singing lessons and things like that - it was just a hobby that I loved and a hobby that improved my health as well, because I suffer from cystic fybrosis and it exercises my lungs. I released a single in 2011 which was no1 in the vocal chart of iTunes.

“I auditioned for the Voice on BBC in 2014, and then Alex was looking for someone to sing some songs with a mutual friend songwriter David Mindel, sent us this song and said that he was going to enter it into Eurovision. So it turned out this was the first thing we did together.”

Alex Lark: “Yes we were thrown in at the deep end - or straight to the top - depending on how you look at it! I have been writing songs for about 17 years (showing my age now!). For about 8 years I have been with a tribute band called 'The Rolling Clones' - I am Mick- but it’s really great and refreshing to be working with a great talent like Bianca and we don't mind each other too much!

PMJ: So are you both from musical backgrounds or families?

Alex: “Well my surname is Lark and apparently that would have been designated to somebody who has sung at some point in the Middle Ages, so perhaps it’s always been pre ordained, maybe for a thousand years, that I would reach this moment, who knows. But no, not really, just very normal working class background for me - parents, one is a car mechanic and one's a seamstress, so that's it - I don't know why I got the musical bug nor where it came from really.”

Bianca: “Same here really. My parents aren't musical, nor are my brothers and sisters. It's just something that happened organically. My mum heard me singing along to Disney's Aladdin when I was younger and she thought 'she's got a strong voice for a little girl' and it was just a hobby that I decided I would like to make my career.”

PMJ: And did you both have the support of your families when you announced you'd like to make a career in show business?

Bianca: “Yeah - massive support.

Alex: “Well I think at the beginning my mum, when I first started out - avoided going to university because I was in a band and she wasn't over the moon, but since I have been making a living out of it she's happy and now this - well, she's ecstatic!”

PMJ: Did knowing David Mindel give you more faith in the song when you knew he'd already been there and done that?

Alex: “Well, no, because the song wasn't originally designated to go to Eurovision.”

Bianca: “When we first heard it we just knew we loved it but at the time we didn't know it would be entered into Eurovision - we just wanted to be part of it before we even knew it was going to be entered into the process. So when he suggested it, we though yeah, that's even better.”

PMJ: When the song was revealed on the BBC red button there were a lot of 'dropped jaws' among fans that couldn't quite believe what they were seeing and it wasn't expected?

Alex: “People either loved it obsessively or they hated it - it really split people into two camps, but you know it really raised the profile of the song. Everyone was talking about it and now a lot of the opinion has changed, after that initial shock. But for me I liked that shock and I get nothing but nice messages now.”

Bianca: “I think that because we haven't won for a long time and tried so hard, it was the BBC's decision to try something new and fresh and completely different and see what happens - you've got to try different things - you never know how it goes at Eurovision and so that's us - we're something fresh and new and exciting! And we'll try our absolute best and hope that it works.”

PMJ: So what one thing do you want to take away from your Eurovision experience?

Alex: “I don’t now - I just don't want it to be over! I have in the back of my mind that it will be over all too soon.”

Bianca: “We already feel part of a big family - the fans are so supportive and all of the contestants are so supportive of each other. It’s such a lovely bubble to be in, so we will be sad when it's over.”