Biffy Clyro's Ben Johnson talks ahead of Birmingham Barclaycard Arena appearance

But, in fact, having time to read, travel, hang out with friends and do whatever the hell they liked had the opposite effect on Biffy Clyro.

Rather than inspiring them to greater heights, it simply brought they down.

And so when Biffy re-emerged with a new album, the number one Ellipsis, they also made a vow: 'no more time off'.

And it's worked a treat. The band have been on the road in Europe and will headline a series of arena dates in the UK throughout December, including one at Birmingham's Barclaycard Arena on Wednesday.

Drummer Ben Johnston says: "The tour has been really good, it's been the most fun we've had on the road. I can't believe we're in Germany and playing to 5,000 people every night. We've been going to Scandanavia, Poland and across Europe. There hasn't been a bad night."

And that's good news for British fans. They'll arrive at the Barclaycard arena polished and ready to rock.

"The setlist will be mostly from Ellipsis. We just want to take as much as we can from that album. We'll play most of that but there'll be a song from each album. There's a really beautiful stage production that we're excited about. It's going to be fun."

Biffy have grown slowly throughout their 20-year career, building up from club shows to 12,000-seater arenas and beyond.

"The first arena was tough. You get to those bigger gigs and you have to move it up. But it's become second nature to us and we've headlined Reading and Leeds twice now and done the big gigs at T in the Park.

"At first, when we were playing the big shows we had punk rock guilt about being there. We never expected to be as popular as we are. Now we feel at home on the bigger stage. Anybody that says they don't like playing to big crowds is just lying."

Though Ben's hidden away behind the drum riser, he observes how his twin brother James and frontman Simon Neil make the big spaces work for them.

"It might sound like a cliché, but as a band you have to try and reach the person at the back of the club as well as the front row. The first time we did a really big gig was at T in the Park when we were put onto the main stage at the last minute. We put the most angry obstinate and confusing songs with eccentric dots in it and it didn't work. We learned from that." And he laughs at the band's mistake.

Playing the bigger gigs means the band get to enjoy the biggest roars of their life as fans cheer them on.

"It's the best feeling in the world when the crowd roars. It's become a big part of who we are as people now. On that year of not playing live, we felt a bit empty and we weren't sure why.

"We all go depressed and down on ourselves. Then we realised we were missing that adulation and the adrenalin. It's a big part of who we are. It makes us feel complete. It's an amazing feeling. It still blows us away every time. The roar from the crowd melts my heart. We're going to have to keep the band going so that we don't lose it."

The decision to take a break didn't work for the band. They imagined it would recharge batteries but it left them to run flat.

"I don't think we'll ever have a year off again, it just got us too down. I think we lost momentum in terms of being able to do the sort of music that we still do."

And then came Ellipsis. It gave their band their second number out hit from their last three albums – and the one that didn't reach number one, Only Revolutions, ended up double platinum.

Ben says: "We're back on a roll. I doubt we'll take as big a break before we start the next album. The pause is over now and it's full steam ahead. I'd say next year is already pretty booked up with shows and we're off to America and Australia and Japan. That's one of the things when you get a following, you're going all round the world and going back to these places. We do want to grow. As a result, there's going to be a larger gap between new material. I think it will be early 2018.

"We've never gone back to a place and the crowd has got smaller. That's a good sign. It's very pleasing to me."

Brothers in bands generally have a bad reputation. But Ben and James break the mould. They like each other and get on.

"I can't imagine having a twin on stage can ever be a bad thing. We get on so well. We tend to see each other when we're not on the road. We've always been very close. Simon's a brother as well, in a sense, it's only ever been a help. But James and I never fought as kids. There's never any of that Gallagher brother dynamic, we're the opposite of that. I'm so happy we can do this together as a family. We consider ourselves very lucky."

By Andy Richardson