Meet the band who are too tough to die...
Think of the Isle of Man, and the first thing you think of is probably the TT races – the death-defying motorcycle races around the island’s winding roads.
Now there’s something else to think of – Mad Daddy, a crazed bunch of greasy punk-rockers who have just released their second album Too Tough To Die.
And one of its singles is the track Road Racer, written in tribute to the races. It is, unsurprisingly, a pedal to the metal anthem.
"It's our equivalent of having a Christmas number one,” laughs frontman Dolyn
Clucas Morris. “It's going to get played year after year until people get sick to death of it! The races are definitely the biggest thing on the Isle of Man – people come from all over the world to here.
It's a good place to be at that time of the year.”
While the band have branched out beyond the island in the Irish Sea, when they formed they made the most of what they could there.
"There's a bit of a punk scene – the population's only 80,000, so it's all got to be put into that context. But considering the size of the population there's a pretty good music scene here.
"There are venues around, like pubs and that, but if you want to play original punk-rock, then there's not many places to play. It's part of the reason we go away, I suppose, to find our audience.”
There’s also been a change in lineup since the last album. Dolyn and guitarist Liam Callow are now joined by Callum O’meara on bass and Brook Wassall on drums.
“People have their reasons and it's difficult to commit to it full time as there's not any money in it! But we've had a good thing going and we want to keep it going a bit longer. We're a lot tighter now and it feels better in a lot of ways.”
The band were last in Portsmouth two years ago when they played a blistering set at The
Loft, now they’re back at The Barn in Milton this Saturday.
"The last time we were in Portsmouth was probably one of the best gigs we've ever had – we can't wait to get back there.”
Go to book.events/ pompeypunknroll.