Twice as nice

Amazingly, 21 years later they are still having this effect on their audience, and are enjoying a revival that Simon Le Bon would pull out his thinning hair for.

I spoke to Craig Reid, which didn't make much difference because, as The Proclaimers are made up of twin brothers, I can't tell them apart. He has just returned from an enormous American Tour and is back for the English summer festivals, in particular Henley on Sunday.

"The Henley Festival is quite posh," I venture. "So I've heard," Craig replies grinning. "And that's what we love - playing somewhere a bit different and out of our comfort zone. And that's what's so great about festivals because you are reaching a crowd that might not ordinarily listen to your music or come to your gigs. It'll be a new experience."

You can't avoid listening to their music at the moment, the dance version of I Would Walk having ripped through the charts, bringing The Proclaimers back to the fore, with a stint on Comic Relief with Matt Lucas, introducing them to a whole new generation.

So is Matt Lucas their biggest fan? "He's in the top 10," Craig agrees, grinning again. "I mean he really is bordering on the obsessive."

Does Craig suffer a lot from over zealous fans then?

"Oh, well it's funny you should say that because until recently I would have said no, but in the past year you glimpse a face at a concert and know you've seen them so many times before and that they are actually really quite obsessive, and it is a bit unsettling," he says.

In all other ways, Craig comes across as a deeply sorted person, who knows who he is and what he's doing, despite spending that amount of time with his twin brother Charlie.

"There gets to a point where you just don't want to see anyone on the tour for a wee while and leave each other alone. But then when we do emerge with new material (they both write the songs) we still surprise each other."

Which will happen quite soon because they've been touring since last May and it's time for a rest, holiday and some more writing before the whole recording, touring bandwagon sets off again.

"It's a good thing to have a wee rest and I haven't been writing for 18 months now, so I've got itchy fingers which is great because there was a period when of five to six years when I didn't exactly have writers block but I wasn't writing enough good stuff either.

"But for the last eight years we have been on a real roll."

Considering boy bands don't last eight months these days, eight years is a life time in this industry. "Yes the last few years have been our most productive and we are still really enjoying the gigs," Craig says.

"But then this is what we've done since we were teenagers and we know this is where we want to be and what we want to be doing which overrides everything else.

"We never set out to be a massive band. We always thought that if we could make a living out of it playing to small audiences we'd be happy.

"So while now is great, I doubt that we can sustain it and keep such a mass audience - they'll move on to someone else.

"But in the meantime we have been acquiring new fans along the way, especially people who come to our live gigs, and that's what we're aiming for, to build up a loyal base and keep doing it.

"Because we aren't trying to keep up with anyone. We always wanted to be distinctive, and we don't follow fashions, and that why we catch people's eye and appeal to a wide audience of men and women."

It's only when I mention slowing down, that Craig visibly bristles, and his calm demeanour temporarily vanishes.

"We love doing what we're doing and I don't know how to do anything else so I'll carry on playing live until they drag me off stage on a zimmer frame," he demonstrates, adding as an afterthought "or until no one wants to hear us play". And let's face it, that not going to happen in the foreseeable future!

The Henley Festival runs until Sunday when The Proclaimers play. Box office 01491 843404 www.henley-festival.co.uk