“Myself and our guitarist Mick work at South Downs Housing Association in Lewes, East Sussex, and that’s where we met the other members of the band. Guitarist Jim, drummer Michael and front man Simon are supported by the association, and in his annual review, Jim was asked if there was anything he really wanted to do. He replied, “Start a band!” so a memo went round and the other guys stepped up.

In the early days, we played a community fête in our local park. We really divided the audience, and even the Women’s Institute cake stall complained to the organisers about the racket! During another gig, a drunken man was being abusive and shouted at us to get off. Later, he realised the deal with us and followed us around all day apologising.

Michael obviously has Down’s Syndrome, and the other guys have unspecified learning disabilities, but we don’t go on about it as people can be a bit overprotective towards us, or over compensatory. We are what we and we just get up and do our thing.

We describe our sound as “The Fall meets Bros’. Our lead singer’s got an unhealthy obsession with Bros, George Michael and Frank Butcher hence the song Come and Get It Frank Butcher. Our songs are pretty tongue-in-cheek, although Flashing Lights is about epilepsy because Simon doesn’t like fast, flashing lights on stage, it gets him worried. Our newest song, Shut Your Face, is about Jeremy Clarkson and Nick Griffin. I guess we did get a bit political with that one. We’ve even been the subjects of a film called Heavy Load: A Film About Happiness. It follows our journey from the disabled arts world into the mainstream. It definitely ain’t a chick flick!

Our 'Stay Up Late' campaign is for those with disabilities who can’t stay out at night because their support workers clock off too early. It’s been received really well and there’ve been instances in Darlington and Middlesbrough where people have demanded more flexibility from their social services. It sends a strong message that there’s so much happening with music and disability, not just in this country, but all over the world.

We just want to show that having a learning disability doesn’t have to hold you back. We’re proof of that.”

For more visit Heavyload.org