Pendle based former percussionist with British post punk band The Fall to headline Gisburn's SeekOut Festival with Imperial Wax band

Now he is banging the drums for Imperial Wax, who describe themselves as ‘noise rock garage brawlers unafraid of a Rockabilly dust-up.’

And the survivors of the last and longest version of The Fall provide the headline act for this weekend’s SeekOut music and arts festival, beginning this Friday in the Gisburn Forest, near Clitheroe.

“I was a young lad working in a factory in Nelson and then I got the opportunity of a lifetime to travel the world with The Fall, so it was a dream come true,” said Melling. “There was this view about Mark E Smith, that he was cantankerous and ill-tempered, and some people enjoyed provoking him to get a reaction, but deep down he was a civilised and decent fella and he really cared about people.

“But when Mark died The Fall went with him.”

The Fall have been described as ‘the most prolific band of the British post-punk movement’ and, from 1979 to 2017, they released 31 studio albums They were associated with the BBC DJ John Peel, who championed them from early on in their career and described them as his favourite band.

There’s a nod to The Fall in the band’s name though. Imperial Wax Solvent was The Fall’s 26 th studio album, and the first Fall album featuring Melling on drums, alongside past and present members of Imperial Wax, Pete Greenway and Dave Spurr. “When we started out doing live shows with Imperial Wax, we had people turning up with clipboards expecting to hear Mr Pharmacist. (song by The Fall)

“Mark E Smith had an incredible work ethic, and it was a privilege to play with The Fall, but we were fiercely determined to stamp our own identity on our own music,” added Melling.

Imperial Wax’s new album – Tranquilliser – is a taut, knife edge churning slice of garage rock – anchored with thundering grooves and explosive tunes like the foot-stomping No Control, Less I Need and Post Lobotomy. “We are very proud of it (Tranquilliser) because it was a long and winding path between our first record, Gastwerk Saboteurs five years ago, and this one, which is a lot more aggressive,” said Melling.

“There was the Covid-19 pandemic, then we had to re-record the album and we were waiting for Pete Greenway, our guitarist, to get better as he was poorly with Long Covid. It felt like we were doomed. But we got it finished and there’s definitely a bit of pent-up lockdown energy in there

“It was fun, but real graft.”

He adds: “I’m a great believer that nothing should be handed to you on a plate – you have to work jolly hard for it – it is The Fall way.”

SeekOut festival runs from, Friday to Sunday, July 26th to 28th. The line-up includes Memorials, Acid Klaus, Group Listening, Dog Daisies, Holiday Ghosts, Viper Time and Frank So. There is a campsite available at Stephen Park and the last few tickets for SeekOut are available via the Grand Theatre, Clitheroe, wwwgrandvenue.co.uk or www.SeekOutfestival.co.uk