CHAOS.

That is the word Mik Artistik used to describe his upcoming Warrington gig.

And considering the performer is renowned for his random observations and streams of consciousness at his eclectic concerts, that is exactly what the crowd at the Pyramid can expect.

Glastonbury favourites Mik Artistik's Ego Trip are playing on October 9 as part of Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival with a unique show that sits somewhere between performance art and live music.

Mik, who appeared in an episode of Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights, said: "People can expect chaos, merriment, sadness, panic, anxiety and whimsy – so a fairly mixed bag of stuff.

"Some people get it straight away, others take five minutes and some people don’t get it at all.

"But it’s fairly immediate. We’ve been doing it 10 years now so we can hold a crowd and there’s a lot of confidence in the band.

"It’s an unusual act. It’s special, it’s unique and it works on various levels so it can appeal to small kids, pensioners, divorcees, spotty teenagers and goths."

And it seems that Mik's fans are just as eccentric as he is.

The 60-year-old added: "Some are almost obsessive and get T-shirts printed with slogans and lyrics printed on and they come up to me and give me presents.

"One guy handed me a big garden ornament from Cornwall. Unfortunately I broke it after about 10 minutes. It fell off the stage and lost an ear.

"People do take the band to their hearts and it’s sort of like a love affair. It’s a world that some people want to jump into and be part of.

"It’s very flattering. It’s a lovely thing when people say: ‘You made me cry’ and they come and give you a big bear hug.

"It’s sweet that you can bring some joy to people’s lives in hard times. We all need a bit of light relief – or heavy relief."

Each of Mik's shows are truly different and unpredictable too. Usually about two thirds of the performance is improvised and some songs are dedicated to things he finds on the street or glimpses in the corner of his eye.

"It could be a sticker or a little broken toy," said Mik, who performs with Benson Walker and Jonny Flockton.

"I stop, pick it up and bring it home which drives my girlfriend mad.

"I’ve got a Wellington boot, a sheep, a Thompson Twin, a fox and an amputee tortoise sitting on my windowsill.

"I take these things home and then a little story happens in my head and I write a song about them.

"If I get on a roll sometimes we can do a song and when the gig’s finished we’re basically still doing the same song.

"Sometimes we don’t even have a song. We played at Festival No 6 at Portmeirion where The Prisoner was filmed and I started telling everybody that we were all Frank Sinatra.

"We have eight albums to go on and a set list but occasionally I’ll wander off-piste and have a chat to the audience and that can ramble on.

"It’s also fun stepping off the stage and watching the band as a member of the audience.

"Even I don’t know what’s going to happen next. I get the microphone and God knows what’s going to happen.

"It’s exciting. There’s a crackle there because everyone is involved. It’s got more experimental as I’ve grown in confidence. I like to jump out of the void and talk rubbish.

"A lot of my favourite gigs are where things have gone wrong.

"The power’s gone, the leads have broken but it turns into something wonderful so I can never tell when I’m going to have a great gig.

"I like to frighten myself, frighten everyone else and have fun.

"I’m 60 now, I don’t have much time to waste and I’m not going to go through the motions because life is too short.

"I feel it’s my duty to really please myself and be awkward and make life difficult for myself and others. I don’t want an easy ride. I want mischief and I want fun."

Born in Ireland but brought up in Leeds, Mik grew up in a family of musicians.

Mik added: "I’ve got five brothers and a sister and we used to make up songs so I assumed everyone else did that.

"Then when you get older you realise that this is what you’re good at.

"I always loved drawing pictures as well. I liked drawing cowboys and footballers and superheroes. I liked the human form and the shape of people’s faces.

"I was never bothered by inanimate things like cars and buildings and I was never in it to win prizes at school.

"I just did it because it pleased me and helped me make sense of my life. I used to draw in the little white spaces in my mum’s magazines."

Mik studied at Bradford Art College but struggled to find his place in the art world.

He felt much more at home in pubs sketching people's portraits – on brown paper bags.

Mik said: "I wander around with a Biro and a paper bag and I ‘bag’ people.

"People used to come out of the house with bags of sweets and I think it has connotations of mystery and pleasure.

"It kind of clicked when I saw some paper bags on the counter in a bread shop in Ireland.

"Then I went to the pub across the road and asked somebody if they wanted to be ‘bagged’. That was it. I’d made a new movement."

- Mik Artistik's Ego Trip perform at the Pyramid on October 9. Visit pyramidparrhall.com or call 442345.

DAVID MORGAN