DONALD Trump’s state visit to the UK seems to be permanently on hold – but you can witness the next best thing in Warrington.

The President of the United States and his North Korean nemesis Kim Jong-un will appear in the town – in papier-mâché form – in the video for The Ambersons’ comeback single, Doodlebugs.

The Warrington band and live favourites recently reformed and started digging through their old tracks when they got the idea.

Bassist Andy Fairnington said: “When we got together we put some old tracks on and we realised we’ve got 50 odd songs.

“People have only heard a handful so we looked at what we could revisit before we get some new stuff out.”

The result of that was rediscovering Doodlebugs.

Andy, a former Warrington Collegiate student, said: “A doodlebug was a Second World War era flying bomb and when I was listening to the lyrics there were a lot of bomb references in there. We’re going to be putting together a music video for that in February with a friend of ours, Lee Harman, which involves a papier-mâché version of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.

“It’s going to be a slapstick video with those two chasing each other around Warrington.

“They’re always in the news talking about throwing bombs at each other and when this song about bombs cropped up I thought it was too good a chance to miss.”

The Ambersons went on a break in 2013. They left the scene on a high after supporting Happy Mondays at Warrington Music Festival and briefly returned to play Warrington Festival with Starsailor in 2016.

Andy, 39, added: “My brother Midge wanted a break from it because he had a couple of little ones but as soon as we got back together it was just hilarious.

“It’s not just the music you miss, it’s the camaraderie. You just get lost in adult life of working and paying your bills. Sometimes you forget what your passions were but as soon as I picked up the bass it felt natural for me to be doing it.

“To balance work and the band is difficult but we all make time at weekends and when you come back to it you realise you’re not chasing the dream anymore, you’re not chasing the money.

“We’re just going to make music and if we get a label who want to put it out so be it and if not we’ll put it out ourselves.

“The main thing is to create music with your friends.”

The band have a big opportunity coming up though – a show for Independent Venue Week at the Parr Hall on February 3, headlined by Birchwood’s Man and The Echo.

Andy, who attended William Beamont High School, said: “Ben (Ashton, guitarist) and I had been in cahoots for the past couple of months before Christmas.

“We’ve both written about six new tracks each. So we were talking about maybe recording a new album when we got the invitation from Parr Hall to play at the Independent Venue Week show, which is a celebration of small venues across the UK.

“That was the catalyst then. You don’t turn the Parr Hall down and when I realised Man and the Echo were playing, who are friends of mine, I jumped at the chance.

Andy also praised Warrington’s ‘thriving’ live scene.

He added: “Parr Hall is attracting decent touring bands and there are good exhibitions at the Pyramid so fair play to them for doing this as well

“And venues like The Lounge and Hernando’s Hideaway have been putting bands on for years.

“There are now a lot of places to play and watch bands in the Cultural Quarter. Warrington’s scene is really thriving.

“We gave Viola Beach their first gig at The Lounge. We had a show booked in there and those guys were rehearsing downstairs.

“Tom, who was working there at the time, asked if they could play. We gave them half an hour and they blew us off the stage. I have fond memories of those guys.”

  • The Ambersons will perform at Parr Hall for Independent Venue Week on February 3. Tickets are £5. Visit pyramidparrhall.com

COMPETITION

To celebrate reforming, The Ambersons have some goodies to give away including two tickets to the Independent Venue Week show with Man and The Echo, a signed copy of their EP and a set of drumsticks.

The Ambersons will be sharing this story on their Facebook page here.

For a chance of winning simply go to their page and like and share the post with the Warrington Guardian story.