The Dub Pistols grew out of the big beat explosion of the mid-1990s. Big beat was the anything goes reaction to formulaic house music. Main man Barry Ashworth began making beats with pal Jason O’Bryan, and bombastic first offering ‘There’s Gonna Be A Riot’ was signed by Concrete Records. A string of missives followed in its wake; the explosive Westway EP, a chipper ‘Cyclone’, which dented the UK national charts — and debut album Point Blank was released in 1998. The Dub Pistols were soon consolidating their position as festival-rocking favourites, due to a lot of hard graft and touring virtually non-stop. Ambitiously, the Dubs threw their first festival in 2019, Mucky Weekender. Featuring Leftfield, Stanton Warriors and more, it was raved about by attendees. The success of the first Mucky set it up nicely to become an annual event. Barry has been very open about his addictions and mental health issues, and in 2019 he did his first Wing Walk — strapped to the top of a bi-plane — to raise money for Tonic Music For Mental Health. Barry has now become a patron of the Tonic organisation. The Dubs released Frontline in 2023 on their own Cyclone Records, the label named after one of their early singles 25 years previously. Frontline reached No.3 in the UK independent album charts, and singles received radio play from the likes of Lauren Laverne and Steve Lamacq. It’s been a long road travelled, full of twists and turns, but with their legion of faithful fans and numerous collaborators and friends the Dubs are in a better place now than they’ve ever been. These renegade Pistoleros are unstoppable.