A CARLISLE band are celebrating their 30th anniversary with a gig this weekend.

Cosmic Cat will perform at the Brickyard on Friday.

The five-piece formed in 1991 and have been going strong ever since. Drummer Simon ‘Spike’ Buttress said that “the love of playing music, but more importantly playing music that we like” is what kept them together.

“That may sound a bit weird, but many musicians stay in bands because they just want to play and aren’t perhaps totally into the output.

“It’s been easy to stay together, we share a common love and there’s something a bit special when we write. Musically we just gel, and there is telepathy at work quite often.”

Cosmic Cat – John ‘Smoz’ Moses, Simon ‘Spike’ Buttress, Johnny Becker, and Terry and Garry Kerr – came together after all being in bands before and all knowing each other.

Spike said: “I think we were unique from the outset but naturally so and as we all have wildly varying musical backgrounds and influences, I believe this shaped our sound and style.”

He said that the music scene had changed in Carlisle since they started. “The quality, quantity, and diversity of original music in Carlisle and Cumbria is better than ever. The local scene is always vibrant and continually adapts to the venues available.”

After announcing the show, Cosmic Cat has had lots of requests from friends to contribute.

“We eventually decided to make it more of a party than a gig by creating some space in the schedule to have a beer and a catch up with everyone.”

The show will be opened by Christian Moss, Steve Wilson and Stephen Harkins.

Cosmic Cat will be joined onstage by The PussyHorns, The Unsungs’s Julia Leyland and mylittlebrother’s Will Harris.

Spike said: “We are aiming to play a good, varied selection of material spanning the 30 years and we are still coming up with fanciful ideas, none of which will materialise probably, (apart perhaps for a curry van and a raffle).”

Tickets can be found at www.thebrickyardonline.com and www.seetickets.com or from The Brickyard, The Kings Head and Vinyl Café, Carlisle.