Prepare to get caught by the Fuzz all over again at The Wedgewood Rooms

That was two-and-a-half years ago. Since then the alt-rock band have largely been on hold as jobs and life in general intervened.

But the Fareham-based four-piece are back, and in a statement of intent have booked themselves a gig at The Wedgewood Rooms.

Bassist Josh Rowe explains: ‘Just before The Cellars gig, Dave our drummer moved to London. We had a chat and said we’d still do what we can.’

Since then, though, the only time they’ve played has been at an annual private show.

Speaking earlier this week, Josh says: ‘Dave’s work is full-on, so it’s difficult. He’s coming down on Wednesday. When he does come down we have to cram it in – so we’ll be practicing Thursday and Friday, then it’s the gig on Saturday.

‘The rest of us still live locally, so we get together and we’ve been writing some new stuff.

‘Then out of some crazy idea, Dave said we should play at The Wedge, we were like, we haven’t played properly in nearly three years. We did a charity gig in Gosport last year, but that was a last minute, low-key thing.

‘But this is The Wedge! We’ve played there loads over the years, but never put our own show on there.’

While Josh admits they’ve been less active than they’d like, there was no suggestion they’d stop doing the band.

‘We did release some tracks in the last couple of years, but it’s sort of gone quiet. We all love it and when Dave moved away we said there’s no reason to jack it in – this is the 10th year we’ve been doing this now. We were all still at school when we started.’

There’s never been any question of the three guys in Hampshire finding a replacement for their redoubtable drummer though.

‘I’ve known Dave since I was about four – we went to primary school together.’

Inspired by the Arctic Monkeys’ debut album, Dave and Josh formed another band, Marmalade Miners (‘terrible name’ laughs Josh), that eventually morphed into the Fuzz, completed by singer/guitarist Ryan Powell and guitarist Max Pill.

‘Because I’ve been playing with Dave on drums for so long, I can’t imagine playing with anyone else now. And he’s probably the most sensible person in the band – this gig is all his doing. He’s very organised, I think without him we just wouldn’t do anything.

‘I wouldn’t ever want to replace Dave. It would be weird, and he’s the driving force.’

And Josh is hoping this gig will be a catalyst to the guys picking up the band’s activity again.

‘It would be great to be gigging more regularly.

‘Maybe it sounds a bit clichéd, but we’ve still got people who want to come and see us – whether it’s our mums or our old friends, but they’re still out there.’

And a link back to their opening act from that Cellars gig may help.

‘Jerry Williams opened for us, after that she’s obviously taken off. About a month ago, Max and I went to one of her gigs here in Portsmouth. I felt like I was fangirling a bit – I spoke to her afterwards and asked her if she remembered us. I spoke to her manager as well, and he asked if we’re still gigging, and he gave us some contacts. Hopefully this might be a catalyst – we want to record again. We’ve got new tracks no-one’s ever heard and we’ll try some of them out at The Wedge and see if anyone likes them.’

And Josh is bullish about their future.

‘When you’ve been doing it for 10 years, there are times when you think it’s never going to go anywhere, we’re just doing it for fun, but there are bands I’m into who didn’t get discovered until their late 20s – I don’t think Royal Blood were signed until they were 28. We’re only 24. Not that I’m saying it’s going to happen, but it’s never too late to try. It may be a bit optimistic, but hey!’

The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea

Saturday, August 12

wedgewood-rooms.co.uk