Dub Pistols pay tribute to The Specials' Terry Hall on new album Frontline as they prepare for Wedgewood Rooms gig

​Hard-partying, liver-destroying, substance-sniffing, maybe...

But the final track of the electronic/hip-hop/ska band’s new album, Frontline, is a heartfelt number entitled simply Love – a tribute of sorts to frontman Barry Ashworth’s good friend Terry Hall, The Specials’ legendary vocalist who died last December.

‘Our next single Love, is a total nod to Terry,’ says Barry, ‘the last words Terry ever spoke were, “Love, love, love”, which is why it's the final track on the album.’

Both Terry and Barry are patrons of Tonic, the Portsmouth-based music and mental health charity, but their friendship predates their involvement with the good cause.

‘We toured together, he performed on two of our albums – Speakers and Tweeters, and Rum and Coke – we recorded many songs together and he toured with us for like four years. We became close friends.’

The announcement of Hall’s death of cancer at 63 came as a shock to many.

‘It was diagnosed late, and I got a call from Lynval (Golding, The Specials’ guitarist) on that Sunday to say it was hours away.’

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Dub Pistols also helped provide a catalyst for The Specials’ 2008 reunion when Hall invited Golding onstage with them in 2007 to play the classic Gangsters. It helped pave the way for numerous tours and two more albums from the Two-Tone legends.

‘When your biggest hero is on stage with you, which Terry was to me, well...’ adds Barry, ‘and he became a dear friend. The Specials were my favourite band when I was growing up.’

Frontline is the Pistols’ ninth studio album and it marks a watershed moment for the band, as Barry explains: ‘It's really cool, because for the first time we've taken our own life and our own destiny into our own hands. It's been self-funded and put out on my own label, Cyclone Records, so for the first time ever, we've not had another label, I'm responsible for my own failure!’

The band rode the ‘big beat’ hype of the ’90s alongside acts like Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy and they were infamously signed to Geffen Records for $1.5m, but these days their ambitions are more modest.

‘I just felt I'd got to the point in my career where we're not going to be the next big thing. Radio 1 and that's not going to be playing us. We've become a cult band, we've got a good following and have a solid fanbase, and that's what drives it.

‘We can do all the other stuff ourselves, so it was better to own 100 per cent of your thing than give 50 per cent to someone else. It was just about taking our destiny into our own hands, and I think so far I've been proved that I've made the right decision.’

There is also a long-awaited feature-length documentary What Could Possibly Go Wrong? charting the band’s history, touted as far back as 2015, which looks like it could finally be nearing release.

‘The plan is for it to be released in September. We're literally in the final throes of the last edit.

‘It's very much a redemption story – it's sex, drugs and rock'n'roll, what goes up must come down. it was going to come out in 2020 – we had a new album coming out, a festival that was sold out, everything was looking like we'd finally cracked it and then Covid kicked in. It was another “what could possibly go wrong?” scenario. So the happy ending never came. We've just been waiting to write that! We do want to finally sail off into the sunset.

‘It's hilariously sad. It's like Spinal Tap times god knows how many, but real.’

Dub Pistols most recent visit to Portsmouth was last summer’s Victorious Festival, where the band suffered a power cut. Instead of leaving the stage, Barry led the sizable crowd in an anti-Tory chant until power was restored.

‘That was a lively day wasn't it?’ Barry chuckles at the memory. ‘We had a power cut, and it was just as the cost of living crisis was kicking in – we joked that no one could afford the energy to drive the generators. But that was a brilliant day, I love Victorious, It's a fantastic, and playing for the Beats and Swing crew down there, it was one of my highlights.’

Barry also curates his own festival – The Mucky Weekender (named after the Pistols’ anthem to a full-on 48 hours), which takes place on Vicarage Farm near Winchester on September 8-9.

And it’s shaping up nicely: ‘So far, so good. Sales have gone through the roof, we've got The Selecter, Mungo's Hi-Fi, The Skints, Stereo MCs, Goldie, General Levy, the list just goes on – we've raised our bar.

‘For me to have everyone coming to Winchester is just brilliant. To watch it having grown over four years from an idea and a pipedream, it's something I'm massively proud of.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​’

Dub Pistols play The Wedgewood Rooms, Southsea on Saturday, March 18, supported by Wiservice. Doors 7.30pm. Tickets £18. Go to wedgewood-rooms.co.uk.