CUMBRIAN punk is nothing new, but 2017 has felt like its big breakthrough year.

We had more local representatives at this summer's Rebellion Festival than ever before, some of the region's bigger names have started to make inroads into Europe, and even the nationals have sat up and taken note.

The Scumbrians could also be considered the poster boys for the scene; the name, and the familiar look - they capture the essence of what it is to be a punk in Cumbria.

When the Guardian came calling recently, the Whitehaven outfit were as shocked as anyone to find their photo staring back at them from the front page.

"It came as quite a surprise," says bassist Kristie Mason.

"News has been travelling fast, and we have had a lot of interest after our article, including from a major German TV channel who want to do some filming with us for a documentary, which we are looking forward to.

"Our Cumbrian punk scene has deserved some recognition as there are a lot of amazing punk and oi bands, and it is increasing all the time as more and more people are getting involved in some way or another, whether that's putting on gigs, performing gigs or attending them."
The Scumbrians (photo by Martyn Cockbain)

It has been a big year for The Scumbrians; since launching their debut album at the tail-end of 2016, they have found themselves on many of the county's summer festival bills, supported legends UK Subs, and they were among the Cumbrian contingent that headed to Blackpool for Rebellion.

Kristie continues: "It has been a real good year for us. We played a lot of new places, met a lot of good people and seen our fan base grow, but the highlight would have to be playing Rebellion's Introducing stage.

"We packed out the venue that much that security had to stop people coming into the arena - there was approximately 300 people in, that for us was a first. We must have impressed as we've been asked back to play next year."

The up-and-coming four-piece - completed by Luke Norman on vocals, Jake McAllister on guitar, and drummer Ryan Hodgson - are still in their formative stages, having played their first gig just three years ago.

They have quickly picked up a strong local following for their no-nonsense, old school punk, but 2018 should be the year that sees The Scumbrians playing stages around the country.


The Scumbrians (photo by Martyn Cockbain) "We are in the early stages of creating new songs for our second album, which will be even better than the first, and we're looking to get that out as soon as we can," says Kristie.

"As a band we are growing all the time musically, and this will be reflected through the new album as our ability is increasing from practising and live performances.

"One of our main objectives is to get our album recorded and released, with perhaps a single or two. We also want to get a few new music videos to accompany them, not to mention playing plenty of gigs, supporting bigger bands and playing to bigger audiences to stretch our fan base both nationally and internationally in the not so distant future."

The Scumbrians headline a charity show that they have organised this weekend, in memory of their friend Chris Sim, who died earlier this year.

Joined by an array of Cumbria's top punk bands, the event at St Begh's Social Club, in Whitehaven, on Saturday will raise money for the British Heart Foundation and to epilepsy research. Only a limited number of tickets remain, but they can be booked by messaging The Scumbrians' Facebook page .