Frank Turner has worked long and hard at becoming an overnight success. After an early career as front man of post-punk band Million Dead, he spent many a year plugging away as a solo artist, releasing a series of cult albums and EPs, clocking up more than 1,000 gigs in the process.

With his last album, 2009's Poetry of the Deed, Turner hit the big time. The record, packed with heartfelt tunes and lyrical invention, garnered rave reviews and saw him attract a diverse new stack of fans.

Turner, who will play at Kingston indie night New Slang later this month, is now hoping to build on this momentum with his new album, England Keep My Bones, and his latest batch of live dates.

“I'm enormously proud of the diversity of people I get coming to my shows now - I'm not quite sure why it has worked out like that,” he says.

“I don't mean this in a disparaging way but in Million Dead we just played to angry 21-year-old kids in black jeans, but it is fantastic that I now get punk kids down the front and parents at the back.

“I describe my music as folk and it is an ideological statement because I want it to be for everyone to listen to.”

During the course of his career, Turner has always prided himself on the way he keeps in close contact with his fans. So has the fact things have exploded for him affected his ability to stay in touch with his avid supporters? Not really, apparently.

“I've had to be stricter with myself in terms of replying to all the emails because otherwise I wouldn't have time to do anything else. I'm getting better at not sending everyone a four page treatise on whatever it is,” he explains.

“My email address is still on my website though and I still hang out at all the shows.”

Turner has left his band at home for his current solo tour, which calls in on New Slang on May 26. Tickets have already sold out but 50 more will be sold on the door – you'll need to get in there early to avoid disappointment.

As well as headlining New Slang, Turner will also be playing an early evening set at Banquet Records for under-18s.

For more information, visit banquetrecords.com