After forming in 2004, Marner Brown became firm favourites at Filthy McNasty’s, Twickenham, thanks to their raucous shows. With supports slots with Ocean Colour Scene and Babyshambles, and a stint in Paul Weller’s studio under their belts, the band have signed a deal with an American label and are heading Stateside to try their luck. Lead singer Fiachra Kerrigan spoke to Will Gore.

Will Gore: Why is the Red Lion [formerly Filthy McNasty’s] so important to the band?

Fiachra Kerrigan: We come from Twickenham, Chiswick and Teddington and spent most of our time rehearsing in Filthy’s – it was our favourite haunt. We signed our deal there as it would have felt wrong doing it elsewhere. The people who run it now are on the same wavelength as us and want to make it a great venue again.

WG: Tell us about the deal.

FK: We have been signed by Road Warrior Entertainment in New York and in September are heading there to play a few shows and start on our album.

WG: Why go to America?

FK: In Britain, the music industry is really fashion driven but in the States it is more open-minded – if you are good you are good. They also have a weird obsession with the British rock star – they make you order your breakfast twice just to hear your accent.

WG: How are preparations for the new album going?

FK: We have it down from 40 to 25 songs. We have picked up some songs we left behind years ago – we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss any hidden gems. We want to finish the album by October 20 and then we will be doing shows in New York, Chicago, Boston and LA before heading back to Britain.

WG: How would you describe your sound?

FK: I guess we are indie-rock and there are elements of pop too. We grew up listening to Led Zeppelin, the Beatles and the Stones and are also influenced by bands like Kasabian and Oasis.

WG: Marner Brown has already played plenty of high-profile support slots but playing with Ocean Colour Scene must have been a highlight?

FK: When I was growing up, Ocean Colour Scene was my number one band. I met our future manager when he got us a gig supporting Baby-shambles. A year on he approached us about becoming our manager and said he had got us a support slot with Ocean Colour Scene. Since then we have done various tours with them and become friends, which has been amazing for me.

WG: How did your link up with Paul Weller come about?

FK: We did an acoustic tour with Ocean Colour Scene and Weller saw us in London. He is another massive hero of mine and he gave us use of his studio to record when he was a away in Japan. We finished our demo there.

WG: Before heading to America the band is playing a show at the Halfmoon, Putney. I hear you picked up another famous fan last time you played at the venue?

FK: Ronnie Wood knocked on our dressing-room door and asked if he could come in. It was quite bizarre – he stayed and had a drink and a chat. He was then nice enough to mention us in an interview he did about bands he would recommend.

Marner Brown play the Halfmoon, Putney, on August 28. Visit myspace.com/ marnerbrownband.