THE frontman of Blue Rose Code, who will be playing in Irvine’s upcoming Making Waves festival, hopes the band’s high energy performance can help them grow.

Leith-born Ross Wilson fronts the band and will be bringing a full seven-piece band, replete with horn section, keys and all the nuts and bolts required for performing on a festival stage.

Blue Rose Code are five albums in and have found the middle ground between the uplifting Celtic soul of Van Morrison and the Blue Nile’s more late night, jazz-inflected moments.

Ahead of Making Waves, on July 22 and 23, Ross chatted with the Times about his experiences.

He said: “Your typical Blue Rose Code fan is hard to pigeonhole. Maybe it’s because we’re all good players, but people who’ve grown up with classic rock tend to like us, although we’re as far away from classic rock as you can get.

“I’d suggest that music fans of all persuasions like us, although they maybe don’t realise that yet!

“I hope after Making Waves that there are a few more people who maybe didn’t know us beforehand that will be intrigued enough to discover more of our music.

“I’ve built up my own reputation, but I’m very keen that Blue Rose Code starts making its name as a festival band.”

Ross will be bringing with him a seven-piece-band, which he expects to make for an entertaining show. He says it’s something he learned after supporting Deacon Blue on tour.

Ross commented: “ I’ll be honest, the first two or three nights, I was not ready for it. It was tough. The crowd wasn’t interested in what I was doing or why I was there, they were just impatiently waiting for Deacon Blue to come on.

“By the time we’d got to Glasgow’s Hydro I had a bigger band, a more confident presence, and it was magical.

“For Making Waves, I’ll have my cookin’ 7-piece band on stage with me and we’ll be playing our uplifting, soulful, festival-friendly material as loudly as possible.

“We‘re a healthy bunch too, none of us drink or smoke, so backstage before we go on, we’ve taken to doing press ups as a group. Press ups and uplifting Celtic soul in the mid-afternoon? What more do you need?!”

READ MORE: Del Amitri's Justin Currie on festivals ahead of Ayrshire's Making Waves