SOUTHAMPTON indie band The Costellos are set to play at their first ever Isle of Wight Festival.

The teenage rock and rollers, who regularly play at The Joiners on St Mary Street, jumped at the chance to play at Seaclose Park.

Lead singer George Dummett, guitarist Declan Byrne, bassist Harry Stevenson and drummer Tomi Lewis met the Daily Echo at The Platform Tavern on Town Quay only yards away from the Red Funnel terminal where they will set sail for the festival.

“We saw the invitation to play on our Facebook page. It didn’t take long for us to decide to accept!” laughed Tomi.

“They’ve offered us free tickets and food plus the chance to play and we thought that was a great deal” added Harry.

George explained how they were originally spotted: “The owners of the place where we’ll play saw us supporting The Spitfires at The Loft in Portsmouth and one thing led to another.”

The Costellos will play the Shape and Scene stage at least three times over the long weekend starting on Thursday evening at 5 o’clock.

“That means we will be one of the first bands on, which will be really special for us. We’ll be starting the music early” said George.

The band joked that with three performances they will quickly overtake some of the legendary stars that have headlined the festival over the years.

The lads are also excited about who they will watch when not playing themselves.

“We won’t miss The Charlatans” said Declan.

“Plus Courteeners, The Black Keys and our great friends The Spitfires, The Novatones and The Rising” added the others.

“We’re also keen to see acts that we wouldn’t usually listen to like Pharrell Williams” said Harry.

“I’d like to get hold of one of his hats” he added.

Together with The Novatones, The Rising and Saints of Sin it means there are four local Southampton bands on different stages across the Isle of Wight site. It’s a big success story for the city.

Like so many of their contemporaries the band had a slot at Common People in May on the Uncommon Stage after winning a battle of the bands competition at The Joiners.

“We knew we had twenty minutes to impress the judges, which included Rob da Bank. The best thing was to go full blast without stopping” said Harry.

Their tactics worked and The Costellos played their highly energetic set to around 400 people in the Sunday sunshine on the Common.

The band only got together in their current formation in February 2014 when George joined, but their rapid rise meant only five months later they were supporting The Hooisers.

They have also supported South Yorkshire favourites The Sherlocks, who also play the Isle of Wight on Thursday evening on the Jack Rocks stage and then return to The Joiners on Saturday 27 June.

But things haven’t always gone smoothly. When playing a March of the Mods gig at the Fiddler’s Elbow in Camden this year the band forgot to bring most of their drum kit.

“We’d been at The Joiners the night before and left our symbols and sticks there” said Harry.

“We had to race around London to get new ones!” laughed Tomi.

And the band will need all their equipment as they have big plans for the rest of 2015. Their new single “Mould me a New One” will be out later in the summer on ITunes and there are other plans that are still under wraps.

The Costellos play the Shape and Scene stage throughout the Isle of Wight festival weekend 11-14 June 2015.

Interview by Richard Derbyshire.