Craig Reid of the Proclaimers spoke to Helen Geraghty ahead of the band’s Kent gig this weekend.

They may well just have turned 50, but identical twins Craig and Charlie Reid of Scottish band the Proclaimers aren’t planning on turning down their legendary volume any time soon.

They’ll be belting out hits from Sunshine on Leith to I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles), in Canterbury as part of a tour which coincides with the release of their latest album, Like Comedy.

Craig reckons this is their first gig in Kent, although with 26 years since their first album, they could be forgiven for forgetting one or two of the noisier nights of their youth.

Craig, who predictably calls himself “the good-looking one”, says the audience can expect a mix of new songs and classics. What the Proclaimers can expect from their enduringly devoted audience is anyone’s guess.

He said: “We’ll do something from down the years, a few hits and then try to switch it about. We don’t do the same from one night to the next so people can expect a real mix of stuff. There’ll be 500 miles, I’m on my Way and Let’s Get Married, people always want those.”

“Our fanbase goes from kids aged four or five to people in their 60s. There’s a fair split between male and female. They do make me laugh and they do go wild.”

Of the pair, Craig does most of the writing which he reckons is one of the very best parts of the job. He believes the way to avoid writer’s block is just to keep some kind of music and words flowing, even if you don’t necessarily knock out hit after hit.

“When I wrote Let’s Get Married, for example, I’d got married in 1989 and wrote it in 1992. Usually when I’m writing a song, I get the tune first and that song was no exception. It was a matter of not knowing what it’s actually about until you get the chorus, I think.

“I love writing. When there’s a gap, like we had after 1989 it gets difficult and becomes more difficult. But once you persevere and get an album out you can start writing another one fine. If you get to a situation where you think it’s difficult and then you get frustrated with yourself it can be hard to write.

“A lot of our songs are kind of ‘spiritual’ and I suppose you either feel it or you don’t. We tend to write from personal experience and observation. Whatever’s going around in your life but sometimes you don’t write about it straight away.”

Craig and his wife have four children, aged from 14 to 19, and their childhood, like his own, has been surrounded by music at home.

“My family around me were musical and music fans too. Music at school? I didn’t mind it. I think we started playing in a band about 14 or 15 and we were writing too from that time.

“I was playing drums and doing backing singing. I write at the piano now. But anyone can think of melodies, it’s something you can do without being a great musician. My eldest daughter plays guitar and writes songs now.”

And at the Marlowe Theatre on Friday, you can be sure the twins will be having as much fun as you are.

Craig added: “Making records is something you have to do. But writing a new song and playing it live – those are the best bits of the job.”

The Proclaimers are at Canterbury’s Marlowe Theatre on Friday, November 2 at 7.30pm. Tickets £24.50. Box office 01227 787787.