HE was once tracked down by an American groupie all the way from Japan following an international tour, however this time The Alarm’s Mike Peters has invited fans into his home to mark four decades of the band’s cult following.

Mike Peters said that while the Rhyl punk band was "disappointed" to cancel a series of shows over the last six months, it has resulted in “a really creative situation” as he prepares for next summer’s The Alarm Experience 40 - Rock And Roll Staycation, a concert series which will feature performances and discussions of the band's history since 1981. It will see a programme of Big Night in Friday online broadcasts and intimate Saturday evening acoustic concerts in their home village Dyserth, as well as the triple-platform release of anniversary compilation History Repeating.

Die-hard fans from as far as Berlin and Dallas who secured tickets before they sold out within hours will be able to watch the performances live and visit some of the North Wales locations that have inspired Mr Peters and wife and keyboardist Jules over the years.

“We’re in a really creative period until 2022 so we wanted to put on some shows at home,” said Mr Peters.

“We’re really at home with it because we have always gone out to meet radio stations, at breakfast time shouting down a microphone, playing on hospital wards or in mountain villages in Africa where you just pull out a guitar, so this is an extension of that.”

Adapting to changing times is something Mr Peters has always done since debut album Absolute Reality, from the rise of the internet which Mr Peters delved into as a means of directly communicating with his followers, to the huge challenge of the cancer diagnosis he faced in more recent years.

“That’s what the Alarm has always been about,” he said. “During the uncertainty of cancer and working with the NHS to keep going, being able to communicate with our audience and invite them into our world has kept the band going.”

While The Alarm has always had this outward focus it has also forever been rooted in North Wales, which Mr Peters says continues to inspire his music, including 2018 album Equals which featured on BBC Radio 1’s New Rock Album Chart.

The upcoming anniversary compilation History Repeating will feature the Rhyl Town Hall clock and some of the band’s Welsh songs in a nod to its bilingual albums, which Mr Peters says is just as important as their English language performances to crowds in Japan or Australia.

“We were one of the first bands to release an album in Welsh and English as there was no bilingualism in Wales in the 80s,” he said.

“Being a Welsh band is part of our identity, it set us apart. I’m Welsh through and through and crave the silence of Wales to be creative; we came back here at the touchstone of our success.

“When fans come to visit they will see the Red Dragon and Croeso i Cymru as they cross the border and see where The Alarm was born.”