They might have a cuddly name but the Hamsters are anything but.

One of the hardest working bands on the circuit – they have performed almost 4,500 gigs in a career spanning 24 years – they return to Sutton with their rearranged show marking the 40th anniversary of the death of Jimi Hendrix.

Helen Barnes chats to Barry (Snail's Pace Slim) Martin about the gig, Hendrix’s music and the reason behind the band’s name.

What’s it been like doing this tour – the first Hendrix memorial tour in 15 years?

It’s been great to go out and play Jimi’s music – we incorporate it into what we do anyway but we haven’t done a comprehensive tour like this for a long while. It’s great fun getting reacquainted with some of the songs. Three generations of people come along to the shows. He has an enduring appeal.

The people that come to the shows are they fans of Hendrix or the Hamsters?

A bit of both. A lot of today’s music is so anodyne. Some of the older generations say I want you to hear how it used to be done rather than some Simon Cowell drivel. It’s gratifying from that point of view. In our own small way we are carrying the torch a little bit.

What influence did Hendrix and his music have on you?

I grew up listening to him. Jimi was such an entertainer. The thing that appealed most to me was that he was such an amazing songwriter. That, for me, is his enduring appeal, the fact that he wrote so many beautiful songs.

In the four years really that he was here – he died a few days short of four years of arriving in Britain – it’s incredible the amount he achieved. When you see the critics’ albums of all time, Jimi’s three studio albums are in that and quite high up too.

What’s your favourite Hendrix track to perform?

I have a different Jimi favourite song every week really. The Burning of the Midnight Lamp is my current favourite. In the main we play the songs he performed live, we try and recreate the live music.

How did the band start?

We got together for a laugh. We started out doing our own thing and some blues covers. We had the idea of doing some Hendrix tracks at a gig in 1987. They were really well received so we did some more. We never wanted to be a tribute band, that’s not our thing. The Jimi thing is part of what we do.

When you started out did you think you would still be going 24 years on?

Absolutely not. When we started out it was a very exciting time, we found that people liked what we did. There was a tremendous buzz about us in the early days. The formation of the band coincided with the M25 being completed – it meant we could easily get to exotic places like Guildford, High Wycombe and Milton Keynes. For the first 18 months, when the guys still had day jobs, we started to build a following. After 18 months we thought we could go professional and go all over the place. It was never the intention to be in the charts.

The name the Hamsters was an alias used by the Sex Pistols – why did you choose it?

It was funny. It was never meant to be a career move. Because the Sex Pistols were so in your face I thought it was funny that they had a name like that to go out and do gigs. An aggressive rock’n’roll band with a cuddly name. It was meant to be ironic.

You use pseudonyms in the band – what’s the reason behind it?

Spike Milligan used to say that an interesting lie is better than a boring truth. It’s a bit of fun really – we use them for fun.

Are the Hamsters all about fun?

We are serious about what we do but we don’t take ourselves seriously. It’s all about the audience really. It’s something that an awful lot of performers forget is that they are there because the audience put them there. Our raison d’être really is to entertain people.

The Hamsters: Jimi Hendrix 40th Anniversary Memorial Tour, Boom Boom Club, Sutton United FC, Gander Green Lane, March 20, 7.30pm, £12. Call 020 8761 9078 or visit feenstra.co.uk.