Dave Finnegan is probably best known for his role as the mad drummer, Mickah Wallace, in the 1991 mega-hit film the Commitments.

But what’s perhaps lesser known is he is a singer and musician in his own right, and is playing in Southend on Friday, May 29, with his band Dave Finnegan and Mighty Mustang.

I spoke to him over the phone while he was at his home in Southend, recovering from a broken leg and just starting to walk again.

He lives here these days, thanks to finally landing the woman of his dreams, Maxine. “I fancied her years, but she was with someone else,” he says.

Born and bred in Dublin, Dave’s career first started out when he was 15, playing in rockabilly and psychobilly bands, such as the Boneshakers, Shark Bait and Scared Stiff.

“As a kid, I was listening to people like Elvis and Bill Haley,” says the now 48-year-old in a broad Dublin accent. “I liked the look, the teddy boy scene and the big quiffs.

“I started playing in a band and when the singer left, I took over the vocals.

By that time I was into psychobilly, the quiffs got bigger and we used to get the crowds going, busking and playing in pubs.

“I used to play in my boxer shorts on stage and with my big quiff, and all that, so I did become known in Dublin as a bit of a crazy front man.

“There was an underground psychobilly scene really. Not many bands were doing it in Dublin, it was more in England, so in Dublin we got pretty well known because we were different, and we supported the Pogues and other stars.

“I was very dedicated to the music, and I used to go wild on stage. When I was a little kid, I was quite nervous, quite shy, so I think it was my way of letting all that out, through the music.”

Dave and his band were playing in a pub for some free beer one Saturday afternoon, when a film crew came in.

He says: “You’d always see these Americans with their cameras in Dublin, so we didn’t knowwhat they were doing, but they were casting directors for the Commitments film.”

After taking a shine to Dave and watching him perform, sticking the mic in his mouth and carrying out his usual crazy antics, the director, Alan Parker, asked if he could drum, to which Dave replied “a little bit”. It was enough, and after telling Dave he also needed to lose his quiff and have a Sinead O’Connor haircut, (“I was losing me hair anyway,”

he says), he got the part.

The success of the film opened lots of opportunities and treasured experiences for Dave, for which he says he is hugely grateful, including over the years playing with big names such as soul and blues legends James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Edwin Starr, Sam Moore, the Troggs, Dr Feelgood and many more, including the late BB King.

“We were on tour in Brazil,” he says, “and while we were over there we were told BB King was in town. I said ‘I have to meet him’. It turned out he was staying in the same hotel.

“Anyway, before going on stage we met up in the hotel for a little chat. It was wonderful. He said for a small man I have a great voice, a black voice. He was surprised howmuch I knew about the music. We had a pint and finished the gig.”

Echo: Dave Finnegan in the Fairy Flag

Dave has played in several Commitments tribute bands, notably his own, Dave Finnegan’s Commitments, which he still plays with today, as well as other soul and rock/psychobilly projects.

But the fame the Commitments brought him also had a downside, when people would only link him to his role in the film, rather than take him seriously as an artist.

He also never actually played drums on the Commitments records, so never got any royalties like the other members, which he struggled with.

He found the media game could also be harsh. He says one journalist blew up a comment he made in an interview, where he says he simply spoke about going through a low patch in his life, drinking too much and working too much, and painted him to be a raving alcoholic.

“It was part of life’s up and downs, but it’s in the past and I’ve moved on from it,” says Dave, “I wasn’t a big drinker before, but then started to drink more because of the business and, I won’t lie to you, I liked a party, but it wasn’t as bad as was made out.

“I wasn’t an alcoholic, but suddenly it was all the press wanted to talk about. It was years ago and I stopped drinking for years afterwards, cleared my head.”

Recently Dave has been on a songwriting mission, working on an album, which came from him uncovering a batch of songs he had been building up since he was 17, that he just had in his wardrobe.

“I was laid up because of me leg,” he says, “fiddling around with these songs, when Jerry (Jerry Barte – drummer in the Mighty Mustang) said I should record them, because they were quite good, and they were just lying there.”

The band have started to record the tracks with a plan to bring out an album later in the year.

Meanwhile, Dave’s acting career is also taking off again, with his latest role in a forthcoming film called the Fairy Flag, in which his plays Irish warrior Neverard, set for release later this year.

“It’s a great film and to be honest I love doing these things so much I’d do it for free,” he says. “You don’t get many chances in life, and you only live once, so if a chance comes along you have to take it.

“There is so much natural talent out there and people struggle, and many would love the chance to appear in a film or travel, so I am very grateful for the chances I have had.”

ý Dave Finnegan and Mighty Mustang will be at the Railway Hotel, Clifftown Road, Southend, on Friday, May 29, at 9pm.