PEAT and Diesel may be well known as the rockers representing Scottish island life – but the group have been finding success further afield.

The Stornoway trio have won over thousands of Scots with their punky, folk-rock sound, island-inspired lyrics and renowned live shows.

Now, they’ve taken that success south of the Border, saying they’ve been “blown away” by the English audiences.

The band, consisting of Calum “Boydie” MacLeod, Innes Scott and Uilly Macleod, were nominated for the Sound of Scotland prize at the Scottish Music Awards.

The Western Isles group are set to play at the awards event on Saturday in Glasgow.

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Having started out in their local pubs, not thinking it would go any further, drummer Macleod said the Celtic rockers were not expecting the award.

He told The National: “We were absolutely delighted to even be considered as a nominee for an award. It’s not something we ever expected.”

In the four years since they started, the band has had a number of popular releases, including Western Isles, Island and Brandy In The Airidh – all with more than one million views on Spotify.

That’s more than 20 times bigger than the population of Lewis and Harris where they grew up.

Asked why the band has seen such success, Macleod said: “We are probably one of the only bands that do what we do.

“All our songs are about our homeland and talking about the culture we grow up in. Island life is completely different from what people are used to in the mainland in cities.

“It was very reserved here on the island and they had to find their own way of feeding themselves and their families. People worked hard with cattle, and sheep and finding their own source of heating. That inspires us and what we do in our songs.”

MacLeod said people were resonating with the songs that spoke to island life – even those far away from the Outer Hebrides.

He said: “Even in the mainland, in the small towns and villages, they cling on to that as well.

“It’s something different from your mainstream music. It’s quite out there. There’s not another band that does the type of punk Celtic rock sound that we do.

“Once people hear us live it’s a totally different experience. It’s so energetic and people feed off that.

“It’s like a juggernaut that keeps on rolling and rolling. It keeps getting bigger and bigger. When we first started we didn’t mean for this to happen.

“We just wanted to play some pubs on the island but every year it’s bigger venues and bigger stages and it’s so exciting for us.”

Macleod said the band are experiencing a post-Covid boom, noticing a difference in audiences around Scotland.

He said: “After Covid, I think people realised that we only have one life and we’re going to live it.

“We’ve all had that a shock to the system being locked in our homes and away from civilization, from gathering with our friends and our families and just missing that connection with people.

“But now it’s come back tenfold.”

Macleod said the band had never been busier and with each new year bringing yet another milestone.

Their latest achievement was supporting Eurovision runner-up Sam Ryder playing to 14,000 people. That was something the drummer said was “very, very special” to the band.

They’d also travelled down south and been overwhelmed with the support they’d received, including at their first-ever slot at Glastonbury.

The musician said the band were wary about taking their island-inspired music down to England at first, unsure if audiences would take to it.

But when they got down there, they were “blown away by the response”.

“It’s just as good south of the Border as it is north of the Border,” he said. “The response has been fantastic in England.

“We are not sure why – we can’t quite put our fingers on it but maybe it’s just because it’s something different.”