ADAM ANT LIT A FIRE IN ME WHEN I SAW HIM ON TV...

MobLand and Peaky Blinders star Paddy Considine might be enjoying a purple patch as an actor but, as he reveals, music has always been his biggest driver. Ahead of summer gigs with his band, Riding The Low, he talks about the joy of playing live

- By Fran Winston

HE IS one of our country’s most acclaimed actors, having starred in MobLand, Peaky Blinders and Shane Meadows’s revenge thriller Dead Man’s Shoes. So you would expect Paddy Considine, also the celebrated writer and director of the Bafta-winning film Tyrannosaur, and one of the leading actors in the Games Of Thrones prequel, House Of The Dragon, to be thrilled with his current career trajectory.

But ask the star what captures his heart most and you'll get only one answer.

“It’s always been music,” says the 51-year-old, a broad smile on his face. “When I saw Adam Ant on the telly when I was a little kid, that was it. That lit the fire in me when I saw him perform.”

Paddy has kept his childhood passion alive as the frontman of psychedelic rock outfit Riding The Low, which recently performed at this year’s Download Festival in Donington Park. Formed by Paddy in 2006, they took their name from a Lee Marvin biography he gave to his father and they have been plugging away in the background for two decades, releasing three studio albums and two EPs.

It’s clear the actor, who shares three children with his wife of 23 years, Shelley, doesn’t see it as some simple pet passion project.

“I’m not saying acting was an excursion, it’s just the way that it happened in life,” he explains. “I have played in bands since I was 16, I didn’t even write a song of my own until I was about 28 when my wife bought me a guitar. So there was no plan and there was no path that was mapped out. And that’s the true joy of it — I just love writing songs.”

Fans appear to share his joy, with the band performing to a packed-out tent at the Leicestershire festival last month.

“It’s amazing,” enthuses Paddy about the gig. “We played in 2019 and that was a great experience. And then we came back this year and just did it again, and we will do it again next year. I love this festival so much.”