The Regulars are gearing up for this weekend's Radio 1 One Live in Birmingham gig with a race against time to prepare a new song.

Sunday's gig - at the city's Custard Factory arts venue in Digbeth - is a Bearos Records showcase, with seven of the local label's acts including The Regulars, Grover and The Starries appearing, and all for free.

The event is one of many to be held during Birmingham's week of Radio 1-endorsed music. All the headlines are grabbed by Brum-irrelevant big boys like Pulp and The Charlatans, but dozens of local bands are appearing at free gigs all week.

And Radio 1's preparation for the gig has seen the station's first ever infiltration by The Regulars, with excerpts from an interview with Pete - alongside Simon Grover and Alan Bearos - broadcast on last night's Steve Lamacq programme.

Meanwhile, in a repeat of the lengthy process that spawned the live favourite Try, the Regs' new tune is in fact a reworking of one that surfaced for a couple of gigs a year or so ago.

The song - known only under a working title of 'P1' - is mostly the work of Paul. Its new structure and arrangement are considered by the band to more fully realise the tune's dark and moody potential.

With the other recent additions to the set - namely The ballad of bad TV and Pop box 9:30 - shaping up well at last month's Flapper & Firkin appearance, The Regulars are looking to reproduce the form of what some see as their best ever gig, at the same venue last autumn.

More details about this Sunday can be found on the gigs page.