THERE are two fairly remarkable things about American band Miracle Legion’s gig in Brighton next week.

For one, it is their first UK gig for 20 years, having reformed earlier this year. For guitarist Ray Neal, however, Brighton holds an even deeper meaning.

“One time we played a gig at the [now defunct] Zap club,” says the New Haven-born, Edinburgh-based man. “After the show on the beach a girl came up and started talking to me, who had come down from London to see us. Eventually she became my wife.”

Unsurprisingly, Neal calls Brighton a “very important place” in his life and memory.

Not that he needs any further emotional motivation at the moment. Miracle Legion, the New Haven band often classed under the “college rock” sub-genre – largely because of the pivotal role played by college radio in the group’s early days – are navigating their first concerts after splitting up in 1996.

“I had no idea when we decided to do this again whether anybody would care,” says the affable guitarist. “I think I was a little worried that there would be a bunch of guys my age, and that would be it.”

While Miracle Legion – formed by Neal and singer Mark Mulcahy in 1983 – had a loyal fanbase in their time, garnering support from the New Musical Express and early comparisons to R.E.M, Neal is grateful for new followers.

“I would say that half the crowd is younger now, so these feel like proper gigs. We’re not just dragging out the old songs, with everyone hugging each other at the end and saying ‘remember those times?’”

Despite having a few bones to pick with the internet over the current state of the music industry, Neal reckons the band’s new fans may have discovered Miracle Legion via the web. An endorsement from Radiohead’s Thom Yorke won’t have done them any harm, either.

In a recent interview, Neal remarked that the band had “unfinished business” – hence the reunion – but also, intriguingly, that “the wrong business won the first time around.” Asked to elaborate on this quote today, he says “well, the music business won”. The first incarnation of Miracle Legion were victims of neglect from a major label, he explains.

“What really destroyed us was the final record deal we had, with Morgan Creek, a massive film company who had just made millions from the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. They put one of our records out, Drenched (1992), and then when we were a week away from going to do the next one, they said ‘we’re not doing to do it, but we’re not going to drop you’.

“For about two years we weren’t allowed to do anything. We’d already been living in a van for 10 years, and by the time some guy in Los Angeles was basically saying ‘we’re going to screw your life’, I gave up.”

There is a certain amount of wryness in Neal’s exclamation thereafter: “And now we’re back to do it all again!”

The adaptation back to touring life has been seamless according to the guitarist, though. While Neal admits it was “nerve-wracking” to get back together with bandmates he had “essentially once been married to”, he says “we’ve fallen right back into it”.

“All of the bad jokes on the bus are the same as ever, too.”