AS the saying goes, there's no place like home. For Air Traffic this certainly rings true ahead of their home-coming gig at the Old Fire Station on Sunday.

The boys are fresh from visiting Austin, Texas, for industry showcase festival South By South West, and since being signed to EMI early last year, have been on a non-stop ride of shows, radio interviews (the band's performance at SXSW was broadcast on Steve Lamacq) and drummer David Jordan's personal highlight: an appearance on Jools Holland.

"That was just amazing, I grew up watching it, and The Killers were there at the same time and I love them. It just felt really surreal," he says.

This weekend's show falls on the eve of the release of their first chart eligible single, the highly infectious and jaunty Charlotte, and also marks their biggest Bournemouth concert to date.

"We're really looking forward to coming back. It's been a while since we played down there and we haven't even managed to come down on our days off. It's always going to mean a lot to us playing at home."

The BH postcode hasn't been singled-out as a hotbed of talent nationally, so is this something that the band think they could change?

"Yeah we're a band from Bournemouth and we're proud to say it, magazines publish it and it gets said on the radio, and that's not something to hide from.

"We love Bournemouth and think it's an amazing place. We're happy to say we're from there. But at the same time you don't get A&R scouts down there looking for talent, and we knew we had to really make a go of it."

The lads' determination paid off when they headed off to university in London and managed to keep things going, resulting in getting their lucky break after being spotted.

With David listing numerous events and plans taking the band through to the end of the year, it looks like Air Traffic have bigger things coming their way.

Their debut, as-yet-untitled, album is due for release in July, they have a string of festival appearances up their sleeves, and are also hoping to return to America in the autumn.

Let's just hope they stop by every once in a while.

Air Traffic will be doing an in-store performance and signing copies of their new single at HMV Bournemouth from 5pm on Friday, March 30.