ALTERN 8’s wacky stage gear, face masks and chemical warfare suits; part spaceman, part raver, provided, it seemed, a visual shorthand for the rave generation.

Indeed, their debut album – Full On…Mask Hysteria, an eyeball’s out classic of sonic mayhem, dragged the underground rave scene from the barns, basements and factory floors into the open.

From illegal raves to Top of the Pops, Altern 8 are still reminding the world why that LP, groaning with classic samples from the clubs of Detroit and Chicago House Records, can be considered as influential today as it was a quarter of a century ago.

Wind back their timeless rave classic, Real Time Status, and it stands loud and proud.

So what can we expect from the old school rave emperor as Mark Archer – now playing under his own steam - crash lands in the lush fields of the Ribble Valley for this summer’s Beat-Herder festival.

He said: “It will be a full on Altern 8 set on the Fortress Stage on Saturday night, all the hits, and do you know what it lifts the spirits coming to Beat-Herder, because it is one of those life affirming places.

“There’s so much laughter, beauty and goodwill.

“You go to some festivals and there’s too much chin stroking going on, people get a bit po-faced.

“But Beat-Herder has that intense joy and you can celebrate what is going on with the people who are there because they are having the time of their lives.”

The name, Altern 8, just like their image, was a pure accident said Archer.

“Originally we were called Alien-8, then we got the record sleeve back from the printers and they’d called us Altern 8, so we stuck with that,” added Mark.

“At the time, my brother was serving in the RAF and he brought home a couple of old Nuclear, biological and chemical suits, and we just started wearing the NBC suits at our shows.

“It was a stark image, but they were stark times and youth needed an escape route.

“It was Thatcher’s Britain and, like punk, rave was a backlash against all the rubbish going in society, not unlike like today’s political climate really.

“I think rave was Britain’s last great youth movement.”

He added: “There’s been nothing like it since, that whole euphoric feeling of being part of something very special.”

A fresh generation of rave fans have discovered and embraced Altern 8 since they became fully functional once more.

“When I left school I was a decorator, but all I wanted to do was DJ, so I bought a Casio SK1 sampler, and to this day I have absolutely no idea why,” recalled Mark.

“I’m glad I did, though. Believe me, I feel so incredibly lucky to be here, 25 years on and still playing Altern 8’s tunes.

“I did a show in Nottingham recently and Altern 8 were first on the bill.

“There was all these kids, 18, 19, 20 and I thought, ‘Blimey. I’m going to struggle here.

“You know, a middle-aged geezer playing tunes a quarter of a century old.

“I whacked on Expansions (Move Your Body) as the opener and then bang, the place erupted with joy.

“It was madness. I had people coming up and saying, ‘We’d never heard of Altern 8, but your tunes blew us away.

“The show was streamed live and had 110,000 views.

“Isn’t that amazing?

Mark added: “We were just a couple of lads from Stafford who played stuff we liked.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would become what it did.

“I didn’t expect it to happen, and it is very humbling.”

Altern 8 play the Fortress Stage on Saturday, July 15 Beat-Herder runs from July 14-16 at Dockber Farm, Sawley, near Clitheroe. Tickets from 0844 888 9991 or www.beatherder.co.uk