"New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers and Belfast has the bands," an emotional Terri Hooley shouts from the stage to a euphoric crowd at a raucous Stiff Little Fingers gig in Belfast.

It’s a pivotal moment in a heart-warming film about Hooley and Good Vibrations, a punk DIY label who signed The Undertones – John Peel’s favourite band - and was run from a scruffy record shop in the centre of a violent, deeply divided Belfast of the late 1970s.

Irish troubadour Andy White, who returns to the North West next week, recalls: “I’d stand on the steps of Good Vibrations when I was 14, queuing up to get autographs.

“It was almost too cool for me to go in, but it changed my life.

“Terri was an idealistic man, who used the label to express his belief in the redemptive power of popular music.

“What happened with Good Vibrations was non-sectarian and showed you hope, and that not all music was made by The Eagles in California.

“These were people we knew, and bands like The Outcasts, SLF and Rudi that we could see.”

The Good Vibrations biopic was written by White’s best friend Glenn Patterson, who then asked him to write a piece for the introduction of the film.

“I live in Australia now and when they brought the premiere to Melbourne I was knocked out by the film,” said Andy.

“I was 10,000 miles away but it took me right back to Belfast and I was so proud that I could contribute to it.

“I felt like I was watching my childhood on film.”

Andy’s first single, Religious Persuasion, was his early take on the Troubles.

The song was released on Stiff Records and Radio One DJ Janice Long championed it on her show.

His first LP – Rave On, Andy White – was also driven by his feelings about politics and the tribalism of Northern Ireland.

“I remember playing it on a street in Belfast with a little amp and there was soldiers looking at me and an Army helicopter flying overhead,” he said.

“If you left your car in the wrong place then it got blown up. I wanted to bring something beautiful out of the chaos.

“That is what a lot of what art is about.”

Andy is back on the road with his new album, Imaginary Lovers, with a special show in Bury next week following the release of a 12 album box set of all his studio albums.

He recalls opening for Van Morrison on a British tour 30 years ago, and admits the Belfast singer was a huge influence on him.

“I grew up with Moondance and Astral Weeks (Morrison albums) and they’re really deep inside me,” he said.

“I listened to Astral Weeks the other day with tears in my eyes.

“They way Van Morrison puts Belfast street names into his songs was just as inspiring as punk groups having their records played by John Peel."

Andy White and the Band of Gold, The Fusilier Museum, Bury, Thursday, November 24. Details from 0161 761 2216