SEAN McGowan has a tattoo on his right forearm proclaiming: ‘Without people, you’re nothing’.

Joe Strummer’s song by the same title provided a forceful soundtrack to Julien Temple’s documentary about The Clash front man, who passed away 15 years ago.

“Hearing The Clash’s rousing music when I was a kid, told me: ‘Sean, you can do that,’ said McGowan.

“It was accessible and liberating, and gave me a great feeling of empowerment.

“It told me that I didn’t have to accept second best.

“When I was at primary school, the other kids were singing S Club 7 songs, and I was playing White Man in Hammersmith Palais by The Clash on my little tape recorder.

“As a teenager I made that moral decision to walk the walk and talk the talk – and that’s the rule I live my life by.”

Punk poet McGowan is just 24, and raised on a diet of The Jam, Specials, Billy Bragg and the lyrics of Strummer, his new EP, Graft and Grief, is a rollocking slice of folk punk.

McGowan is a musician who’s a perfect fit musically and lyrically, a refreshingly colourful and forthright character whose songs and poetry reverberate with an insightful, biting edge.

His knack for penning a catchy melody and laser sharp social commentary saw Billy Bragg label him as ‘the brightest young wordsmith in the land.’

Full of life and urgency, he offers sharp perspectives on the injustices in society with a vibrant, punky drive.

No Show puts zero-hour-contract, minimum wage drudgery into riotous perspective, and Costa Del Solution is a bright, sunny jangle set upon high street despondency and twists the cliche of a beach holiday escape.

“Everything has changed in the last year or so and now I see a divided Britain, a country where tolerance is suddenly lacking and families and communities have become divided,” he said.

“There’s a lot of spite and hostility about, and some people, who live their lives in the vast ether of the Internet, don’t seem to pause for thought anymore.

“You can be sat at home, watching TV, and all of sudden you get a horrible message about my music, my personal views or the way I’m dressed.

“We seem to have lost the ability to have a tolerant debate.”

He added: “It can be distressing when you get abuse for what you do, but it also gives me a lot of food for thought.

“The funny thing is I feel quite hopeful about the future because there’s only so long we can remain downtrodden and there’s a bit of a political uprising going on.

“It has not filtered into the mainstream yet but it will.

“My friends, who are all in their mid-twenties, voted for the very first time at the last General Election.

“I saw them become politically involved and it can only be a matter of time before we can address this divide in our nation.”

Sean McGowan, Jimmy’s, Newton Street, Manchester. Friday, September 8. Details from 0161 923 6964