GOOGLE The Violet May and you either get a posh hand bag shop or Violet, May 2008 – a You Tube video of a baby having a bath. But tucked away, amidst the hand bags and the new-borns, is The Violet May in question, and they couldn't be more juxtaposed against their cyberspace neighbours.

Bold, bolshy and belting out high voltage tunes – The Violet May are kings of Sheffield's live circuit. And despite the band's unsigned status, they already have a reputation of a wild live act, smashing up ceilings and sparking up on stage. Even now, in the band's relative infancy, The Violet May are rumoured to be running out of acts to support because they are 'warming up' the crowd a bit too much.

Singer Chris McClure's a direct frontman, addressing the crowd at the Boardwalk he says: "There's some people I expected would turn up tonight and it's pissed me off that they haven't," he says, to the dark, opening Fall-like bass line of What You Say.

"I'm dressed like a supply teacher," he shouts, in the middle of a raucous set. But if supply teachers created the same havoc as The Violet May, they'd quickly be out of business.

"That's what it's all about," says their manager, Nick Simmonite, speaking of the band's crazed performances.

Songs are 100 per cent muscle. There are no flaky foundations and no wimpy sentiments. 70's Born is a gas-guzzling thrill-packed explosion of guitar, thrashing drums and groovy bass. While Brighter Better – the track with most single potential, according to McClure – is a dark, spiky anthem.

Right now, The Violet May are among Sheffield's most hotly-dubbed bands. "People who have seen us have buzzed off us," says McClure. Asked why, he puts it simply: "Because we're class. We write with passion. We've got balls."

We meet at the Frog and Parrot – the band's second home. McClure is joined by guitarist Jono How and Dan Booth. It's evident that the band are friends as well as band mates – there's frequent piss taking and comedic jabs between sentences.

And while The Violet May are based in Sheffield, they insist there's no 'Sheffield sound' evident in their music. "We're not all from Sheffield, we're just here and playing in a band and that's as far as it goes," says How.

"I'm from Sheffield!" interjects McClure, from Grenoside. "It's S35," he adds."That's Barnsley!" mocks his manager. "Look man, I look over the city," says McClure. But whatever his postcode, as soon as McClure puts a cigarette to his face his Sheffield stamp is confirmed. His is the face immortalised on the Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not album and later, Toddla T's cover of the same image on album Skanky Skanky.

But there's no mention of McClure's modeling in this conversation. Today's about The Violet May and clearly, the band think of nothing else. "Every waking minute is spent on the band, the more you do the more it takes over" says How.

"We get a buzz off it when we play and that translates to everyone else – well, it should do," says Dan Booth, aka Plim "I've got a stupid nickname," he shrugs, though his moniker is no more unlikely than that of the band's, who named themselves after the old lady that ran the infamous record store in Sheffield. "If you couldn't get what you wanted that's where you went – Violet May's," says Booth. "I'd love a picture of her," says McClure but she's dead now.

The Violet May have little in terms of demos and EPs, except a live recording of a Boardwalk gig.

But all this will change next week, as the band join producer Liam O'Shea in his Shalesmoor studio to record three tracks, including Brighter Better and Crowd is Ever Crowded. Speaking of their choice of producer How says: "Basically we respect the way he likes the music – he gets it, we get it. A lot of producers just go through the motions but I reckon he's got a certain mentality – we invited him to come and see us and he seemed to get what we wanted."

The band met in an office. "I met John (Kubicki, keyboardist / guitarist) in an office working at the Environment Agency," says McClure, "He put my brother's (Reverend and the Makers'
frontman Jon McClure) old band on and it's mental how I hadn't met him before because we must have been in the same place so many times. He literally walked out, we had a fag together, gave me some tunes to listen to and that was it. I suppose something good came out of that job."

"We were all in bands at the time," says How, "this was like the other woman."

But number one woman, of course, is Violet May herself, to whom McClure addresses, respectfully, "Come and have a bevvie with us, if not, see you in Heaven love."

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