Sex, drugs and rock and roll may seem par for the course for rock stars but for fledgling girl bands it's more a case of flirting, alcopops and SClub7.

Jo Platt, 20, has been trying to make a dent in the girl group market since joining Urban Chaos six months ago.

The four wannabe popstars ranging in age from 20 to 23, have been touring primary schools across the country for the last four weeks leaving a trail of screaming children and blushing headmasters in their wake.

Apart from their teeny bopper following, Urban Chaos is not your average manufactured girl group. Jo, 20, met Gemma Davies, Natalie Hall and Maria Francis at Pineapple Dance Studios in London and joined the group they had been trying to set up for nearly a year. They soon enlisted a manager, choreographer, publicist, stylist and make-up artists. They have not however signed a record deal.

Jo, of The Covey, Pound Hill, Crawley, explained: "We're touring first, getting experience and a fan base and then going to record companies. Not a lot of people do it this way round, but we hope it will work better for us. We've got meetings with record companies next week, but we're going to keep performing whatever happens.

"We really like S Club 7's style of pop music. We're not really like the Spice Girls because we're not a manufactured band, but obviously we wouldn't mind being compared to them because they've done so well."

Jo's determination stems from a childhood spent dancing in every spare hour she had.

She said: "I've been dancing from the age of five. I used to prefer to go to dance classes on the weekends than going out to play like other children."

She trained at ROSCHE School of Dancing in Selbridge, East Grinstead, at the same time as attending Hazelwich Secondary School in Crawley where she gained A-levels in psychology, English language and theatre studies.

Having turned her hand to modelling in fashion shows and promotions, Jo used her training in modern, jazz, and classical dancing to win herself a place in the group. As early videos of the Spice Girls illustrate, the first stages of a band are far from glamourous. Jo is still living at home with her mum, a nurse, but does not let that stop her rehearsing for impending stardom.

She said: "Us girls like going out together for a drink. I can handle my drink, well, I never make a fool of myself. We're taken all over the place by our manager, Zach Biddu, on business mainly to meet people. He doesn't just make us sit in Natalie and Gemma's London flat eating beans on toast.

"We've been to a few premieres and go to the Met Bar and China White in London. A lot of celebrities mingle with us and think we're on the same level as them. We just treat them like normal people. I could handle fame. I wouldn't let it go to my head because I despise people like that and I wouldn't want to despise myself.

"I just consider this a job. We're all very down to earth people. Our friends and family would slap us if we got too big-headed. I'll be just the same in a year from now, whatever happens."

Jo is equally down to earth when it comes to her love life.

She said: "I'm too busy for men. I have a laugh, and we're girls like any others. Put it this way, we're not shy. We've got a few on the cards that we're interested in, but we just like having a laugh.

"I don't want a relationship because it can hinder you. You have to have a strong man when you're in this industry because he would have to put up with you being away all the time."

After their whistle stop tour of schools across the country, including Patcham Junior School in Brighton and Goldstone Primary School in Hove, the girls have a series of meetings with record labels scheduled during the next few weeks. They will be releasing their first single, Big You Up, in August.