Ian Parton is facing a dilemma. The hype surrounding his band, The Go! Team, is rising fast - with big money offers coming in regularly.

If they so desired, the band could be fully mainstream and stand up alongside our flagship British acts.

But Ian sees The Go! Team as a cult band and struggles against the pressures that would push them onto a different, more commercial path.

"We have discussions every day about what we should do. We did Top Of The Pops but have turned down lots of other things.

"There's pressure to advertise on TV and have Zane Lowe or someone do the voice-over, and we all agreed that would be pretty horrible. We have to find the middle ground but it's tricky to navigate sometimes."

For the time being, however, Ian has another problem, involving tomorrow's gig in his home town of Brighton: "None of my mates have bought tickets - they all expect guestlist. It's a sell-out so I'm going to have to blag them in somehow."

Ian is not the band's only Brighton resident. His Go! Team mate Sam has lived in the city for most of his life. "I've been here about six or seven years but Sam is the true local," Ian says. "He played in loads of local bands, like 100 Pets and I'm Being Good. I was never that involved in the local music scene. I just drummed in my flat after work as a hobby."

It was this flat on Western Road - where Ian still lives - that The Go! Team were born. Ian worked for documentary company Brighton TV at the time. He began by writing The Go! Team's music - an exuberant mix of electro, chants, old school hip-hop and samples - and then set about finding the perfect musicians to play it, ending up with a multi-national, multi-instrumental six-piece.

"I had no plan really. It all happened quite gradually, by word of mouth more than anything," he says. "People call us a buzz band but it has nothing to do with us. There was no PR company or anything. The album (Thunder, Lighting, Strike) is higher in the charts than it's ever been and it was released in September 2004. It's bizarre."

Although the record is a mighty fine album to stick on at home, The Go! Team are all about the live experience. Their gigs are a haze of uplifting noise and colour, with breakdancers, cheerleaders and smile-inducing Super 8 visuals of all the good things in life, like trainers, records and toys.

As we talk, Ian is preparing to set off on the British leg of a mammoth tour which has seen The Go! Team play Italy, Sweden and, most recently, Australia.

"That was great, really leisurely," he says. "The highlight was befriending The Stooges' bass player Mike Watt, who we met at a show. Australia was one of the first places to show an interest in us so we like playing there. We're a cult band over there, we're not a household name or anything."

After the UK dates, The Go! Team will be heading to the States. "They management keep piling those dates on," Ian laughs, although it's clear he is keen to take a break.

"At the moment it's difficult finding the time to write songs, as it's quite an intricate process. Whenever I'm home I raid my tapes, but you need a lot of patience.

"We're hoping to release some new stuff in the spring but you never know what's going to happen."

The process of trawling through potential samples might be fiddly but Ian is possibly happiest when he's holed up in his bedroom or in the studio. He's content to take a back seat and appeared on Top Of The Pops with his face covered up by his Puffa jacket hood ("my family were disappointed as they couldn't tell it was me") and is normally happy to let the band's rapper, MC Ninja, do the talking.

"I don't mind being a frontwoman," Ninja says. "The band aren't media friendly but I like doing interviews."

Ninja joined the band after seeing Ian's internet advert for an old-school rapper.

"Two weeks later I was playing in front of 2,000 people at a festival in Sweden," she says.

A delectable, brash London lass, Ninja is the focal point of The Go! Team, taking centre stage with her unique rapping style, influenced by her veteran hip-hop heroes. "It's got to be old school," she stresses. "Hip-hop from the last five years has been rubbish - it's just glorified R 'n' B."

A whirlwind of energy on stage, she bounces, jumps and high-kicks her way through gigs like a kid in a playground. "None of it is choreographed," she laughs. "We are not a slick, perfect band and we like it that way.

"I've tripped up over a wire, drum sticks have nearly hit my head but we don't mind - that's part of the show. We always hurt ourselves and we've all got stage scars."

Wonderfully chaotic, the band encourage the audience to strut their stuff and join the party.

"People get down. We've got a lot of energy and that's reflected onto the crowd," says Ninja. "It's really important we enjoy ourselves - we're not a moody band. We don't want it to come across like 'we're playing up here and we're better than you'. The audience is a huge part of the show."

"Americans are bloody crazy, though," she adds. "We've had people storming the stage. You don't know if they're coming up to dance or to stab you, but you've got to carry on. One night we had 20 people on stage. One woman was trying to grind me. Japan is mad, too. They follow you back to your hotel like you're Michael Jackson, but they're so appreciative."

It was a gig closer to home that gave The Go! Team the first inkling they were getting big. Ninja recalls: "We headlined a tent at Glastonbury. I'd never have bought a ticket to go but the boys go every year. They'd booked time off to go and told everyone they couldn't work that weekend because they were going to Glastonbury, and they ended up playing there.

"It rained though. People said to me Glastonbury isn't Glastonbury without the mud, but it was horrible and I wouldn't want to walk through that again."

Her disdain for Glastonbury (and the fact she happily admits to not knowing who Coldplay are) hasn't done Ninja's credibility much harm with the indie kids - she even made it into the NME cool list. "I'm officially cooler than Gwen Stefani, although I still don't know if that's a good thing or not," she says.

"Next year I'll be number 500."

Support comes from Aussie trio The Grates, who have been likened to "Judy Garland fronting Sonic Youth, and Blondie hanging with The Pixies", and Seattle duo Smoosh, two young sisters who mix up dancey indie pop, catchy rap and scruffy rock.

Starts 8pm. Tickets cost £12.50, call 01273 709709. Sold out.