NEED proof that garage has made it further into the mainstream than liberal outrage about the So Solid Crew? Check Alesha, Sabrina and Su-Elise, aka Mis-Teeq, the threesome who have simply yet brilliantly subverted bubblegum's reign in the pop charts by making credible garage music that is also - gasp - pop.

And did we mention that they also re-ignited the fading flame of urban British music? They appeared at the Brits this week by way of proof. Currently supporting the Shaggy tour, Su-Elise considers the R&B dilemma.

Mainstream garage

"I think beforehand when urban groups were formed in the UK they often either watered down their music so it sounded R&B but it was like pop R&B, or they just weren't marketed properly by the record companies that were over here, and I think that we've been lucky because we have a record company that shares our vision when it comes to how we wanted to be marketed and portrayed, and we're very lucky for that."

But as we all know, it takes more than marketing men to a pop sensation make.

Two years ago, Su-Elise went to a north London audition for a girl group, only to find Alesha and Sabrina harmonising on the stairs.

"They said that they had a group and would I be interested in listening to what they were doing? It kind of all just went from there."

United as a threesome, they were turned onto the burgeoning garage sensation. They weren't especially looking for a revolution, it was just part of their lives.

"Back then we used to go out a lot to clubs, and most clubs would have the R&B room and the garage room. So the two came hand in hand anyway."

That's not ignorance talking either. So committed are Mis-Teeq to the distinction, that their new single, B With Me, is a smoother R&B mix of the version on their album, Lickin' On Both Sides.

Indeed, ask Su-Elise to pick her preferred style?

"Oh gosh, I'd have to say we've grown up on soul and R&B so that's been there from the start, and garage is something that came later. But garage is something which is so hyped-up it makes you just want to go up and dance anyway."

Not that life on the knife-edge of cool has fuzzied the insatiable excitement of three girls getting to frolic around being popstars. The Brit appearance had the girls brimming with excitement, and Su-Elise will never forget her first time. On Top Of The Pops that is.

"I'll tell you something amazing about Top Of The Pops," she enthuses, "although they''ve changed the studios now, it's a lot smaller in real life - on TV it looks absolutely huge, and it's not!"

You can take the girl out of north London, and such.

B With Me is out this week on Telstar.

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