THE Tiger Lillies are British music’s best-kept secret. The trio of singer-songwriter Martyn Jacques, Adrian Stout and Adrian Huge have been performing their unique mix of cabaret, vaudeville, music hall and street theatre since the early ‘90s and have produced a remarkable 13 albums - not that you’ll find them in HMV.

"The only way you can buy them is through our website,” explains the softly spoken Jacques. "We earn a living from touring mainly. If people ask ‘how long’s your tour?’ I usually say ‘six years’. The sight of an airport lounge fills me with revulsion - it looks the way a social security office used to look."

Some random titles should give you an idea of the dark world this trio inhabit: ‘Gouge My Eyes Out’ and ‘The Pimp Song’.

Jacques plays accordion and sings savage, passionate songs about prostitutes, drug addicts and losers.

The genesis of the band can be traced back to his experiences in London’s Soho where he spent most of the ‘80s living over a strip joint. "It was a good inspiration for writing. If you’re an artist and you’re going to write songs about people, you should know them. I wanted to write songs with conviction."

I ask what his darkest memory of that period is. "I knew a girl who was murdered in an alley - she used to work on the streets." A very dark memory.

Jacques spent his Soho days running a market stall (supplemented by some casual drug dealing), whilst training himself as an opera singer at night school.

His voice has been described as angelic, never more evident than on the band’s many gutter free love songs. Which helps explain why people like Terry Gilliam, Robin Williams and The Simpsons creator Matt Groening are such devoted fans.

Flattery’s well and good of course but it doesn’t pay the electric - when Jacques says he’s spent most of his life living in poverty, I can well believe him. Shockheaded Peter came along at the right time.

The Tiger Lillies’ involvement in that ‘junk opera’ - an astonishing nightmare fantasy inspired by the 19th century German children's book Struwwelpeter - brought the group to a wider audience.

West Yorkshire Playhouse

Opening in 1998 at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, the show toured the world for four years, winning Jacques an Olivier Award for best supporting actor in a musical. Did the experience alter his style of performance in any way?

"When I first saw Jacques Brel on television, he was my main inspiration. But doing Shockheaded Peter inspired me further - working with actors was an inspiration to keep developing the physicality of my performance."

If you caught the band on Later With Jools Holland last year - performing the crucifixion-inspired ‘Banging in the Nails’ - you’ll know he’s a riveting frontman. Watching the band play an Edinburgh church at this year’s festival proved an equally amazing experience, Jacques’ voice soaring and growling like a man possessed.

Some punters walked but he stayed in character, quipping "I don’t blame em, I’d leave!"

A Tiger Lillies concert is not for the easily offended, religious or lovers of animals (see their Farmyard Filth album for further proof).

That said, they love to tease and there’s a rich seam of black humour running through Jacques’songs: "I’m not some rabid anti-Christian or Satanist.

"When I write songs I don’t always take a moral position, which some people find difficult to handle. I don’t have problems singing about any subject, be it paedophilia, the crucifixion, the concentration camps - I’ve sung about all those things. I’m just trying to dig a little deeper than Britney."

Jacques appears too gentle - too soulful - to be a mere shit stirrer.

He’s reluctant to discuss his own belief system but tellingly adds: "Not to have any sense of spirituality would be very unpleasant."

He looks forward to the day when the bands CD’s are readily available on Amazon - maybe then The Tiger Lillies will be able to put their feet up.

Until then, the six-year tour continues.

"Success doesn’t matter - it’s all rubbish. If you’re happy when you’re unsuccessful, you’ll probably be happy when you’re successful. But when you’re dead do you care anyway?"

The Tiger Lillies play The Lowry on Sunday, November 23. £12.50. Call the Box Office on 0870 787 5780.

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