There's nothing like an indie gig in Camden Town to evoke memories of times past. A small back room, a moderate-to-bad PA system and an audience comprised of indie kids and various interested record company personnel were all present and correct when the much-touted new Dublin band The Hormones took to the stage recently, for barely the tenth time, to show what it was that landed them a big deal with Richard Branson's V2 label and a management deal with the fabled Rough Trade company.

Fronted by ex-Puppy Love Bomb singer and songwriter, Marc Carroll, The Hormones boast a line-up that's heavy in rawk pedigree (the drummer used to be in the Wildhearts) and indeed they attracted more than a bit of interest in the metal press by virtue of the fact that CJ (ex of both The Wildhearts and Honeycrack) used to be in their ranks. This, though, was no Metal Hammer extravaganza as Carroll took the opportunity to show off his songwriting workbook - an inspired mix of punk, folk and classic Sixties harmonies. The story so far is that The Hormones' first single proper (there was a limited edition Rough Trade Singles Club affair last year) is called This Is The Sound and is already receiving decent amounts of airplay both here and in Britain. This weekend they play the Phoenix Festival and then they go out on tour with Dinosaur Jr before recording their album, after which they set out on an Irish tour. The initial buzz about the band in London circles was down to the fact of their famous management company (Geoff Travis from Rough Trade also looks after Pulp and Mazzy Starr) but "fashionability" is not Marc Carroll's favourite word.

"People here seem to think that it's `cool' to be managed by a company like Rough Trade, and to be on a label like V2, but that's all irrelevant as far as I'm concerned. Sometimes we're told by various industry people to get out and get seen at the `right' parties, go to the `right' gigs and get our pictures taken and all of that so we might end up in some crap indie gossip column - no siree. That's not why I'm in a band. Where we rehearse, Menswear rehearse across the way - and we don't want to end up like that, thanks very much. "It's difficult and frustrating sometimes to have to deal with journalists who are more interested in fashion and scenes than they are in the music. I know what I'm interested in, and that's music - and particularly the music of Neil Young, Brian Wilson, Bob Dylan and John Lennon, which is probably not a very `Camden' thing to say, but there you go," he says.

What's with the whole rawk thing and where you really stand as a band? "As you saw at the gig tonight, we use loud guitars and singing, but that's only half of the story. I'm not even remotely interested in ear-pain levels of volume, I don't particularly like the smelly end of metal, and I don't want to be in a shouty punk band. We're all about tunes and playing well. We're also about harmonies and using them effectively - there are three-part harmonies in this group, which is great, and although I'm lead singer, the other two singers aren't backing vocalists - they sing the songs along with me. "In that respect there's a bit of a Crosby, Stills and Nash/Byrds vibe about the band; in another respect we're determined to bring out some sort of new `folk' element in our music - and when I talk about folk, I just happen to believe that punk rock was a form, however distant, of `folk' music". The other thing is diversity - the next single is called Mr Wilson (a tribute to Brian Wilson) and is more midpaced and harmony-driven than the current single, and there's a song we're doing on the album, called Dig Like Merry Hell, which can only be described as The Ramones meets The Dubliners. I love trad Irish music - some people think you've got to go away to discover it, that's not true, it was always there in my case," he says.

So if you think you're eclectic, how about doing this week's top five? "That would have to be (1) Northern Sky by Nick Drake, (2) Ain't That Enough [off the forthcoming Songs From Northern Britain] by Teenage Fanclub, (3) On Raglan Road by Nick Kelly, (4) Sliver by Nirvana and (5) Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts by Bob Dylan but if I could go on I'd mention Abba, Metallica, The Butterfly Collector by The Jam, Spirit by Willy Nelson and anything at all by Neil Young," says Marc.