BYRON Street Social got a taste for the big time at their very first gig.

The seven piece had only been together a matter of weeks when they launched their live career at one of the region’s biggest venues – Holmfirth Picturedrome.

The novice band were signed up to warm the crowd for reggae legends, Toots and the Maytals, despite having no recordings and no gig history.

But after quickly cobbling together a set from their myriad jam sessions they impressed the hundred strong gathering and were immediately offered a host of new gigs.

The band’s remarkable rise from a group of mates jamming in their bedroom to being one of Huddersfield’s hottest names has unfolded in just nine short months.

The group was born last May when former Huddersfield University friends Wes Ferguson, Sean Page and Joe Crowther decided to take their music more seriously.

Joe said: “We’d been mates before anything, a lot of us weren’t playing music but we just talked about jamming.

“Then it was just one day we were like ‘right, let's sort it out’.

Said Wes: “It was just bass, drums and guitar at the start and we were just pratting about making a few tunes.”

But after all three friends dropped out of their university music degrees they began to take their bid to form a band more seriously and launched a hunt for new members.

They recruited Mirfield rapper Josh Tempest, Holmfirth singer Molly Hill, keyboard maestro “Whiffy G” and finally saxophone player Will Lenk.

Wes said the new formula, seemed to spark some instant chemistry.

He said: “One day it all came together and fell in to place.

“When we got Molly it all started to work out.

“We used to joke about getting a sax player but we never thought we’d actually do it.”

Testing their experimental tunes in front of a hundred strong reggae crowd proved to be a massive success, winning them fans from the offset.

Wes said: “It was packed because the support band for Toots didn’t play, so the bar was full with everyone waiting for Toots.

“I was a bit nervous at first and we did mess up a couple of times, but it was good, we got good feedback from it and we got other gigs off the back of it.”

Joe added: “People are liking our stuff a lot more than we thought they would.

“Some of us had been on stage before, but it was all new for us again, especially with the size of the venues.”

The collective went on to play Oxjam Sheffield and Leeds, and a host of gigs in Huddersfield, including to large crowds at Kirklees Council’s Festival of Light.

With their line-up boasting a rapper and a female vocalist, comparisons with Extra Curricular were inevitable.

Joe and Wes said they were inspired by their fellow Huddersfield collective and hoped to emulate their success but insisted they were doing their own thing rather than following some kind of generic live hip-hop formula.

Said Joe: “People have said we’re like them but we’ve got more of a reggae vibe.”

Wes: “We’re doing the whole reggae hip-hop thing but with a bit more funk about it.

“It’s difficult, none of us have ever played music like this before.

“There’s seven of us and we are pushing the limits a bit.

“But we’re a lot more relaxed on stage now and we have grown in confidence.”

Joe said: “We were a bit rough round the edges but I think that’s why some people liked us. We just try and enjoy it and hope other people enjoy it.”

Nine months on from being thrown in at the deep end, the band are now hoping for a bumper summer season and are looking for more high profile gigs.

Wes and Joe admitted they were struggling to keep up the pace of progress as they did not yet have any EPs or albums to show music bosses.

Joe said: “When we started we thought we’d play a few gigs to nobody and build it up, but the first few gigs we played were to 100 people.”

Said Wes: “We thought we’d be chasing people for gigs but we’ve been offered a lot, especially in Huddersfield.

“Perhaps it’s because it’s a bit different to what’s usually going on in Huddersfield.”

But with recording now underway they are hoping to break into the bigger Leeds and Manchester gig scenes and get on some of the smaller festivals this summer.

The seven piece are already booked in to return to Holmfirth Picturedrome, on the main stage supporting Dreadzone on April 12.

They also have gigs at Buddah Bar on March 8 and will play in the Revive Battle of Bands final at Huddersfield SU on March 9. They will also support Extra Curricular at Bar 1.22 on Friday, April 19.