WHEN you think of a tiger lilly, I should imagine the last thing you would conjure up in your mind is a man in Victorian clothing, singing songs about the dark underbelly of society in a falsetto voice.

Unless, of course, you are a fan of the cult cabaret trio, the Tiger Lillies, a three-piece band who have toured worldwide and received a huge following for their surreal stylings and dark sounds.

Fronted by Martyn Jacques, complete with his Dickensian-style of dress, long pigtail and bowler hat, the music of the Tiger Lillies defies genre pigeonholing, skipping effortlessly between opera, gypsy music and European folk traditions.

Martyn formed the band, along with percussionist Adrian Huge and double bass player Adrian Stout, in 1989.

Before that he had spent years living above a strip joint in Soho, London, training himself to be an opera singer with a high-pitched voice.

“We’ve been influenced by the conditions the band has found itself in,” Martyn said.

“We started playing folk cellars. I still sang in a high voice and sang sad and melodic songs, but then we were folk. Then we moved to pubs and, because of the clientele and the bad sound, we started to play loud.

“Finally we played in theatres, which is why our style changed once again to a kind of theatrical form.”

The crossover is self-evident in the awards they’ve won, which includes two Olivier Awards in 2002 for their operatic show, Shockheaded Peter, for best entertainment and best performance in a supporting role in a musical for Martyn.

This year the band will be appearing at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival, which is being curated by none other than Simpsons creator Matt Groening, a huge fan of the band. They will also be conducting their first ever UK tour.

Martyn said: "Matt Groening always comes to see us when we play Los Angeles. He’s just a really nice, familiar guy.

“He brought the whole cast of actors who play the Simpsons’ voices to see us once.”