IT started life as a guitar riff representing aliens travelling down to earth.

But now the opening seconds to ESG’s instrumental UFO rank among the most sampled sounds ever, used by Q–Tip, 2Pac, Notorious BIG, LL Cool J, Liars, J Dilla, TLC and even jazz legend Miles Davis.

It’s no surprise that when Bronx trio ESG returned to the music scene after a ten–year break they named their 1992 EP Sample Credits Don’t Pay Our Bills.

“At first it really used to trouble me that we weren’t getting anything out of it,” says ESG singer and guitarist Renee Scroggins, ahead of the band’s debut Brighton visit tonight, courtesy of city promoters Riots Not Diets.

“They wouldn’t play our song on the radio, but as soon as people started rapping on top they did – but wouldn’t recognise the band that played the music.

“I’ll never forget what really ticked me off – once we played UFO live and someone in the crowd said: ‘They’re ripping off Doug E Fresh’.

“I had to calm down and take a moment.”

Times have changed though – with Renee inviting wannabe hip–hop stars on stage to rap over UFO during some US shows.

The track was part of the Scroggins sisters’ first EP, recorded with Factory’s legendary in–house producer Martin Hannett back in 1981, although it very nearly didn’t make it onto vinyl.

“We had no idea who this guy was,” says Scroggins, recalling the Manchester sessions, which coincided with a show on the opening night of the Hacienda club. “We weren’t intimidated at all. He was quite a cool, mellow guy.

“We had three minutes left on the analogue tape, so he asked if we had anything else. That’s how UFO got recorded.”

The EP’s lead track You’re No Good captured the stripped back rhythms of sisters, Renee, Valerie, Marie and Deborah, who had rehearsed together on the instruments their mother bought to keep them off the streets.

“James Brown was the biggest influence on my craft,” says Renee, who leads the current line–up, including sister drummer Valerie and Renee’s daughter Nicole Nicholas on bass.

“He would take it to the bridge and drop everything out but the bass and drums. I thought if you could write a song like that all the way through it would be great.”

Rather than turning her band into a nostalgia outfit, Scroggins has returned to the studio to pen new album What More Can You Take! on her own label.

“An ESG song is about what I’m feeling and what’s going on in my life,” she says. “Sometimes it’s just me working with an engineer, or I will write with my daughter, or my sister or a friend.

“As a family we argue with one another, but when we make the music all the arguments and problems go out the window.”

Having played the Southbank’s Meltdown and with a Glastonbury show to come there has been talk of this being ESG’s last European jaunt, but Scroggins says she’s not about to stop working now.

“When an audience is having such a good time we will let it roll rather than cut it,” says Scroggins, who now lives in Atlanta. “We are getting older, but our audiences are getting younger.

“Each song is like a little experiment. I’m enjoying that experimentation – when I don’t want to do that anymore I will stop writing music.”

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