WHEN The Little Angels sold out the Royal Albert Hall in 1994, it was the end of a dazzling ten-year international career for the band.

From humble beginnings at Scarborough's Sixth Form College, they went on to have ten top 40 singles and their last studio album, Jam, went to number one.

But after seven years away, singer Toby Jepson - back living in the seaside resort - has established his own company, Jepsongs Ltd, and starts a new tour at the town's Murrays club tonight.

Tomorrow sees his first solo North-East gig at Newcastle University and he will play Fibbers, in York, on Thursday, March 14.

During his time away, Jepson had a role in North-East director Ridley Scott's huge screen hits, Gladiator and Sleepy Hollow, and worked on Steven Spielberg's Band of Brothers project.

While his former band mates went on to various parts of the industry - bass player Mark Plunkett became tour manager for Boyzone, drummer Mark Richardson is now with the highly successful Skunk Anansie - Jepson's first efforts at a solo career were hampered by illness.

The band, Toby and the Whole Truth, was forced to cancel its first tour when Jepson was struck down with pneumonia.

He later spotted an advert in a newspaper which was to take him out of the music industry and into an entirely new world.

"It just read: 'Wanted: Young men for Ridley Scott's new film, Gladiator'," he said.

"I'm a massive film fan, I have been ever since I was a young kid and Ridley Scott is my favourite director of all time. I just felt I couldn't pass up this opportunity."

After "blagging" his way through auditions, he gained a small part in the blockbuster, which took him on to other films, such as Angela's Ashes, as well as TV roles on shows such as Casualty.

About his time on Gladiator, he says: "It was an extras role, basically involved in the crowd scene, but I couldn't believe I could get into it.

"I just loved every single second of it."

But the experience sowed some of the first seeds of a renewed music career - fuelled by an invitation from Bryan Adams to one of the Canadian rocker's shows.

"It was seeing that whole thing again, the stage, the audience, the feeling, the vibe, the excitement of it all," says the 34-year-old father of two, who moved back to his native Scarborough three years ago.

"That was the final thing. I had been thinking about it for some time, really."

The new tour will see Jepson playing songs from the Little Angels' back catologue, as well as new material, including tracks from his new EP, Refresh.

But he promises to recreate the feel-good rock style of the Little Angels, although the new band is "less polished".

For more on Toby Jepson, visit the www.tobyjepson.com website. A full interview will be appearing on The Northern Echo's music website, at www.thisisrevolution.co.uk The Northern Echo and Jepsongs Ltd have five copies of Toby Jepson's new EP, Refresh, to give away.

Simply answer the question below and send it on a postcard to Toby Jepson competition, The Northern Echo, PO Box 14, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF, by Monday, March 18.

Q. What was the name of Toby Jepson's first band after leaving the Little Angels