Today we throw our pop stars up the charts by voting for them on TV (either by text, phone or Internet, the choice is endless), passively letting their latest languid cover roll over our ears with buttocks planted firmly on the couch. How refreshing is it, to know that outside the realm of toupéd svengalis and cash-powered pop, there's a real, vibrant music scene creating sensational new live acts like Seed, signed to AMG records.

Singer/songwriter Phil Marcs is no Will, Gareth or erm David Sneddon, and won over a rapidly expanding audience through live gigs and burgeoning radio airplay. In just six short months, Seed have grown from gigging the backstreet dives of Hounslow - in front of a crowd more used to Holloway and The Scrubs - to the West End glitz of London and a thousands-strong jubilant rabble. Commercial radio is equally keen on Seed with their fervent sound being sent to all corners of the UK and Ireland.

There is a tangible buzz of excitement surrounding Phil Marcs after the release of the new Seed single Absent Friends and album Midnight Walking later this year. This single is quintessential Seed: intricate guitar riffs from Ian Rogerson, set on a background of Andy Malek's velvet bass and precise percussion of Phil Page with Marcs' rich vocals rising above a wonderwall of sound. The album's eponymous single Midnight Walking is inspired by a requited love in moonlit Romania while in the melancholic Houdini, Marcs sings "Played with fire till we got burnt/Searching for the reason to the pain that we just learnt," hinting another less grounded time in the singer's life. With the edgy Just So and many more tracks being perfected, Midnight Walking is set to make a splash in 2003.

At 6'4" and just under 17 stone, without a pinch of fat on him, Phil Marcs cuts an impressive figure. In another life he might have been troubling Lennox Lewis in the ring, but instead Marcs chose a fighting art where feet, knees and elbows were common currency. Which was in roundabout way this was the start of his musical career.

By his 20s Marcs was formidable kick boxer (perhaps a result of feeling an outsider as a teenager) and very much into that scene. "There was a kick boxing tournament at Ealing Boulevard," says Marcs, "and I went along to help out: warm the fighters up and give words of encouragement. I had my kit after training but had no intention of fighting.

"But as the bouts went on, the fighter on the top of the bill was let down and had no contestant. He was the British heavyweight kick boxing champion, Alan Whitton and I was offered a chance to box for UK belt so thought I why not. Whitton was in a different league but I fancied my chances. Despite the fact that he'd trained in Thailand boxing camp for five years.

"As I faced up to Whitton touched gloves and it was obvious he was built like a truck. But when the bell went and three thousand people were cheering, the adrenaline took over and that was it. I spent the first round pelting into the guy. With the lights and the sound, it was a surreal experience.

"The bell went for the second round and I went to swing a sharp a roundhouse kick at this thigh. Whitton saw it coming. Our shins clashed. He was wearing full-length kick boxing guards and I only had a pair of footie pads, which broke on impact. As did my tibia. A friend who was watching said the sound was like a branch breaking. I span round about two or three times before Whitton put me down with a blow to the head. Once down I tried to stand up but my leg just gave way and I hit the canvas again."

At Ealing hospital an X-ray revealed that the front of the bone suffered a very minor break, but such was the ferocity of the blow and rock hardness of his shins that the back of the tibia shattered sending shard of bone into Marcs' calf muscle. Luckily, the break was clean and required no pinning, but it meant a long convalescence.

"My life changed completely. I had a good job, good friends and with kick boxing had stayed very fit. I lost everything, was on the dole and stuck at home waiting for my leg to mend. Friends stopped coming, I was just so low. I was taken by very personal matters, spending a lot of time in deep thought about my life and the direction it would take from here on in, when strangely enough an old mate made a surprise visit and brought his sister's old guitar with him to give me something to do. It was amazing, I'd never played before but as I learnt my first three chords, I just thought "this is it." By the end of the week, I wrote my first song, Wishing Well, and it took me by total surprise. The guy did me a real favour breaking my leg."

The hard side of Marcs' character is now channelled into pumping iron. But he is the archetypal gentle giant and until he gave his life over totally to music, was a dedicated care worker.

"The worst thing giving up my day job?" he smiles. "I'll miss the clients so much, they were truly remarkable people. The job was all about bringing fun into their lives, so when I was doing things like personal cleaning, I made sure it was a laugh. It was crucial they always kept their dignity. There was some challenging behaviour, some aggression, but I had a real rapport with the clients. They loved music too and I'll never forget the last pantomime we did. Everyone had such a brilliant time."

For 2003 more people more will get to enjoy Seed perform in bigger venues, garner more airtime and release Absent Friends with the album Midnight Walking waiting in the wings. That is a fact, but the bigger story of Seed is still yet to be written.