A newly formed band from Essex has enjoyed a rapid rise to prominence after receiving prestigious national airtime for its first recorded single.

Ben Club, who have been playing together for barely a month, were played under the new music section of Huw Stephens’s show on BBC Radio One last week.

Having not yet played a gig together, the appearance came as quite a surprise for the four-piece, who describe their music as “bubblegum pop”. “It was quite surreal and pretty exciting too,” said Ben Brown, 24, who plays guitar and sings with the group. “We’ve only been formed a month, so it’s all happened pretty fast.”

The appearance came about after the Ipswich-based Antigen Records recommended the group to BBC Suffolk Introducing, which was in turn compiling local acts to appear on the Radio One show.

Jason Whittaker, who signed the band after hearing a rough rehearsal session, has commissioned the featured track, Diving Bell, to appear on a seven inch vinyl release.

“As soon as I heard it I thought it was absolutely brilliant – a really stunning little pop song,” he said.

The other band members are: Alex Brown, 21, Ben’s brother, who plays guitar and sings; Krista Lynch, 22, Ben’s girlfriend, who plays bass and sings, and Ben Ward, 23, on drums.

Mr Brown previously caused a stir in the Ipswich music scene when he played a gig under the alias of “Mick Squalor” in the toilets of the Steamboat earlier this year.

He and Krista also made headlines this summer after the amorous musician made an ill-fated journey on his clapped out motorbike to serenade her in Brighton, following a row.

Back in East Anglia, the adventure lives on in Ben Club. The band will be releasing Latvian – the song Mr Brown sang to Krista – as the double A-side to Diving Bell.

The band hopes to release the single in February. They will be playing their gig at a “mystery location” in Ipswich next month.