Shots from the hip: Scarlet Page reveals the secrets of rock'n'roll photography

Monday, 3pm, and the Islington Academy has hummed with activity for much of the day. Stage time for tonight's first band is not until 7.30pm, and the venue is ready for The Fratellis to soundcheck. The occasion is MTV's Spanking New Tour, a snapshot of the UK music scene, with various sets of bands crossing the country.

This bijou north London venue hosts two line-ups on consecutive nights. Tonight, Scotland's premier beat threesome are supported by red-hot Mancunian duo The Ting Tings and Danish pop export Alphabeat, while Tuesday sees a more cohesive line up: Arctic Monkeys' mates The Rascals, south London teen scamps The Metros and Leeds's comparative veterans The Pigeon Detectives. These are shows laid on for the benefit of the music channel's cameras, though at the same time these are regular gigs, with all the tension, stress and boredom that this entails.

MTV has given rock photographer Scarlet Page exclusive backstage access to capture these fluctuations in emotion, from the horseplay as bands pass downtime between soundcheck and set to the intense focus seconds before they hit the stage. In the past, she has worked with such stellar names as the Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers, though this fly-on-the-wall job suits her down to the ground. She spent most of 2004 on tour as official photographer to The Darkness.

As the daughter and oldest child of Led Zeppelin guitar legend Jimmy, Page is comfortable in these surroundings and knows she can use that to put musicians at ease, despite being too young to remember her father's band in its prime (she was nine when they disbanded). "I never went on tour or anything, but I did get to meet The Osmonds, Abba, Adam and the Ants – all the cool ones," she laughs. "I'm not starry-eyed and because of my background, I'm almost one of the family, which does open doors, but that's also down to my reputation that I've built up over 14 years.

"I don't like too much preparation," she reveals. "Even with studio or editorial trips I don't bring a huge concept, I capture what the band is about." Although as opinionated about her subjects' output as any music lover, Page brings a cool, distanced stance, based partly on the fact she came to this job almost by accident. Her first drive as a photographer was more creative than documentary. "I knew I wanted to do something with a camera, but wasn't sure what, so I did a degree. Then I did some work experience for rock photographer Ross Halfin and it just went from there. I thought, that's something I might be good at. I helped Ross then started getting my own commissions."

As any student of rock lore knows, most of Led Zep's most infamous tales involve hotels and, inspecting the Academy's backstage area, you understand why. The narrow corridors and cramped rooms are hardly conducive to classic star misbehaviour. The facilities are functional at best, with something institutional about them, thanks to a grim colour scheme, which in venue terms actually puts them in the upper echelons. There are working showers and mini-fridges to keep the beers cool (the rider of light snacks, soft drinks and alcohol of various kinds remains a basic right of touring life). Missing is the graffiti that adorns many a green-room.

It also appears that The Fratellis will not start any such tradition at the Academy as the self-contained trio are happy to avoid the venue as much as possible. Altogether, the band cause Page some consternation. "I did a shoot with them in Barcelona last year and they don't like having their picture taken – especially the drummer. They don't seem to enjoy that side of things at all." The trio leave immediately after their soundcheck, the rigorous testing of instruments and sound levels that bands suffer with surprisingly good grace given the repetition involved. They head back to their hotel, returning mere minutes before they are due on stage. Having kept out of their way all this time, the band gamely agree to join us as we go up the stairs from the warren of dressing rooms to the venue proper, rather than the private lift that transports equipment and band members direct to stage left.

That way, we witness the group's pensive silence in the final seconds before they emerge into the limelight. Some bands need to work up a head of steam before they go on stage, hearing their favourite tunes or shouting encouragement to work up some adrenalin. Others prefer to relax and take their minds off things. Yet almost all the acts we meet over these two nights admit they benefit from a few moments of quiet to gain focus before they go on.

The serious members of Alphabeat belie their reputation for cheery pop by orchestrating a group meditation, while The Ting Tings think about what they got wrong the last time they played. This twosome have headed out on a steep leaning curve as they gradually meet the high expectations that have been heaped upon them. Luckily, we catch them in high spirits as they have just found out Apple have picked up on album track "Shut Up And Let Me Go" for an iPod advert. Their soundcheck is one of the most entertaining, thanks to a voluble soundman. "Is that guitar not in tune or am I hearing things?" he barks at one point. No, said instrument is certainly out of tune, but then singer Katie White has only been playing for a few months. She later laughs off the abuse.

Still, it must be frustrating getting used to The Fratellis' set up having just started embarking on their own headline dates. It is this pecking order of bands that sets up the day and provides a perfect opportunity for Page to capture them in an unfamiliar, relaxed demeanour.

"They are under the lights and on stage, but the way they act is completely different from when they perform," she explains. The difference is subtle and hard to spot at first. By necessity, artists must take up the positions they will adopt in front of a crowd later. After a few minutes you notice the way they interact – White's resignation as a technician comes on to tune up her guitar, or how Alphabeat's frontman Anders SG directs proceedings like a musical director.

Headline acts soundcheck first, and those below on the bill follow in inverse order. It gives band members a lot of time in the afternoon waiting around for not a lot to happen. The studious Alphabeat update their MySpace page – "We like linking to our fans and making things more personable than other bands," says drummer Troels Hansen.

In stark contrast, The Metros seem intent on making mischief in classically British tearaway fashion. At one point, I catch some of them climbing a stairwell wall in order to ambush another member. Alternatively, bands can succumb to the relentless grind of media duties.

Upstairs, an excited throng crowds the bar, eager for their first drinks and conversing loudly over a selection of current hits. Downstairs, meanwhile, is all expectant hush and calm activity. The Ting Tings' White reveals that she has begun doing pre-show vocal exercises in the past few weeks to strengthen her voice, though a vodka and cranberry remains her and drummer Jules De Martino's stiffener V C of choice. They leave for their set relaxed and that is how they return, albeit with that post-gig glow of exertion. De Martino has a towel wrapped round his neck like a boxer who has finished training as friends and aides mingle in the cramped dressing room and dissect the evening's show.

Next day, it is The Pigeon Detectives' turn to rule the roost. Fresh out of the studio, recording the follow up to debut album Wait For Me, they saunter in with relaxed confidence, though singer Matt Bowman misses the start of their soundcheck. "Is there anything instrumental you can play?" asks their soundman, cuttingly. The four visible Detectives go through the motions somewhat sheepishly, until their frontman leaps onto the stage as if nothing as happened. "I was doing me ironing," he shrugs. "Not very rock and roll, but I've done loads of soundchecks and know how they work."

Beginnings of frontman-egotism? Maybe, but it soon becomes clear that the rest of the band keep him in check. While undemonstrative on stage, each member holds his own in conversation, as shown when Jimmi Naylor admits he likes shopping for clothes on tour. "Jimmi likes his clothes but they don't like him," puckish bassist Dave Best cuts in, before explaining how this is how they spend their time. "We wait and wait and wait. Ninety per cent of the time we're just talking, usually taking the piss out of each other." Bowman looks disapprovingly at a camcorder previously ignored on the coffee table they are sat around. "MTV want us to do a video diary, but we're not into that kind of thing."

Upstairs, The Metros are now testing their gear. The boys have picked up some fancy-dress hats from a pound shop round the corner from the venue, but in their excitement to stave off on-tour boredom, have forgotten that the soundcheck is filmed for close-ups, so they will need to wear the same headgear on stage tonight. Frivolity comes easy to these relative youngsters, though this is the second night of their mini-tour and the three acts are into the swing of things. They met up in Cambridge last night and the south Londoners are already starting to form bonds with The Rascals, who are down from the Wirral. While The Metros mix classic punk and ska influences, their north-western peers seem to evince respect for the more polished, post-punk tones of their home city's Echo and the Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes.

Yet they are at roughly similar points in their respective careers, both having notched up a couple of singles. In the corridor that connects the dressing rooms, an acoustic guitar acts as a handy icebreaker that Metros singer Saul Adamczewski can play in the corridor, while his Rascals counterpart Miles Kane uses it to warm up later in his group's dressing room. The instrument looks somewhat anachronistic among all their electronic gadgets. Wireless internet in the venue enables The Rascals to check out the video for their next single and as well as the laptop, Kane spends time on a handheld games machine, while bassist Joe Edwards looks after the iPod, which is unexpectedly playing Frankie Valli And the Four Seasons.

The Teardrop Explodes also crop up, along with Scott Walker – a nod to Kane's side project Last Shadow Puppets, with Arctic Monkey mainman Alex Turner. During soundcheck, The Rascals continue to show their love for Liverpool's pop culture with snippets of The Beatles' "Come Together" and Teardrop's "Bouncing Babies", though neither are on the night's set list. Another way of adding variety to the working day that later sees them rush off to play another, typically sharp set at East End boozer The Old Blue Last. A hard day's night: it is only on stage that these bands truly come alive.

MTV's Spanking New Tour broadcasts on MTV TWO from 30th May to 6 June and on www.mtv.co.uk/spankingnew