Date: 27th July 2006
Place: Proud Gallery, Camden, London
Why did you reject the songs 'Goodbye Lucy' and 'Broken'?
I didn't reject them, I wrote them for other people. That was a random day, I wrote those songs with two other guys in... somewhere... Ipswich or somewhere, I don't remember. I didn't actually think they were very good... I mean I wrote them, but I think they suck.
C: I think they're really good.
I wanted to get out of there, to be honest. I wrote them really quickly and I demoed the vocals, and I just did it as a bit of a laugh, it was a bit of a wasted day. And I came away and they stuck them on a fu-- bloody MySpace page as MY new album - I was livid! I was furious!
C: So who's going to be using them?
I dunno, I dunno. I don't really like them, so I don't want to put my name to them, to be honest.
T: I even like Broken, for God's sake.
Oh really? Ohh, I dunno, I'm not really very keen on it.
What experiences did you write about for the album?
It's kind of just about what this year's been like for me. You know, it's been a bit of a... well, almost two years now. It's been a bit... a bit of a mad little journey, so you know, it's kind of just anything that's come up in that time.
Who was your favourite person to write with for the album?
Jason Perry, man, lead singer from A. A are one of my favourite bands, and luckily I got the chance to write with him, and you know, just writing with one of your favourite bands is a bit like, you know. And Dan Carter, who's the bass player... they've been so wicked. And their friend, Julian, those have been the three guys and we just wrote the whole album. It's just been wicked.
C: Did you write any of it with Damon?
Damon? I wrote a b-side with Damon, that was on Up All Night. Yeah, we wrote a song called Can I Come Too?
C: Oh yeah, that's a good song.
Yeah, I like that song.
C: I prefer Rock Ya, though.
Oh really? Rock Ya was gonna be on the album, but everyone just got a bit...
C: Aww, it really should be!
I know! I really like it, but it got shunted onto a b-side.
Do you prefer being solo to being in a band?
No. No, no, no.
C: Do you get more independence?
Well yeah, I mean it's kind of my little creation, so I get complete creative control, so it's quite nice not having to deal with other people. But you know... I love being in a band. I had a wicked time, you know, it was really good fun. It's different being solo because all attention's on you.
What bands or artists have influenced your writing?
I went to a really dodgy cheesy 80s rock club one night and I heard Van Halen - Jump. And I hadn't heard it for like, years or something, and suddenly I was like, 'man, this is the best song ever written! I've got to create an album of Jumps!' So I went into the studio and went 'we have GOT to make a Van Halen record!' and everyone looked at me a bit [pulls weird face] like this. We didn't end up doing that, but we wanted to get it as flambuoyant and as big sounding and as kind of, over the top as we could, so that was the kind of the burst that got the ball rolling. There are a lot of influences on the album. I mean the next song's got a bit of a Def Leppard nod, and bands like that.
C: So what kind of sound is the album generally?
It's a kind of big... stadium pop record, you know. I wanted to make a really good pop record, cause I don't think anyone's making any really ballsy kind of statement-y pop. I mean, I'm not writing... I'm not making a statement, like I'm not being political or anything, you know, but I tried to make a 'this is what I think pop music should be' and hopefully I've done that.
C: Well I like everything I've heard so far.
T: Teenie!
Awwww!
C: I'm not a teenie!
Aww, man, I don't even know what that is... [coughs]
What is your favourite song on the album?
It keeps changing. I mean, I loved Up All Night. Hey Kid was going to be the first single, but I'm so glad we went with Up All Night in the end, cause it's just a really good song to perform and it's just a cool record, I thought. I dunno, there's a song called Get Bored, which is kinda one of the faster songs we wrote. If there's any song that anyone could say sounds like Busted, then that's the song. I mean, mostly it's a lot different, but I wrote that song when I was in Busted, so you know, it is kind of Busted-esque.
The tracklisting of the album was released on HMV early - have you made any changes to it since then?
There's one song which I pulled off the album, called Guarding My Ears. It's an amazing song, I've been writing it for about four years.
C: If it's amazing, why did you take it off?
Because I want it to be better. I think it could be worked on a lot more so I want it to be a lot better. Yeah, I wasn't quite happy with it so I pulled it off the record and we're rerecording it now and it's sounding amazing so it's back on.
Random question time! What's your favourite sex position?
I'm not answering that! My mum might watch this! My nan might see it, I'm not answering!
You don't have to answer this, cause I understand it's your private life. You recently made another trip to rehab - was it better than your last visit?
Don't believe everything you read - I did not make a trip to rehab. It's all blown out of proportion...
C: Where did that come from then?
I dunno, don't believe anything you fucking read in newspapers.
T: Apart from what we say.
Apart from what you say... apart from what I stand here and go 'blah blah blah', then don't believe it.
C: Yeah... I thought that would have some truth in it.
T: Where did it come from?
Yeah, well... I've had some issues I'm dealing with, and I deal with them my own way. But, you know, I'd rather not talk about it.
What bands do you rate at the moment?
I love a band called Infadels. They're my favourite band, man, they're fucking amazing. Check them out, Infadels, they're absolutely amazing.
C: I haven't heard of them.
They're not getting the success they deserve.
C: Where are they from?
They're from... East London. And they're amazing.
T: What kind of music?
They're kind of... dance rock. It's really dancey, but it's also... really rocky. [laugh] So yeah, dance rock would be the right thing to say. So yeah, they're amazing, they're fantastic.