HI MATT, are you looking forward to coming back to Belfast?
We're super excited, man. It's coming around fast. We were talking about this next tour when we were on the last one (their Pigs Can Fly reunion tour), and it felt like it was going to be a long time before it was going to happen. We always have a great reception in Belfast, it's an incredible city and one of our favourites. It's always a great time.
Last time you were here in May, you played quite a few new songs even though Night Driver hadn't come out yet. Was that a deliberate statement of intent?
It was very cocky to play songs that no-one had ever heard before – in fact, we actually opened those shows with a brand new song (either No Time For Caution or Coming Home), which was a f***ing ballsy move.
But we wanted to let people know immediately that this reunion was not what people might have thought it was – we're not doing this to just cash in on nostalgia or any of that s***: the reason we're back together is because we wanna make new music together. We've made this new music and we're super excited about it and we can't wait for you to hear it.
The new songs went over very well Now that album is finally out there, has it done the job you wanted it to do?
I hope so man, we hope so. We're so proud and excited by it, it was an amazing experience writing and recording it. It was an amazing time. I mean, the last thing we released before we split was the double A-side single 3AM/Thunderbirds. It's a massive departure from Thunderbirds, but it's not that different to 3AM at times. It's still Busted.
When a band have been together for 15 years, of course they're going to sound different from when they started – especially when they're 18 when they form. By the time they get to 33 they'll be listening to very vastly different music and be influenced by totally different things.
So I think that's what, we all matured musically but separately. And when we came back together we kind of brought all those influences together and made this record which made us completely creatively happy.
Night Driver is just our record of us enjoying being in a band and making music. We just made songs that we loved and we didn't think about whether it was going to fit into the current climate or if radio was going like it or all that kind of s*** that you would have if we had a record deal.
So you weren't actually signed when you were making the album?
No, we made it without a record deal intentionally. That's why we did the tour first, to generate the cash for us to go and record the album without any interference. Then we could license it to a label (East West) fully finished.
Given that Charlie Simpson originally left Busted back in 2005 because of musical differences and formed his own rock band Fightstar, how surprised were you to discover that you were now on the same page creatively?
It was definitely a surprise – and the biggest surprise for me was how easy it was.
I expected to be clashing heads a little bit more, but everything happened quite simply. We all wanted to make the same record. I don't really know what other people thought, but if I was a Busted fan hearing that Charlie Simpson who left to do Fightstar is coming back to the band and they're going to make a record, I'd think it would probably sound like a much heavier version of Busted.
That would make sense – but it's completely not that: Night Driver is an all-out ballsy 80s pop record, which is crazy!
Charlie even shed his guitar to play a synth and do some serious crooning when you performed On What You're On on the Graham Norton Show last month. Clearly, he's loving your new direction?
Definitely – Charlie is an amazing pop singer. I said to him the other day, 'in Fightstar, you're just another metal singer. But in pop music you're one of the best pop singers in the country. 'It sounds amazing when you sing pop music because there's no one else who sounds anything like you'. Which is so f***ing awesome.
He's a talented dude and he's really good with the synths and samplers that we're using a lot more now too.
Will there be another Busted record after this?
I can't wait to get in the studio again, I'm already so excited about it. We're all building these little home recording rigs that we're taking on tour with us, so we're going to be writing while we're away.
It's such a different experience writing music now. We're just all three chucking stuff in and it seems to work.
You've been sober for a couple of years now. Does everyone in the band have a better balance between working and partying these days than the first time around?
Oh, totally. Well, I say that, but Charlie still gets f***ing wild sometimes! I don't party at all, I'm a pretty boring guy these days – but I love that. I wouldn't change it for the world. And I still love touring, even though it's a slightly different experience for me these days.
Finally, the new songs On What You're On and I Will Break Your Heart have some serious saxophone action on them. Are you really hoping to find someone to play sax for you on tour via your recent 'sax appeal' on Twitter?
Yeah! But they've got to be seriously good: the guy who played it on the record, Brian Gallagher, was a Minneapolis session legend. He was Prince's sax guy and unfortunately he died about a day after he played that solo on I Will Break Your Heart – that was the last thing he ever played. It was pretty tragic man.
We do know quite a few sax players, but I was just thinking 'I wonder if there's someone out there who would like to come on tour with Busted?' so I put it out on Twitter.
Why not? We might get someone sending us a video of them playing the solos who's amazing! And if they were a big Busted fan and we took them out on tour, obviously it would mean the world to them.
:: Busted, February 28, The Waterfront Hall, Belfast, tickets priced from £32.50 on sale now via Waterfront.co.uk. Volunteer your sax services on Twitter @mattjwillis.
