Busted on Night Driver and their new electronic sound: "Year 5000? We don't think that would have gone down well"

Busted are back, and boy is it with a bang.

James, Matt and Charlie last released a studio album in 2003, and it is fair to say that the music industry has changed *quite* a bit since then. Change is necessarily a bad thing though; and Busted have applied that notion to their new album Night Driver, an electronic marvel packed with those trademark Busted vocals but with a fresh, synthy twist. If this album wasn't on your radar, get ready for a fantastic surprise.

We spoke to the lads about switching up their style, comparisons to Daft Punk, and what it would mean to bag a Number 1 album after reaching the runner-up slot on two occasions.

Hello Busted! Night Driver is a genuinely surprising change in style for you. Was the plan to catch us all off guard when you first got back in the studio together?

Matt: "I think it would be weirder if we came back and sang songs that we did when we were 18 than the record we've just made. We wouldn't have got back together is that was the case."

Charlie: "We split up on musical grounds so the sound was always going to change. It's a bit of a curveball." 

James: "What I Pay My Mortgage For, Year 5000... I don't think that would have gone down very well. It's like trying to repeat an old holiday that you had with friends once. You know, 'let's go back there, it was so much fun the first time'. It would never quite be the same. Let's go somewhere new, let's change it up."

The new sound is quite 'Daft Punk', isn't it?

James: "When they hear the album, they'll realise it was silly to say that. I get why they said it, but I think it sounds more like Transformers..."

Charlie: "Or Robot Wars!"

Matt: "I think it's literally just that we put James' vocals through the vocoder and on hearing that, that's where people got that from."

But did you have any strong influences in mind that you wanted to reflect or pay homage to?

Charlie: "We got some spiritual vibes from the Collins... and the Hornsby, but apart from that, no not really."

Matt: "We listened to loads of f**king classic stuff like Genesis. Especially our producer John Fields, he was like 'it's from that era'. He loves those bands. He was as stoked as we were when we said we were going to make this record."

James: "He geeks out over all of those same songs like what we do and he was the best person for us to do it with."

How have your original core fans been reacting to the new you?

Matt: "We don't really know until the album comes out! It's all up in the air. On What You're On is a surprise, but then the album is also another surprise. Nothing really makes sense until you have the album."

James: "What you said about 'have we retained the fans?'... I think the important thing is that we're still here. [laughs] If we had made an album like the old albums, we would already be splitting up again. We have to be there for the fans to be there." 

Do you think Son of Dork, McBusted and Fightstar fans will want to a piece of this action too?

Charlie: "Maybe, but we really don't know. There'll be elements of our fanbases that come with us, but there'll be new fans that come along as well." 

James: "There'll be some people that'll be really tripped out by the first stuff because they'll discover us on this and then be like 'what happened all those years ago? WHAT THE F**K IS THIS?! That was some crazy, messed-up prequel.'" 

Matt: "It's like listening to Fleetwood Mac when Peter Green was in the band. Then they went away for 10 years and came back with different people and it all sounded different. We just have the same people but we've had 10 years apart, and of influence and life and that all smacks into this album."

James: "If you listen to One Day In Your Life by Michael Jackson and then you listen to 2000 Watts, they're just so different, it's mental. You couldn't find two songs that are further apart. It's like that." 

What has been the biggest adaptation you have had to make with this record now that you’re back together? 

Charlie: "We had to learn how to play synthesized bass!"

Matt: "I'm still f**king struggling with that. There's like four songs on the album that have real bass and the rest of it is on a keyboard. So then I was like 'F**k, now I've got to learn to play keyboard! I've got one plugged into my computer at home."

Charlie: "It's going to be a totally different live experience too. We're going to play with the visuals a lot. We're going to make it a real light show. This music lends itself to being really awesome live." 

The industry has changed massively since you released your last album. It seems like the pre-teen music of yesteryear may have gotten an easier time on the airwaves?

Charlie: "Radio 1 only started to play us back in the day when we got massive. We didn't break off radio. We broke off TV. It's a weird thing because you can't really engineer a campaign just around radio or TV. If they come on board, great, but if they don't, they don't." 

Matt: "What I find fascinating about how the music industry has changed is that our song's impact date isn't until the end of f**king December or something. You put a song out there, and we've only just started working it. You put it out there, people listen, then you start working it and then it climbs the chart, and then people play it on the radio. It's a low build."

James: "Radio really is a thing of its own. It's detached from the music business in a way. Radio is its own beast. Nothing really dictates to radio at all. You've got to be in your own lane and have your own trajectory."

Matt: "You're in trouble if you say 'well obviously this is going to get airplay'. Cause if it doesn't, you're f**ked."

The three of you have always been a part of various different projects since Busted. How does it feel to have the band back together?

Matt: "It's a bit trippy. I always secretly wanted it to happen but I wouldn't have said that out loud because I didn't want to sound like a dick."

Charlie: "It feels great, but it feels weird as this is something we never thought would happen. Ever. Matt and James came to my house two or three years ago and asked me if I wanted in... and I said no. [laughs] 

"But then that meeting planted a seed and that seed grew. It took two or three years to rekindle our relationship and get back on that same page - and then we planted a big synth tree!"

James: "I think now that Busted are back, I don't think we'll never break up again. It'll never be a disappear off the face of the earth kind of thing. What's good is that the Busted engines are back on again and they'll never be properly shut down at the mains."

James and Matt, McBusted was a huge success for you both - you made an original album and worked with the likes of Mark Hoppus. Was it hard to leave that project behind?

Matt: "To be honest, it was quite an easy thing to leave behind. And that's because we were talking to Charlie. The last year [of McBusted] was kind of tainted by that. We'd been flirting with Mr. Simpson on the sly."

James: "It was like we were going home. Hence the song!"

You've picked a busy time of year to release the album. Does that scare you in anyway?

Matt: "Q4, or as some people would say, a f**king tragic mistake! [laughs]"

Charlie: "When we first got back together, James said, 'the one thing we're not doing is releasing an album in Q4'. And now we're in it!"

James: "That is so funny! Literally, if you actually want something not to happen, the best thing you can say is 'we must absolutely do this'! Charlie was like 'I will never come back to Busted!', 'I will never release an album in Q4', 'we will never get to Number 1!' [laughs]"

Speaking of Number 1s, 2016 has been a year of great comebacks; how great would it feel to complete the return with a chart topper?

Charlie: "It's funny because everyone knows about soft weeks, and releasing an album at a quieter time to try and get a Number 1. And then they get it and that's great..." 

Matt: "But we know what they're up to. Releasing an album in the third week of January you sly dogs!" 

James: But like, you're only cheating yourself. [laughs] It's not going to happen, but if we were to get a Number 1 album, it would be a serious triumph." 

Charlie: "We're in the eye of the storm when it comes to competition, but we're doing this because we want to position Busted on this new journey. If we get Top 5, I'll be very, very happy."

Busted's brand new album Night Driver is out now. Find out where it charts this Friday, December 2.