Busted Look Back At Their Early Days
Busted have been looking back at their earliest days as a band in a new interview with The Guardian ahead of their forthcoming reunion tour.
Matt Willis remembered the band starting out and reflected that an early break-up was inevitable, “At the start, no one would take me and James [Bourne] seriously, as we were just two weirdos, then this handsome guy Charlie [Simpson] arrived and we got signed straight away. We were fractured early on. That was because Charlie walked into something that was already done – the whole album was written. Before we knew it, we were on the cover of Smash Hits. I was stoked. But Charlie was never into that world, so he was unhappy. Part of me wanted to say: ‘Can we just enjoy it? Can our moment not be naff, please?’
“Even on the night we won two Brits, we were apart. We all had girlfriends; we were all experiencing this bonkers reality separately. We should have talked about Charlie’s unhappiness straight away, but whenever it was brought up one of our team would say, ‘Well, let’s not’ because we were making so much money for everyone. No one wanted to rock the boat until it was too late.”
Charlie Simpson went on to discuss the band’s initial break-up, “Matt and James were unbelievably understanding when I said I was leaving. I still have guilt about it. In 2015, we went on a road trip in America to make new music. It was like being on a date. When you enter a band it’s like entering a relationship.
“We were kids when Busted started. We’ve since lived life and have set the foundations for something even stronger.”
Busted – 2023 UK tour
SEPTEMBER
3 – Cardiff, CIA
5 – Swansea, Swansea Arena
6 – Bournemouth, BIC
7 – Brighton, Brighton Centre
9 – Birmingham, Utilita Arena
10 – London, The O2
12 – Bridlington, Bridlington Spa
15 – Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena
16 – Newcastle Upon Tyne, Utilita Arena
17 – Leeds, First Direct Arena
19 – Aberdeen, P&J Live
20 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro
22 – Liverpool, M&S Bank Arena
23 – Nottingham, Motorpoint Arena
24 – Manchester, AO Arena
26 – Cardiff, Cardiff International Arena
27 – London, The O2
29 – Birmingham, Utilita Arena
30 – Manchester, AO Arena
OCTOBER
1 – Glasgow, OVO Hydro