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We met up with James Bourne, formerly of Busted, and his brand new Son Of Dork bandmates to talk rock, bird flu and Kelly Osbourne. Here's what went down...

VN: Hello Son Of Dork, how are you all today?

All: Good thanks!

VN: So guys, everything's been so fast for you - one minute James is holding auditions, the next thing the album's on the shelves and now you're onto your second single. How did you get your act together so quickly?

James: No days off! Ha ha! I started writing the songs at the beginning of the year - I had about four tracks ready to go before the auditions. Then the auditions happened, and I knew Chris from before, he used to play with Busted. After the auditions we just started rehearsing straight away. About three weeks later I was having meetings to find producers - we got Gil Norton on board, and that was a huge thing.

VN: He's worked with great bands like the Pixies hasn't he?

Dave: And Feeder.

Danny: He did the Foo Fighters' best album, man, he's a legend.

James: Bands literally put their albums on hold on the hope that he'll produce them, for like six months.

"...everyone in this band is incapable of being in a boyband"

VN: So did you need to convince him to work with you or did he jump at it?

James: I played him four songs acoustically and he agreed to do it straight away. And I rung everyone and I was like "Gil's doing the album!", and they were all like, "No way! No way!" We could have been in the studio with any old guy, but I really wanted to get a good producer, and he's definitely a big producer capable of giving us a really cool first album sound.

Dave: He turned down some of our favourite bands to do us, which is awesome, man.

VN: You must have been chuffed. How many people did you audition for the band?

James: Thousands!

Danny: I was at auditions man and there was a gazillion people there.

VN: Did you have a Simon Cowell moment, James, or did you sit there sternly taking notes in silence?

James: I was really uncomfortable with auditions.

Danny: There were so many people we had to go through in groups of ten. James didn't come in to half of them, he sat in the corridor watching people go in!

Steve: He looked so bored at my audition, sitting there.

VN: Were you thinking in the back of your head: "I'm not going to make it, I've messed up?"

Steve: No he was loving me, he got jealous when I stood up and started doing my audition!

James: Yeah, Steve was good!

VN: Did you get a lot of girls coming along?

James: We got one, a girl drummer, but she wasn't half as good as Danny.

VN: So do you get annoyed when people call you a "boyband" now? Your song, Boyband, is obviously an ironic dig about that kind of stuff.

James: This time round, when people call us a "boyband", it's like: "are you blind?" With Busted, I understand why people called us a boyband, definitely, but Westlife are a boyband, Backstreet Boys are a boyband, 'NSync are a boyband - we weren't a boyband. And I like boybands! I like 'NSync, I would have actually been happy in 'NSync, I don't have anything against them but I just happen to not be in a boyband, because we play. Nobody calls Good Charlotte a boyband.

Danny: It's fair enough calling us a pop group, cos that's what we are, but we're not a boyband.

James: Yeah, like everyone in this band is incapable of being in a boyband. Like Chris, he's 26, been playing his guitar his whole life, he can't dance to save his life - none of us can...

Steve: He can play the guitar like a demon.

James: Danny can't dance to save his life either!

Danny: I can dance!

James: OK, yeah, maybe Danny can dance, but this band has been put together like a band, and to be honest the only difference between this band and Busted really is that there's a drummer.

VN: There's a lot of cynicism in this album, mostly about "fakers" and the music industry and boybands. Are you feeling quite jaded?

James: Nah, you can't be jaded when you sell three and a half million records with one band.

VN: It's not all happy happy joy joy, though, is it?

James: Yeah, well when you constantly read people getting their facts wrong, like you just said about people calling us a boyband, it's like, what are they missing? (Imitates dull voice) "Well, they're all boys, and, er, I don't think they play their own instruments". And they say we don't write our own stuff. I haven't heard so much of that stuff about this band though - our video was played on Kerrang!, it was like the second most requested, we're actually getting support. Busted was never played on Kerrang! But the reason I think cynicism comes through in the song Boyband is because I wrote it with Brendan from Wheatus. And he's had success, especially with Teenage Dirtbag, but when you sit down and you talk to him, learn about his story, it's horrible, he's been done over so many times by people in the past who've signed record deals off the back of his music, who've f**ked him, and when he did finally make it with Teenage Dirtbag he had all the same stuff happen to him as happened to Busted when we had a big hit with What I Go To School For. Everyone was like "you're just a boyband". And that's exactly what happened to Brendan.

VN: But you're finding the video for Ticket Outta Loserville is gaining you support? It's a great video, the Back To The Future car is a nice touch.

James: Yeah! And the next video's even better.

VN: I heard something about you wearing a thong in the next video, Steve - is this correct?

Steve and Danny: That's both of us.

VN: The ladies on your messageboard seem rather excited about that!

Steve: There's a picture of me in my red thong on there!

Danny: You couldn't fit your thing in there properly. Steve had to do a skateboard thing which was alright cos he didn't have to jiggle much, but I had to hold on 'cos I had to strip.

Steve: I was on a skateboard, course I had to jiggle!

"We're all heavily influenced by big American bands, and those influences shine through in our music"

VN: Enough jiggling already. Let's talk about the song Sick - it's quite... sick. What's all that about?

Steve: (To James, joking) It's about Kara!

James: No, you know the scene in Shawshank Redemption where he's outside and he's got a gun, the way the film starts - a lot of times I write about scenes from films that give good narrative to write about. It's hard to keep coming up with good lyrics.

VN: Some people have accused you of singing with American accents on the album. What do you make of that?

James: I don't know why people are bringing that up now, because I've sung the same way I sang in Busted. With Ticket Outta Loserville, when you think of Loserville, what do you picture it looking like exactly? You picture it like it is in the video. We like to do videos that represent the lyrics to the song.

Steve: You can't imagine Loserville being somewhere like Streatham or Tooting.

Dave: If you think about it, if those lyrics were sung like the Kaiser Chiefs were singing them over the top of that music, it would sound absolutely w**k!

James: The Killers come from Nevada and they sound like they come from England.

Dave: And the Lostprophets, their singer grew up about five miles from where I did!

James: Our new video, Eddie's Song, doesn't have any white picket fences in it because there's no Loserville sign, it's a completely different narrative and lyrical concept. If that was our first video I don't think anyone would have said that we sounded American. If I had to compare Son Of Dork to anyone I'd say we're like Simple Plan, with better lyrics and better songs.

VN: Ooh, I can't stand Simple Plan - you're much better than them, surely?

Dave: I think they're s**t, I hate Simple Plan - their songs are all boring. They don't write none of their stuff either, it's sad.

James: I think we're more entertaining.

VN: Are you heavily influenced by American music, though?

James: Yeah, all the bands I listen to are very pop-punk. I listen to Yellowcard quite a lot, and Newfound Glory.

Dave: My favourite band of all time are blink-182, and his favourite band of all time are Green Day (pointing to Steve), and they're like two of the biggest American pop-rock bands for ages.

Danny: We're all heavily influenced by big American bands, and those influences shine through in our music.

Steve: And Shakin' Stevens.

VN: I've been to your messageboard, you have some incredibly dedicated fans. Do you spend much time there yourselves?

Dave: Recently in the last two days, because we've been in the studio and we have access to the Net now.

VN: I did a whip round for some questions for you - here's what they came up with. Nicola from Aberdeen wants to know when you're going to tour. Any plans?

Steve: Maybe next summer.

Danny: If everyone likes the album, if the album starts doing a lot better, then yeah.

James: Our agent says we'll probably be touring in the summer.

Steve: So put a question mark next to that one!

VN: Yasmina from Lincoln wants to know what rumours you've heard about yourselves in the press that are totally untrue.

James: That Dave's gay, Steve's gay.

Steve: Apparently me and Dave had a car crash and we were both in casualty!

Dave: Yeah it was on Radio 2, that Steve had an asthma attack and I had a cut on my head or something!

James: Radio 2, of all radio stations, they don't even play our songs!

Steve: I don't even have asthma!

VN: There's been press speculation about Dave and Miss Kelly Osbourne, of course...

Dave: We're just friends, man. It's stupid, Danny from McFly was meant to be getting married to her or something, all he did was walk out of a club with her. I was meant to be watching Harry Potter with her, and the first time I watched Harry Potter was with these two last night, so that's absolute bulls**t! And today apparently I split up with her! You make friends with someone, suddenly you're involved with them. If I was friends with Jack Osbourne, would I be gay, would I be seeing Jack Osbourne?

James: The press are professional bulls***ters, and what professional bulls***ters do is they mix truth with bulls**t. So the truth is, yeah, Dave was with Kelly at a club...

Dave: But James was there in the club with me!

VN: But you weren't "making out on the back row at the cinema", going to getting married and having babies together?

Steve: No that was at Brixton - they "f***ed in the toilets"!

Dave: Yeah, did you hear that!? The Star printed yesterday that apparently all through The Prodigy gig at Brixton on Monday we were in the toilet together! It was one of the greatest live things I've seen ever, Steve and Danny were with me at the bar getting steaming.

VN: Abby from Portsmouth wants to know if you'd ever date a fan - I think this one's for you, James...

James: If they were smart, and they didn't come across like a fan, then maybe they'd be able to kid me into dating them.

VN: Cristelle from Birmingham wants to know: what's been your best moment as a band so far this year?

Steve: Working with Gil Norton.

Danny: Being here and doing it.

Steve: Winning a Smash Hits award. That was awesome.

James: That was mad. Busted won it, McFly won it, Backstreet Boys won that, and now we've won it - I don't think anyone's won it twice before. I'm the first person ever to win Best New Band twice!

Danny: Take That won that too.

"The press are professional bulls***ters, and what professional bulls***ters do is they mix truth with bulls**t"

VN: "whatsername <3" wants to know: "Danny, why are you such a 'phittface'". Spelt P-H-I-T-T-F-A-C-E. So Danny, why are you such a "phittface"? Answers!

Danny: Haha! Good breeding! Me mam and dad got horny one night and here I am.

Steve: The best part of you went down your mum's leg!

VN: That's disgusting young man. Laura from South Wales wants to know what your favourite tracks are on the album and why.

Danny: Slacker - it's good to play, got some great drums.

Dave: Slacker, yeah, definitely, it's the most upbeat one.

Steve: Murdered In The Mosh.

James: I like playing Ticket Outta Loserville and Eddie's Song.

VN: Sinead from Dublin wants to know if you're looking forward to playing the Cheerios Childline gig in Dublin?

Steve: Yeah I can't wait. Apparently we're doing that, I didn't know we were!

Dave: I'm definitely looking forward to it, I haven't been to Ireland since I was like two, it's going to be awesome.

Danny: Do we get free Cheerios? It'll be my first time abroad. Ever.

VN: How is that possible?!

Dave: Danny's first time flying was only like two months ago.

VN: So is this band stuff a bit of a shock to the system, Danny?

Danny: A little bit, yeah. Actually, yes - completely!

VN: Hayley, from some undisclosed location...

James: Hell!

VN: Or possibly an institution - she wants to know: "If birds ruled the earth, would we be able to fly?". Stunned silence...

James: We can fly without birds - airplanes!

Danny: But birds would destroy the planes, and we'd all surely die.

Steve: Isn't bird flu attacking small cocks first? Watch out Dave...

All: *Groan*

Steve: I had the camel flu last night - it gave me the right hump!

VN: Boom boom. OK, enough of that, back to my questions. What do you think of Freefaller's Basket Case cover?

Steve: (sarcastic) It's awesome. I'm the biggest Green Day fan but now I'm slowly changing to Freefaller. If only Freefaller had written that and released it first.

Danny: We love those guys, they are actually really nice guys.

Steve: Yeah, they are nice guys, but that was a complete "Oh. My. God." Green Day are one of the biggest bands ever, Basket Case was one of their biggest ever hits, and they're covering it. It's like covering a Beatles song, but Green Day are still together. They did it in the same style but nowhere near as good.

James: I think that's just a classic example of a band who are in a bad position. They're not even on a real record company, they've been put together to fill a void when Busted was over.

VN: So if you could cover any song in the world yourselves, what would it be?

Danny: Everlong by the Foo Fighters.

Dave: If you could actually get away with it and people would respect you for it? Anthem by blink-182.

Steve: I would do Loving You Baby by Elvis Presley.

James: I would do Jam by Michael Jackson. JAM! Boo!

VN: Scorching, but my time is up - farewell Son Of Dork!

All: Goodbye!