‘I don’t do well with things going wrong’ is one of the first things Busted’s Matt Willis says on his call with SNACK.
Things going wrong is nothing new for the English pop band that underwent a breakup (not in the ‘year 3000’ but rather 2005). Despite this, the band reunified in 2015 and have been going from relative strength to strength since, having released Busted: Greatest Hits 2.0. late last year and now working on a new record.
Reflecting on a mistake at a previous show Willis says that while he knows perfection is unachievable he feels ‘We have a certain amount of time on stage to blow people away, and I don’t want any shit getting in the way of that.’
‘Everyone’s like ‘it’s fine, don’t worry about it’. I’m like ‘no, I need to practise it 100 times please.’’
Subsequently, we catch Willis amid practising 100 times ahead of the band’s upcoming show at Stirling’s first ever Summer Sessions.
In the shadow of the castle
On the show, set to take place in the shadow of the city’s castle, Willis says, ‘We’ve never been to Stirling before, so it’s like a brand new territory for us to kind of go and put our Busted stamp on to’
The Busted stamp has found its way across the world with Willis reflecting how ‘With a show, some places you can turn up and you go, are they gonna be up for it or not? We don’t have to worry about that in Scotland. You don’t have to second guess that. They’re fucking up for it.’
Busted in 2024
Besides touring the band is working on a new album with Willis saying it’s an exercise in seeing how they as a band feel in 2024.
Despite loving their 2016 record Night Driver, Willis describes it as a ‘ball ache’ due to all the synths in the song necessitating he play a MIDI keyboard during live shows.
Through the rerecording process of their album Busted 2.0 — where they rerecorded their greatest hits with a plethora of special guests — Willis reflects on how ‘[When] we were 16/17, we could barely fucking play our instruments. So going in at 39, it was really good to know that I can fucking play the shit out of this, it’s cool.’
A really special moment
Smiling fondly, Willis explains how he loved the band Dashboard Confessional when he was younger and having one of its members Chris sing on their new record was a ‘really special moment’ for him.
‘I remember writing that song when I was 16 and when I heard him singing it in the most ‘Dashboard’ way I lost my shit when I heard it. I was just so excited!’
From writing songs at 16 to now Willis says how in their early days everything was very go-go-go with getting music out and now they’re taking their time and letting the ‘cream rise to the top’.
So who are the band, musically, in 2024? That is yet to be determined, but evidently they know their crowd and will practise a 100 times to get it right.
Busted are set to perform at Stirling Summer Sessions with support from The Darkness, Dadi Freyr, Soap, and Muddy Elephant on 28th of June at Stirling City Park.
Tickets via www.smmrsessions.com
Featured Photo Credit: Ronald Ashly-Cliffe
