After a very favourable review of The Ordinary Boys eponymous comeback album, Rachael Hutchings has a chat with lead singer, Preston

Quench Music (QM): What encouraged you to release another album 9 years after the previous? Was there any reason why you waited so long?

Preston (P): All of us in the band are so busy with real life that I didn’t ever think that we would be self indulgent enough to take the time off that it takes to tour and make a record. But we decided that it was important enough for us to go and spend a month in a van together. We kind of fell out, as bands often do, and I called up Charlie, 10 years after he had left the band, with the intention of just trying to make peace, by the end of the phone call we had put the band back together!

QM: The style of the new album is heavier and more rock-based than what some people might have expected; are there any notable influences for your new direction in music?

P: I find that once you get close to 30 you realise that the music that you enjoyed when you were a teenager is so important in shaping who you become. As a teenager I listened to a lot of Lookout! Records stuff and other 90s pop punk. I suppose we didn’t think too much about it. We just wanted to make a fun, catchy record.

QM: Do you still feel like you are portrayed negatively in the media after CBB and Have I Got News for You?

P: I’m not really in the media anymore so I don’t think I’m portrayed at all!!

QM: Do you think that the new album will attract a new generation of fans?

P: I wonder. I see lots of kids that are way to young to remember us from before at the shows. It’s a nice thought that younger kids will check out the album. Spotify and YouTube make it so much easier to test the record out for people who would never buy it otherwise which is great.

QM: What is your favourite track on the album, and why?

P: I like Four Letter Word a lot mainly because it was one of the first ones we wrote when we met up again. Also I’m Leaving You (And I’m Taking You With Me) I like a lot just because it’s so hooky.

QM: Are you excited to get back on tour? Nearly 4 years is a long time!

P: I’m apprehensive now but once I’m back in the van I know I will be so so happy.

QM: You’ve co-written songs for Kylie, Olly Murs and Nas; are there any other songs written by you in the pipeline?

P: I write in the studio everyday now! I’ve got some really big songs coming up next year! The freedom that writing buys me is how I can afford to do this album and tour!

QM: What does the future hold for The Ordinary Boys?

P: The music industry is such now that the infrastructure is there for bands that want to keep throwing records out so we can tour whenever they have time. So hopefully this is the 4th of lots more records!!

Catch the boys play at The Globe on 5th November.