Music
Are you pleased with the response to 'Heart Vacancy'?
"We've just finished our radio tour and we're really pleased actually! It's very different to 'All Time Low'. That song even had the guys moshing around because it was a bit of a mental track, but 'Heart Vacancy' is a lot slower, so we're getting the chance to show off our vocals a bit more. What's nice is that we're seeing more and more people singing the words and waving their arms, which is obviously encouraging!"
A lot of stations didn't playlist 'All Time Low' until they saw it was doing well in the charts. Do you think airplay is key to a track's success?
"I quite like it being difficult, because it's something to aim for! If it was easy to get radio play then I don't think we'd appreciate it. Our radio plugger works really hard, and for the last single we literally went to every radio station possible and begged them to play the song. Thankfully they got on board with it, but to be fair, I'd be reluctant to put a new boyband's song on my playlist too. JLS were already smashing it so I guess some DJs thought that was enough."
Are you nervous about following up a number one hit?
"We're very nervous. Our label are telling us that there's no pressure to get to number one, which is nice, but we've hit that mark and it seems a lot of people are waiting to see if we can do it again. For all we know we could miss the top 40 completely and forever be known as one-hit wonders. We have no idea, but we're working as hard as we can to make sure that's not the case."
You've covered Example's 'Kickstarts' for the B-Side. Has he given his verdict yet?
"We held a competition for fans to choose the B-Side and we thought this suggestion was amazing. We've had a bit of beef with him, but we actually really like him. Siva especially idolises him! I think Example's heard it because he tweeted us saying 'Not a bad job at all' or something. We were in the same radio station recently and we wanted him to come and perform with us, but he was in a mad rush and left. I don't think he was interested!"
Is the album completely finished now?
"Yes, it is! It's amazing."
You recently went back into the studio. How many new tracks did you record?
"We actually finished the album ages before releasing 'All Time Low', and all that needed doing was the final mixing and re-twigging. We then played a song at the Help For Heroes gig called 'Personal Soldier' and we noticed that it now sounded completely different to the album version, so we went back into the studio to lay down new vocals. All the gigs and performances we've done have improved our vocals, and we wanted that song to sound as good as possible."
Were you pleased that you were allowed to write songs for the album?
"Writing for this album has been amazing. Before I joined the band I had no experience in writing songs and none of us thought we'd get that chance yet, but the other boys have written so much that our label let us show them what we could do. We wrote a song for the album called 'Behind Bars' and it turned out that they loved it and from there we ended up being put in the studio with a lot of different co-writers. I think overall we've written about 50% of the album."
Was it a steep learning curve?
"It definitely was, but I'm much more confident with it now. As soon as we were put with more experienced writers we saw their methods and learnt from them. Everyone was different, but they all helped in some way! Sometimes songwriting can be creative, and other times it's like maths with beats and words per second and stuff."
How many tracks does the album have?
"Thirteen, I think. Maybe 14. Hang on, Siva's at the door, waiting like a cat."
Do you think Siva is a good name for a cat?
"Haha, it is actually! I'm grassing you up for that right now."
"I can't believe we got to work with Guy Chambers. It was quite early on in the process, but it quickly told us what sort of league we were aiming for. It's when I thought, 'OK, I'm not just in some boyband that's doing the rounds in the clubs'. The label were focusing on quality music the whole time. Guy was a complete genius and very bohemian! He can take a basic demo and work it into an amazing track in a couple hours."
You've been billed as a new type of boyband. How does the album reflect that?
"It's difficult to describe. Because we were involved with the writing, it's all very personal and has a sound that's just 'us'. There's always going to be comparisons to other music that's out there, but we never went in the studio with an agenda to create songs similar to someone else's."
What tracks should we look out for?
"I really like 'Say It On The Radio', probably because I open the song. It's really easy to sing and our harmonies all fit into place nicely. I love 'Heart Vacancy' as well. I thought people might think it's a bit girly but my brother loves it too and he's an electrician. I take his opinion very seriously!"
Have you decided on the next single yet?
"We have, but I'm on eggshells here as I can't say what the title is! We're really pleased about which song it is though, because we initially thought it would remain a hidden gem on the album. The song was getting an even better reaction than 'All Time Low' and 'Heart Vacancy' at our gigs, so we told our record company and luckily they've decided to go with it."
What's the video like?
"We actually shot it in New York. It wasn't planned, but we had a few free days and they managed to sort it out! The setting is incredible, but the director kept making us come up to the camera and sing really emotionally, which I'm the worst at. I kept hearing all these people behind the scenes slagging me off because I was being rubbish!"
You recently posed naked for Gay Times. Was that awkward?
"None of us mind getting our kit off. Actually, we're surprised that so many people are asking us about it because all the groups seem to be doing it now. I don't mind getting naked, but I have an issue with my face because it looks like I've had a stroke. I've got a wonky mouth and it looks awful in photos! I get nervous and the photographer on that particular shoot kept telling me in front of everyone not to be nervous,which obviously made things worse!"
Finally, who are you rooting for on this year's X Factor?
"I'm a huge Rebecca fan. For me she has everything - she's stunning, she seems really nice, she can really sing and she's a bit different. I hope people don't forget about her because other people on that show attract drama and so they're always going to be talked about more. Out of all of them, Rebecca's the one that I would pay to go and see perform."
The Wanted release 'Heart Vacancy' on October 18. Their self-titled album follows on October 25.
