TOTP: So, for the peeps who don't already know you. How did you guys get together?
TOTP: What were your ideas on how you wanted the band to sound?
TOTP: And you've stuck all this together in your first single? Phew! Tell us about that...
TOTP: You seem to be a bit more lively that some of the boybands we've seen recently...
TOTP: Are there any UK boybands you do look up to?
TOTP: And you have some proper dance training in your midst, don't you?
TOTP: You're the eldest in the band. Do the others take the mick?
TOTP: You should put a stop to that. It's freakish and wrong...
Sparx: Me and Justin grew up together in Bristol. We've known each other for about 10 or 12 years. we met Josh in London about four years ago, so it was the three of us for a while. We wanted to make it into a five-piece to make it visually bigger. The dream was always to have a five-piece group. Jamie knew Josh through playing football with him, then we met David through our managers and Jamie had heard of him as well, so it all came together like a little jigsaw puzzle. The five of us have been together for about a year and a half now.
Sparx: We all grew up listening to R&B music, so that's what we liked, but obviously you need to change with the times. We all like different types of music now. We do have a lasting dream of being a big performing kind of act and putting on a show. We've had that from the beginning and that's been maintained throughout. When we came to put the album together last year we wanted to come with something a little bit more edgy and incorporate guitars and drums. As much as we're into American R&B acts we're also into bands like Linkin Park and N.E.R.D. and we wanted to incorporate stuff like that, just to make people sit up and listen a bit more.
Sparx: The song is called 'Knockout' and it's out on the 21st of April. When we started recording the album it was the first song we recorded. It's perfect for a first single. The first time I heard it I just sat up. I couldn't stop listening to it. I just seemed really interesting to me. It's very visual too, we like to take things to the next level when we perform it, and we've really pulled out the stops to make the video really visual. It's just a real statement kind of track...
Sparx: I think there's been some boybands who've given the tag a bad name. If we could just make it a little more credible and make people enjoy watching us and listening to our songs, that's fine by us. You'll never see us stand in a line wearing suits, or anything like that. That's simply because that's not who we are, and that's not the kind of act we are. That's fine for people who do that, I'm not knocking it, it's just not what we're about...
Sparx: We were just talking about this recently. Do you remember when Take That were out? They really put on a performance! They had dance routines and the energy was just there and it was all quite full on. I think we all enjoyed seeing people like that. Otherwise it is only the Americans that have really caught our attention if I'm being honest. I don't think there have really been many acts in this country that have done what we want to do, entertain people. We love to dance, so any opportunity to put on a show, that's all good for us.
Sparx: Only one actually, and he's not even really trained himself. Jamie went to Sylvia Young's theatre school, and that's about as glam as it gets really. The rest of us aren't trained dancers at all, we just love to dance, simple as that. We really click with out choreographer. He's a good mate of ours and the same sort of age as us. We just really love to dance, and we've been working on that for a couple of years.
Sparx: [Sighs] I get it all. The wheel wasn't invented when I was young, and all that kind of stuff. They're just jealous, they haven't experienced half of what I've experienced. I can be mature and do the oldest member/dad type thing, and say "You should do this or do that", but half the time I get it all from them really. Jamie's the most responsible and he's the youngest.
Sparx: [Laughs] I don't think we can really, that's just how he is.