The Ordinary Boys

The Haunt, Pool Valley, Brighton, Tuesday, October 27

THE Ordinary Boys started out in 2004 being championed by the likes of Morrissey and Paul Weller as part of a new wave of Britpop bands, alongside Kaiser Chiefs and Franz Ferdinand.

But two years later, following an appearance on Celebrity Big Brother, Worthing-born frontman Preston was embroiled in what he now describes as: “this weird stressful world”.

The band had released a couple of fairly lacklustre albums, which failed to build on the success of their debut Over The Counter Culture, Preston had married, and quickly divorced his Celebrity Big Brother co-star Chantelle Houghton, and there was that awkward walking off on Never Mind The Buzzcocks.

“I needed a quiet, relaxing life,” he says today from his home in London’s up-and-coming Clapton.

“That world didn’t suit me at all – so I dropped everything and moved to Philadelphia.”

He lived off the proceeds of being a celebrity until funds began to run low. It was then he hit on the idea of being a songwriter for hire – and hit big almost straight away by penning Olly Murs’ number one hit Heart Skips A Beat.

“Ever since then the work has been fantastic,” he says, having since penned songs for the likes of Kylie Minogue and Enrique Iglesias, John Newman, Lucy Spraggan and Cher.

But there was some unfinished business with The Ordinary Boys.

Preston hooked back up with original Ordinary Boys bassist James Gregory and drummer Charlie Stanley, and completed the line-up with new guitarist Louis Jones from Spectrals having met at a Cribs gig.

“It’s been such a freeing experience writing and recording this record,” says Preston of the self-titled fourth album. “We have no-one to answer to now. There’s no negative influence from labels and managers with ulterior motives.”

The band worked with producers Rory Atwell of Vaccines fame and MJ who has worked with critical favourites Hookworms.

They turned to crowd-funding website Pledgemusic to reconnect with fans.

And the results are the closest to their debut album yet – recapturing some of that energy and guitar-driven power, albeit underscored by Preston’s acquired knowledge of how to write a perfect pop song on the likes of the witty Four Letter Word and Disposable Anthem.

“Before we were ****ed off at England and the world,” says Preston. “Now we are just ****ed off with our dishwasher being broken and stuff like that – but it’s still relevant feelings of anger.

“The album is an emotional album, but fuelled by the friendship we have. Maybe the second and third albums lacked that.”

He admits the band’s critically-derided third album How To Get Everything You Ever Wanted In Ten Easy Steps – which came out after his Celebrity Big Brother experience – was a deliberate attempt to get into the top ten.

“We set out what we wanted to do,” he says. “But I don’t know what that meant in terms of what it was doing to the narrative of the band. Hopefully this album will go some way to rectify that.”

He says part of the return to the sound of Over The Counter Culture was down to the band discussing the records and music which meant a lot to them growing up.

“I’ve dropped back into listening to the bands I was into when I was 12,” he says. “As a songwriter I’m forced to stay a little bit up to date, but all that does is push me back into the Black Flag album I listened to a lot as a kid. There’s comfort in nostalgia.

“I always think it’s a little bit unfair that a lot of the records which remind me of being young are hard emo records about feeling sad. Some people grew up liking happy hardcore, my music was all tragic emo.

“With those albums it was almost acceptable to be unambitious – they were kids with just a few ideas who put their money together to make a record and print 500 copies with no hope of doing anything other than distribute them around their friends. They didn’t want anything more than a record they could hold in their hands. A lot of bands could learn from that.”

Preston still owns a flat in Brighton, not far from the Temple Bar in Western Road, which he rents out.

He is looking forward to coming back.

“Brighton is a city that really makes you feel a certain way,” he says. “It has a powerful personality of its own.

“We haven’t properly played Brighton since we played the Dome years ago. I really want it to be a fantastic homecoming gig.”

Support from The Spitfires and The Lost Boys.

Doors 7pm, tickets £10. Call 01273 606312.