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Busted’s Matt Willis: We’re still the same idiots

Nostalgic: Busted hark back to their heyday in the music video for their new single Nineties: Rankin
Nostalgic: Busted hark back to their heyday in the music video for their new single Nineties: Rankin

Busted squeezed back into school uniforms from their debut hit What I Go To School For to shoot a nostalgia-filled music video with Rankin for their comeback single, Nineties.

Matt Willis, Charlie Simpson and James Bourne teamed up with the acclaimed photographer and director, who has previously shot videos for Robyn, Rita Ora and Cheryl, as they swapped the stage for the classroom and Nineties TV.

Willis, 35, joked that Rankin understood they were “still the same idiots” from their heyday and shared the band’s vision of wanting to “bring back what people loved about Busted” for their first new track in two years.

He told A List: “This was the most fun video we’ve ever made in our lives. When we make videos there is that pressure because you promise the world with videos. We know Rankin and we trust him. There is no b******* with him.

Back to school: James Bourne, Charlie Simpson and Matt Willis in the video for Nineties (Rankin)
Back to school: James Bourne, Charlie Simpson and Matt Willis in the video for Nineties (Rankin)

“He liked that we were willing to take risks and not take ourselves too seriously. We wanted to capture Busted again because we lost our way a little bit. We’re still the same idiots we’ve always been — just older. He got that.”

The video, shot over two days, features volunteers from Rankin’s team, and pays homage to Nineties pop culture, from Gladiators to Top Of The Pops and Kurt Cobain. It also makes reference to their debut single, which got to number 3 in 2002.

Nineties is the lead track on the band’s fourth album Half Way There, which is set for release on February 8.

Back together: The boys are gearing up for the release of their new album and a UK tour (PA)
Back together: The boys are gearing up for the release of their new album and a UK tour (PA)

Willis said recording it was “one of the hardest points” in their careers and that he feared “Busted wouldn’t be a band anymore”.

He said: “We didn’t know what we wanted to do. It was like when it ended the first time round and we all wanted different things and we had zero common ground, but something clicked when we wrote Nineties for fun. We all went ‘I know what we need to do – we need to be Busted’.

“It was the most obvious f****** thing in the world but we just didn’t get it.”

The music video for the single is out on Monday.