JAMES Bourne believes his new band Son Of Dork are even better than chart-toppers Busted and expects to put his former bandmate Charlie Simpson's Fightstar firmly in the shade.

The singer-songwriter behind Busted's smash hits What I Go To School For, Year 3000 and Crashed The Wedding, admits he still finds it hard to believe that Simpson quit Busted.

James and Matt Jay were at the height of their fame when Simpson said he was leaving because he hated the music.

James explained: 'Busted's split was all down to Charlie's decision to leave the group. He didn't want to be in the band any more and that's why it ended.

'I was very disappointed. He must have really hated it.

'I couldn't believe it. I thought there was no way he would leave and that I'd be able to talk him out of it, but I couldn't force him to stay. He had his heart set on doing his alternative rock thing so I had to leave him to it.

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'At that point we knew Busted was over. Charlie was a third of Busted and we were all crucial to the band. I hate it when pop bands try to hang on after someone leaves. It's like they've not got the brains to do anything else.

'And when Busted ended, I knew Matt, myself and Charlie were all very capable of continuing on our own and Charlie and I are still friends. But Fightstar is not my thing. I suppose if I was into that sort of music I would be in the band.'

James auditioned thousands of potential band members before picking co-frontman and bassist Steve Rushton, alongside guitarists Chris Leonard and David Williams and drummer Danny Hall for Son Of Dork.

For Steve, 17, it's an amazing break.

He'd been working in Sainsburys part-time and studying at college when he auditioned for the band.

'It has been out of this world,' Steve admitted. 'It's really exciting. Every day is a new adventure. It's life- changing and I'm chuffed to bits. I even like the name. It stands out.

'I found the audition in the Stage newspaper and it was in NME. I thought it was a long shot but it was the break I had been looking for and I was lucky enough to get it.

'I sang American Idiot at the audition because I love Green Day. James was sitting there looking really bored but I got called back and after singing in the studio, they told me I was in. It was a dream come true.

'James keeps me right. When we go to do TV shows, he tells me what to expect and how to handle it. We've already recorded Top Of The Pops and my family and friends are so proud of me. James is my best friend.'

James added: 'Busted was so big when Charlie left so I knew I would get another record deal. I still wanted to write songs with a band. I didn't want to go solo so I got the band together to do the songs I've written.

'What has happened in the last nine months has been crazy. I really didn't think I'd be able to put a new band together in that time.

'But I have and Son Of Dork are different to Busted. The music is harder, faster and rockier and I think the songs are better. I think it's the strongest stuff I've ever written and I wrote the Busted material so I should know.

'It wasn't easy getting a band I'm confident with and proud of. I had to find people who were more talented than I am because they have to bring something new to the table.

'I needed people who could be better on lead guitar than I am because I play rhythm guitar and I needed a bass player and someone who could be another singer.

'We looked at thousands of people but it was nothing like The X Factor. It wasn't my job to tell people they weren't in the band. We just didn't call them back because what would have been the point of calling someone to tell them they didn't make it? The only people who heard back from me were the four who made the final line-up.

'I saw some really good musicians who were just fooling around so I couldn't put them in the band because they were just going to use me to get famous and leave.

'I didn't want people jumping on the bandwagon just to get known by the public and then quitting the band a year down the line because they didn't like the music we were playing.

'You could see through those difficult people and rule them out regardless of how good they were because a band is a team.'

James rejected the idea of including Busted band pal Matt Jay in the line-up and was just as shocked as Busted's army of fans to discover Matt had checked himself into rehab.

James said: 'Me and Matt really wanted to continue together in another band but we knew there would be so much to live up to.

'So we decided to draw a line under Busted and be proud of it rather than just let it fizzle out like so many other bands.

'We can look back and see ourselves as an invincible band who had great success and we were never out of the Top 3. We were awesome.

'But I was as shocked as anyone when Matt went into rehab. He switched his phone off and sorted himself out and came back out. He's doing well now. We are friends and we still see each other as much.'

Being in the spotlight means that James has heard some crazy stories about himself in the media.

He said: 'There have been so many stories about me coming out of night clubs but most aren't true.

'I do go out occasionally and have a few drinks but it's nothing out of the ordinary.

'I recently had a scuffle with a photographer. He was shouting so I tried to run away with his camera and, despite the rumours, there's no woman in my life.

'This idea that I've dated a string of women is just crazy. I'm just openly dating. I'm not ready to settle down.'

James believes Son Of Dork, who release their debut single on November 7, can also go one better than Busted by conquering the American market. But don't call Son Of Dork a boy band.

The new album Welcome To Loserville is released on November 21 and tracks include Murder In The Mosh, Little Things and an orchestral version of the title track.

James explained: 'We will go over to America and I think the music will go down well there.

'I wrote some of the album when I was over there and I think it will be successful and will translate easier than Busted did.

'On the album I have a 50-piece orchestra and 24-piece choir from all the Batman movies doing a Gotham City opening on a revamped orchestral version on the title track.

'I've also got a collaboration with Brendan Brown from Wheatus. I went to New York and wrote a song with him called Boy Band.

'The song is about the fact that people get it all wrong when they call us a boy band.

'But if anyone calls us a boy band this time I'm going to really freak out. Westlife are a boy band, we're not.'