SODOnline: So! We already know who you are, but who inspired you to start playing your instruments and how old were you?
Chris: I was 4 when I started playing guitar, and Mark Knopfler from the Dire Straits inspired me.
Dave: No way, that's awesome!
James: Ahh, that's why you can do that song so good!
Chris: Yeah, I used to play it all the time!
Steve: Hello! My name is Steven and I first picked up a guitar when I was 7 because of Billie Joe [Green Day] as he's my idol. I played guitar before I played bass.

SODOnline: Yeah - there's tons of picture of you, 15 years old, when you did Eurovision floating around the Internet!
Dave: No way man! I would love to see those!

SODOnline: Dave there's pictures of you too!
Dave: No, lets not talk about me!
Danny: I started playing drums when I was 14 - Dave Grohl, Nirvana, Legend!
Dave: Well I started playing guitar when I was like, 15, coz of Tom Delonge, from Blink [182]. He's like my biggest idol ever! That's not bad I guess? I wanted to be in a band, so I did that, it's cool!
James: I started playing guitar because of Michael Jackson.

SODOnline: Oooh, you met him recently didn't you? There been quite a few things in the press about that...
James: Loads of stories?

SODOnline: Yeah, as in, lots of stories! Was it just a 5 second meeting?
James: Yeah! I'm meeting him again when he next comes over.

SODOnline: There was a report somewhere that you guys were going to do his Hurricane Katrina single and that James has been getting abused at gigs as he's met Jacko.
James: We haven't done a gig since I met him, and also we're not on the charity record.
Chris: It's all completely unfounded.
Steve: Don't worry, we are gone sue!
(All laugh)

SODOnline: When you made your album, you worked with Gil Norton, what was that like?
James: Gil is like - the best.
Dave: Gil is like a Dad!
Steve: Uncle Gil!
Chris: Uncle Gil! He's a mega producer, he's just produced so many great records.
Dave: He's just awesome
Chris: He's fantastic!
Dave: When he walked into the room, you didn't really know what you expect, if you just look at his back catalogue it's amazing, when he walked in you could just sense that he was a complete legend. I was just like 'Oh, you alright man?' it was like your dad had just walked in!
James: It's the same case as it is every single time, like all of like, the snobbery that comes with rock music always comes from magazines and journalists, it never comes from artists and producers, never. It always comes from journalists - they create it. It's true! Gil is like, one of the greatest rock producers at the moment living in the world, and he is the nicest guy.

SODOnline: He is one of the greatest rock producers in the world - were you surprised that he wanted to work with you?
James: Well when he agreed to do it I was like, jumping up and down!
Chris: James phoned us all straight away, coz James actually had the meeting with Gil and he just phoned us and said 'HE'S GONNA DO IT!' it was awesome man!
James: Coz I was like, I was telling them that we might get Gil Norton to produce it and they were all like 'Oh, but it's not definite' and 'oh well, but we can't bank on it'. Then I met him, and he came in, and obviously I didn't recognise him, as well, you don't really recognise producers, and he was like 'Hi I'm Gil' and I was like 'Woow.... so you're Gil!'. I played him four songs, just on acoustic guitar just me and him and then Paul, who is our A&R guy, who arranged the meeting, he came into the room and he was like 'Well if you decide to do this album then Gil, then we'll be starting recording now-' and he was like 'Oh, I do want to do it!' and he defiantly wanted to do it! It was almost like he had made his mind up even before he heard me play that he wanted to do the record.

SODOnline: If Son Of Dork does incredibly well, and you could pick any place or venue in the world to play, where do you think you would go?
Steve: I would play in my old school hall, many memories... many memories... (Steve drifts off)
Danny: Newcastle!
Chris: Bottom of mount Fuji. Oh! The Fuji rock festival - headlining!
James: Madison Square Gardens!
Dave: Milton Keynes Bowl man! I would love to headline there!
Chris: There are so many great venues out there, they're all so awesome, it's so hard. Brixton Academy!
Dave: I would love to headline a like, Wood stock type of thing, that would be awesome! Headline date on the Warped tour, that would be absolutely awesome!
James: The rose bowl in America. Busted, we played there, well, in the car park at the Rose Bowl. There was this big gig in LA, with like, Janet Jackson and Outkast, all playing in the stadium, and we had to play in the car park. We just did like a gig, there was still 1,000 people, but it was no where near as good as the actual rose bowl.
Steve: I know where I want to play! I want to play in Sun Studios in the cafe, in Memphis.
Dave: Touché!
Chris: Touché!
Steve: Coz that's where Elvis recorded all of his records in the cafe. Just like the little acoustic gigs we did.
James: Elvis (pulls a face, Steve doesn't look amused - rest all laugh)
Steve: With the drums with the brushes, 3 guitars. Just like that, but in the cafe, that would be amazing.

SODOnline: You're playing Wembley arena aren't you, next month?
Dave: Smash hits poll winners party!
Chris: It's gone be awesome
Steve: Is that in Wembley Arena or the Pavilion?
Dave: It's in the tent, where McFly played.
Steve: Is that going to be televised?
Chris: Yep!
(Steve laughs)
Dave: Who else is playing it?

SODOnline: McFly, Sugababes, Girl Aloud, Pussycat Dolls...
James: What's this?
All: Smash hits poll winners party

SODOnline: Are you all looking forward to it? Will it be the same as playing Wembley arena, even though it's in a big tent?
Chris: It's still in Wembley, it's still gonna mean the same thing! I would love to play Wembley stadium though.
Dave: I want to support Bon Jovi when they play there.
Chris: Yeah, at Wembley Stadium!

SODOnline: Ok - Question just for Steve now. If you could chose, from being in Son Of Dork or playing one gig with Green Day - Which would you pick?
All: Ooooooh!!!!!!
Steve: Where is the gig?
Dave: Milton Keynes Bowl! Sold Out!
Steve: A whole gig? As part of Green Day?

SODOnline: Not just "Guest Appearance", but actually being a member of Green Day.
Steve: Just for one gig?

SODOnline: Yup, just for one gig! Remember that the rest of Son Of Dork are surrounding you right now...
(All laugh)
Steve: If Son Of Dork get really huge, then I'll probably end up meeting Green Day anyway, but then a gig... with Green Day!
Dave: As part of their band, like the other guitarist, your him!
Chris: Yeah, you're him!
Dave: That's a tough choice man!
Steve: Er, er - No Comment!

SODOnline: So your answer is just going to be 'No comment'?
Steve: I need at least a week to think this over! You are going to make this happen right?

SODOnline: Errrr....
Dave: We can decide it with a flip of a coin!
Steve: A flip of a coin will decide it
Dave: it's a 50/50 chance for either then isn't it?

SODOnline: But then after you've done the gig, and it's over with, you would have nothing to go back to
Steve: Yeah this is why I wouldn't do it, but then it's my life to see Billie Joe.
James: What would your decision be if you had met Billie Joe already?
Steve: Then I would stay with Son Of Dork! Yeah, I would stay with Son Of Dork, Son Of Dork.

SODOnline: See, we have an answer now!
Steve: Yeah but it took me a very long time to answer that!

SODOnline: Loserville, the state of mind, have you all been there?
Chris: Many times
Steve: I left there!
Dave: I think everyone's been there.
James: I took a round trip and it went through Loserville, but I never stayed there.
Steve: What was that, Busted?
Dave: Loserville is full of hotels
James: Monorail, I was on a monorail and it went through Loserville
Chris: Actually, we stayed in Loserville the other day! Just over night in Portland hotel in Hull. That was Loserville.
James: Hull, yeah that was Loserville!
Chris: Not the whole place, just that hotel. Just for the little people living in Hull...
Dave: Nah the whole of Hull! Loserville!
Chris: I knew you liked Hull

SODOnline: Your debut album is out next month, have you got any favourite tracks, or ones your looking forward to fans hearing?
Dave: The one that's on the single actually, Slacker! Slacker is my favourite.
Chris: Yeah, that one is awesome!
James: I can't believe they put that on the single!!
Steve: I know, livid!
Dave: It's the B-side of the single on the CD2 version.

SODOnline: Did you want that one to be a single then?
Dave: Nah, it would be too, it wouldn't be, I don't think it would go down that well with, like everyone. It's a good song, it's really good, but it's got a lot more of a rockier edge that all of our other songs I think.
James: Slacker?
Dave: Yeah, it's heavier and rockier than all of our other songs.

SODOnline: We heard a clip of the other B-side, the Jackson 5 cover.
Dave: Ooooooooohaaaaah!!
James: You heard a clip! Have you heard it all, from the beginning?

SODOnline: Nah, just the 30 second clip! The middle going into the chorus
James: What from (starts to sing) 'When I had you to myself...'

SODOnline: Nah, the second verse! It is really good though! I like it, it's poppy, then it goes into the chorus.
Steve: How cool does his voice sound?! (points to James) he sounds like Jacko doesn't he! (sings like James pretending to be Michael Jackson) 'Following the girl'.
(All Laugh)
Steve: It's got a really good bass line.
James: You can so tell that I'm a Michael Jackson fan from that!
Dave: I want Dire Straits on the next single, on the B-side!
Chris: Oh! Can we do that? We'll do that?
James: You know when we do a big show? And we all get our little breaks to do something, like, have a glass of water and eat a banana. That's what you could do when I go off stage!
Steve: And I'll sing it? Yeah!
James: Yeah!
Chris: Yeah! We can all go off stage and eat Bananas.
Dave: That is random. That is one of the most random things to do!
James: You have to go off stage and eat a banana!
Chris: It was Richard [their manager] 'Come on guys you have to eat a bananas for energy'!
James: When you do shows that are like tons of songs and you're running around everywhere, you need more energy. When I played Psycho Girl, Matt and Charlie went off stage and ate bananas.
Steve: Did all three of you have a set?
James: Yeah!
Dave: It’ll be brilliant, can I play acoustic?
Steve: Does that mean I have to go off stage? What? I want to stay on the stage the whole time!

SODOnline: Steve could just sit at the side and do a little jam.
Steve: No way am I going off stage! If I'm let on the stage I'm not likely to come off it!

SODOnline: So if the album does do really well, do you think you'll be touring sometime?
James: Most defiantly! That's the only reason why we haven't announced any tour dates because we don't know how well it's gonna do. If the album does really well, we could put a huge tour on.

SODOnline: Weren't you supposed to do a small tour at the beginning of October?
Chris: Yeah we were gone do a small tour
James: The whole point of that, was like-
Dave: A pre-album tour
James: Yeah, but the reason why they wanted us to do it was they wanted people to see us. I mean, Fightstar did all of that stuff. It was like, I don't know where it got them really. You do all of those shows, it's fun to play those shows, but if you're going to play small venues, for the sake of playing small venues, then it's like, what are you trying to prove?

SODOnline: So do you think you're just going to go onto the bigger venues?
James: Well no, I would hope at least we would be able to do a theatre sized tour, do the Hammersmith Apollo's or maybe Brixton's, that kind of thing. That would be cool, but who knows? Actually, I've never played Brixton anyway, I think it would be cool to play Brixton academy.
Chris: I went there last night, me and Danny, it's awesome.
James: Imagine if you did Brixton, with all standing downstairs and seated upstairs, that's awesome. I would imagine if you did that for some nights, then, if this album does incredibly well, and goes like platinum over Christmas, then we could do arenas.

SODOnline: That would be pretty amazing though! You guys haven't released any material, yet the press have built you up, to be the new big thing.
Chris: Yeah, it's so weird!
Dave: We get plugged a lot now man, I mean, on Saturday we're on three different channels. Like, it's insane!
James: Then we're doing GMTV tomorrow morning and then we're going to Kent and Ministry Of Mayhem Saturday morning.
Steve: We did E4 as well
Chris: We did Popworld yesterday
Dave: Then we're doing another CD:UK for next Saturday tomorrow as well.
Steve: And we're on Sky movies with our new home video, MTV Cribs...
SODOnline: Really?!
(All laugh)
SODOnline: I'm sorry, I'm gullible!
James: Actually! You know Moby? On Moby’s cribs they play Nerdy, the Busted song!

SODOnline: Really?
James: On Moby's cribs yeah!!
Steve: What's that?
James: They play Nerdy on Moby's cribs!
Chris: Oh I've seen that!
Steve: Who's Moby?
SODOnline: The bald guy!
Dave: The bald guy who does all techo stuff
James: The bald guy!
Dave: (Dave starts to try and impersonate Moby) Waaaaaaaaap Waaaaaaaap Waaaaaaaap
James: (getting back on topic) But when we have radio interviews, they ask us questions that they don't normally ask new bands, they're treating us like we're big already even though we haven't actually sold any records.

SODOnline: Is that frustrating or good?
James: I actually don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing? It's weird that people hold us in high esteem.
Chris: In good regard by the sounds of it
James: The thing is, they ask us questions like
Dave: Who does this on the tour bus!
James: Yeah! I mean, we don't have a tour bus!

SODOnline: Didn't you do a radio tour though?
Dave: Yeah, but that's just all promotion for the single
James: We did that with Busted at the beginning you know? It's not a tour though, it's not people buying tickets to see you play, it's just competition winners. It's weird though, as I've had mails from every different country, they know who we are.

SODOnline: You know they flyers that they handed out at McFly? I had to send those out to Canada, the Netherlands-
James: You would?!

SODOnline: Yeah! People would just e-mail and ask me, so I did it.
Gemma: I had to walk around Manchester Arena and pick up flyers off the floor, in a skirt, and probably flashing to the whole of Manchester, but Jenny wanted me to do it!
Steve: Good Girl! Good Girl!
Steve and Chris: WHY WERE THEY ON THE FLOOR?
Steve: We're livid. Absolutely livid.
James: They had them on every single seat, and as they’re flip up they would fall onto the floor.

SODOnline: I went to the Wembley date, and I should of been excited about McFly, but I wasn’t, I was excited about seeing your video haha!
Dave: We went and saw it there on the Saturday night
James: Everyone was just saying that our video was getting a mental reaction on tour and we wanted to see it
Dave: All of us went out and watched it!
James: Manchester was supposed to of been the best reaction though. It was absolutely mental.
Dave: In Wembley though, you couldn’t even hear out video, it was that loud!
James: I’ve found that like, a lot of people, it’s weird, as people who are into our music know full well everything about it and know every single word and the others just haven’t discovered it yet. It’s just such an extreme difference!