Rock survivors Wheatus are still mixing it up... 15 years after that hit. Tim Hughes finds out what they're up to

Wheatus frontman Brendan B Brown talks of his band's biggest hit like a proud father.

“We really don’t run into people who don’t like Teenage Dirtbag - including us,” he says of the multi-platinum, 2001 classic.

"It’s a special time for music; not too much of it sticks and when it does well, it usually isn’t everyone’s cuppa.

“I grew up idolising Rush & AC/DC. Bands that last forever," he goes on. "One of the fears I had when Dirtbag kicked-off was that it would get old quick or be received as a fad.

"I was wrong to worry about that. It feels new every night. I think that’s because it’s hard to play correctly, but what the hell do I know?"

It is a full 21 years since the New York rockers first assaulted our eardrums, emerging from a series of sessions on the Big Apple's Lower East Side with his brother Peter on drums, Rich Liegey on bass and Philip A. Jimenez on everything else - mainly keys, percussion and harmonica.

Rich left 16 years ago, Rich three years later, and then Peter 10 years ago.

The current line-up of Matthew Milligan (bass), Mark Palmer (keys), Leo Freire (drums), and Joey Slater and Gabrielle Aimée Sterbenz (both on backing vocals) is solid though.

The band are currently working their way through an epic pair of UK tours, a headline jaunt, which tonight sees them playing the O2 Academy Oxford, and a simultaneous arena tour alongside Busted.

The shows give them a chance to belt out tunes from their eponymous 2001 debut alongside the hits

When they are over, they'll return to New York to finally record their already written seventh studio album. “We've been trying to finish album seven for two years now, but keep getting interrupted by UK tours!" he laughs.

"Every time we come over to the UK and Europe to tour I think, 'well, after this one we'll take a break and make album seven'. It's been three years saying that. We just keep getting asked to come back.

"The vibe from people wanting to come see us hasn't given us any excuse to stay home.”

He describes the album as "quite heavy at times," and as a tribute to Metallica's 1988 masterpiece, ‘...And Justice For All.’

"I've been drawn back to the sonic impact of that record," he says.

"I wore it out when I was 14 and Metallica were the second band that I ever saw live that year.

"My left ear still rings a bit more than my right because of where I was standing.

"Their cover of the Budgie song Breadfan really drove my mom nuts - probably because I played along to it at top volume every day for two months.

"Obviously I'm not writing like them or Budgie and couldn't if I wanted to, but those sonics broke every rule back then and I wanna see where that sort of engineering takes us. There's also a lot of acoustic droning on the record that I intend to try warping in a new way. Oooh and a song I wrote with my friend James Bourne (of Busted) that's starts with the letter "Z." I'm very excited to finally record this album.

Fans have another band to thank for the album - One Direction. The group's cover of Dirtbag live and on their This Is Us concert film turning into a nice little earner.

"Ah man it was great!" he says. "Suddenly all these kids wanted to know what our songs were about.

"They started coming to the shows. I collaborated with Josh and Sandy, and we have an EP due out this year; an actual side project.

"It's all been pretty cool, for an older independent act to get a youth culture reboot like that.

"Josh introduced me to Janet Devlin and Ollie Green and I wrote some songs with them which we'll be finishing up soon. And the Twitter thing has been awesome. Those kids are fun... And a lot smarter than people give them credit for. I mean, they oversee number one single releases for 1D. What the hell even is that?"

it's a reversal of fortunes for the band, who until now have been reduced to selling gear on e-Bay to pay for tours and recording.

“It’s an interesting paradox that people won’t buy music, but they still buy the stuff to make it and that we can carry on that way," he says.

"Together, we found a way forward. I still can’t believe it started 15 years ago though. That’s hard to imagine for a song that continues to be renewed. We owe a debt to that debut album and to the people who remember us. Now lemme get back to rehearsal so we can get it right!”

First there is the business of playing these dates - including those with Busted, with whom they graced Wembley Arena last night.

"I had been talking with James (Bourne) about touring together since 2007. It was always, 'Ah man... let's hit some clubs together soon, we gotta do this.'

"There was almost 11 years of that kinda talk. It's been worth the wait though, because it's arenas now. Hah! this is insane."

He goes on: "With touring you always think and dream, 'Well, if we could just do that, have the big rock arenas and then the club shows for friends and maybe wrap it all up with a cherry on top show in London?' Well, that's exactly what we're doing this time. I can't believe it!"

But the simple truth is, we love Wheatus. “I was stunned at how many people turned out for the 15 anniversary tour last autumn," he says. "It really felt like we had to leave before we were finished. So, you know, we just had to extend it. And, oh yeah, 18 shows with Busted please as well. Thanks!”

he goes on: "It's fun. We are a band with a worldwide top five old-school major label classic radio single, making a heavy prog-pop record funded by One Direction cover royalties. Right!"

Wheatus will play the following headline UK club shows

  • 12 May Oxford 02 Academy 2
  • 16 May Newcastle Think Tank
  • 19 May Preston – The Ferret
  • 26 May Hitchin Club 85 (sold out)
  • 29 May Perranporth Tunes In The Dunes
  • 1 June Bristol Thekla
  • 5 June London – Brooklyn Bowl
  • 6 June Liverpool 02 Academy 2
  • 7 June Swansea – The Scene

The club shows will run in tandem with the following UK arena dates with Busted on the pop act’s Pigs Might Fly 2016 reunion tour:

  • 13 May Glasgow SSE Hydro
  • 14 May Glasgow SSE Hydro
  • 15 May Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
  • 17 May Sheffield Arena
  • 18 May Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
  • 20 May Birmingham Genting Arena
  • 21 May Manchester Arena
  • 22 May Liverpool Echo Arena
  • 24 May Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
  • 25 May Bournemouth BIC
  • 27 May London – The 02
  • 28 May London – The 02
  • 2 June Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
  • 3 June Manchester Arena
  • 4 June Birmingham Barclaycard Arena