worldpop.com chat transcript 2

They're a smash hit in the States and now BBMak have taken the UK charts by storm. We caught up with the guys to get the secret of their success ...

1. Write some tip top tunes
Christian: We wrote seven out of 12 songs on the album and we produced four of them ourselves. The main rule we have is that there are no rules to songwriting. We write individually and together and we write with other people. It's different every single time.
Mark: It's easy to start off. We'll either get a few chords or we'll get a melody line for a chorus or a verse.
Ste: If there's a piano there we'll all sit round the piano and write. It's great.

2. Tour with Britney
Mark: We toured with Britney for three months. She's a very down to earth girl, very pleasant. She's cool. Just an ordinary girl.
Christian: We hung out with her a few times and she was really sweet. And she's a fan of BBMak so she's alright with us!

3. Tour on your own
Mark: Our US headline tour went down amazingly. The fans loved it cos there was something there for everybody.
Christian: We all rock out at the end of the show to a song called Unpredictable and it's brilliant. But it's really great when we play Back Here because everyone knows the words. The American fans have been great. They come to the shows and go crazy. They wear Union Jack T-shirts and have Union Jack banners and stuff. It's quite funny to see all these Americans to walk around the street with Union Jacks.

4. Get some famous fans
Christian: Howie Backstreet came down to our LA show. The Backstreet Boys are friends of ours and they like our music. It's great for us to have one of the biggest bands in American coming to our show, to see us. We know 'N Sync as well. They're crazy guys, they party too hard for us!
Ste: It's weird meeting people we've seen on TV cos they keep coming up to us and saying, 'I love your album.'
Mark: It's mad to think that Stevie Wonder's probably heard Back Here!

5. Star in an American soap
Christian: All My Children is a very popular daytime soap in America.
Ste: It's like Neighbours. Our record company works with one of the TV networks in America so they got us on the show.
Christian: It was just a bit of fun. We played our single Back Here and we had to do a little bit of acting as well. It was great fun to do but it's quite cheesy! I don't think BBMak will be doing much acting in the future!

6. Learn the bagpipes
Mark: I've been playing the bagpipes for 12 years now. One of my friends played the pipes so I tried it out and got hooked. I even achieved four times English champion! I'm made up now that I can incorporate it into our live show.
Christian: It just shows the versatility of BBMak, we can juggle too! I'd never tease Mark for playing the bagpipes because I had a go once and it sounded like a dying cat!

Interview: Tammy Hoyle