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JLS: ‘We’re making a tell-all film about our rise to fame’

IN:DEMAND’S Romeo catches up with JLS to find out about future album plans, their strong links with Scotland and the launch of a fashion range

Since JLS emerged from the The X Factor bubble Aston, Marvin, JB and Oritsé have achieved unrivalled success, in fact they are, in some respects, experiencing more success than the actual winner, Alexandra Burke.

With over a million album copies sold, No.1 singles in the UK and Irish charts, a launch in the US and the recent UK tour all ticked off the list, IN:DEMAND’S Romeo caught up with the guys to find out what is next for the boys and if the rumours about a JLS film are true.  

You are scheduled to play at the Edinburgh Royal Highland Centre in the summer. Are you excited to come back to Scotland?
Aston: It doesn’t feel like that long since we were away! Whenever we are touring it always feels like we are doing a round trip – we start off up here, do the rest of the tour and then come back to Scotland. Plus we usually have the odd random gig up here too.

Do you know how things work at the Highland Centre? There is no stage, there’s lots of Highland cows roaming around...
Aston: Our tour manager, Jake is from Edinburgh, so he can sort it out! But even so if that’s the case we are looking forward to seeing those cows. Lovely cows!

No BRIT nominations for you guys this year, but Tinie Tempah took two awards and was nominated for four. You must be pleased to see Tinie up there?
JB: Absolutely! It’s ironic that the two awards he won were the two awards that we won last year, and obviously we performed at the BRITS too, so for him to pick up Best Breakthrough Act and Best Single was great. It is great for us as we have a single out with him just now. We had a great year last year, Tinie is here for this year and hopefully we will be fighting it out next year for other awards.

Was that the masterplan, getting together with someone like Tinie Tempah?
Marvin: We’ve been wanting to set that collaboration up for a long time, it seems fitting that we work with Tinie, as we have done collaborations with some other big names like Chipmunk and Travie McCoy who we performed with at the MOBOs last year. We would like to collaborate with Rihanna, hopefully we will make it happen this year.

Have you already finished the next album? Is it likely to be out before the end of the year?
Oritsé: Well, it’s not completed. We’re just starting work, we are writing it as we speak, hopefully it will be out by the end of the year. This time last year we started our album and it was out by November so we want to keep the continuity and obviously we are doing a summer tour. We are just working on our Scottish dates at the moment.

I read a story, and this may be true or it could be media talk, but apparently there were 12 girls for you at your birthday, Aston? Did the boys kindly bring some friends along?
Aston: Only 12!? There may have been more than that I think!

Right... So were there hundreds of girls at your party?
Aston: Not hundreds, but there were more than 12 girls there from what I remember!

Was that some sort of present for you from one of the boys?
Aston: No it was the boys trying to set me up, but obviously they didn’t do it well, did they?
Marvin, you know the jacket that you had on at Aston’s party, I’ve got one like that but I bought it from Primark for a tenner.
Marvin: (laughs) That jacket wasn’t from Primark and it didn’t cost a tenner.

So you guys like to party don’t you? But do JLS actually throw a good party?
Oritsé: Yeah! Most definitely, our parties are the best!

What’s the best party you’ve ever been to?
JB: The best party I have ever thrown was my 21st birthday party. Obviously the boys came, all my family and all my friends. Everybody left maybe at about five in the morning, very happy and in good spirits. I had an absolute blast. I’m currently preparing for my 25th birthday, which is going to be with close family and friends again and I’m going to do it in Antigua, so I’m really excited about that. It will top all the parties I’ve ever thrown.

Can anyone step in and beat JB’s 25th?
Oritsé: I can’t beat JB’s party at all.
Marvin: I can’t beat it either because I’ve already had my 25th.
JB: Oh, yeah you are old now, [laughs] Marvin is going to be 30 this year. Ok I am kidding he is going to be 26.

You have finished the UK tour. Looking back on it, it must have been amazing and lots of fun?
Marvin: It was incredible. Scotland is like a second home to us. I’m part Scottish myself and it’s great when we get to come up here. I especially love coming to Glasgow and Edinburgh, both of those places are amazing. We can’t wait to come here in the summer and party!

Marvin, you say you’re partly Scottish. Have you ever tried a deep-fried Mars Bar?
Marvin: Oh, no! I am in shock, a deep-fried Mars Bar, that can’t be good for your insides. I just can’t get my head around a deep-fried Mars Bar.

Are there any special achievements that you want to make before 2011 is out?
Aston: I would love to make a movie.
JB: That would be delightful, actually!
Aston: I would love to make a 3D film.
Marvin: We really like the idea of that!
People are going to read this interview and say, JLS are making a movie!
Aston: Well, they wouldn’t be totally wrong to be fair.

Would it be a Justin Bieber style movie or a whole new storyline?
JB: I suppose you can say it would be similar to the Justin Bieber thing. It’s going to be in 3D, with a lot of footage from our Arena tour and also a lot of stuff people haven’t seen before, more intimate and behind the scenes. We are looking forward to finishing the film and hopefully it’s going to be hitting the big screens this summer.

When you look back at the success you’ve had, do you feel pressured to better what you’ve already done?
Marvin: We always try new things. Obviously this is a time when we’ve achieved so much and there is a lot more for us to achieve. We’ve got a fashion range being launched later this year, the movie that we are working on and a brand new album, so we always want to do new things and try new ventures by excelling ourselves and trying to be the best that we can.

Talking of the fashion range, I saw some of the promotional shots. I want the JLS boxers. If I buy the boxers, do I get the JLS six-pack as well?
JLS:  You would have to read the label, see if they come with the pack. We can’t specify that now.
Pre-order them now and see what happens!

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