Trial By Fire

In January, Charlie Simpson walked out of Busted to concentrate on his post-hardcore band Fightstar. The tabloids think he’s an idiot. Pop fans feel betrayed. Rock fans think he’s a joke. This is where the fight back begins..

Inside Cambridge's newest venue, the APU, it's chaos. Tonight is opening night for the venue and there are last-minute problems to sort. The PA is still being tested. The stage has just been built.
Tonight's headliners look entirely unconcerned. Charlie Simpson and his band mates in Fightstar are sitting laughing with their support bands Cry For Silence and Hollywood Ending, the latter chosen specifically for this tour (originally mooted as a co-headlining trek) by Simpson.
There are similarities between Simpson's band and Hollywood Ending and not just for the style of music they play. Both are working desperately hard to edge their way up the ladder. Yet, the strange thing is that Fightstar are fighting against everything Hollywood Ending are fighting for.

'We've been offered a lot of things that a new band wouldn't ever get offered,' says Simpson. 'We've been asked to be on 'CD:UK', 'Top Of The Pops', 'T4' - all of those things. We've turned them down. We really want to try to do things in the right way.'
Charlie Simpson outlined exactly what he meant by doing things 'the right way' when he first talked to Kerrang! in December, back when his previous band Busted were still a going concern. Back then, Simpson was telling anyone who would listen that he wanted to do Fightstar 'for real'. He said he was looking forward to getting out on the road, touring in Transit vans and experiencing the whole grubby reality of a band on the road.
Parked outside the APU are two knackered-looking splitter vans and a massive tour bus. That tour bus - last used by Queens Of The Stoen Age - is being used by Fightstar.
'It does create a bit of fucked up impression,' admits guitarist Al Westaway, the quiet one of the bunch, the most sensitive.
'The simple truth is,' says Simpson, 'our management company have a deal in place. Using this bus would have cost us the same as hiring a normal bus. What's the point in saying, 'I don't want this bus because it creates the wrong impression'? You’re almost faking it more if you take the Transit van just to make it look more real.'

But these are the issues that Fightstar have to face. People aren't - at least not at the moment - going to treat them like any other band. They don't necessarily feel that they have it harder than anyone else, just that they have to live up to a different set of expectations than other new bands. Simpson's previous job in Busted will not be forgotten instantly.
'It's a double-edged sword,' says Simpson. 'On one hand it has helped us, it's given us much more exposure than a new band would normally get. On the other hand we're judged more strictly than any other new band. People are expecting more out of us than they did from a band like Million Dead when they were starting out. We have to perform that bit better than other bands because of who we are. But I don't think anyone can say that we're in this position now because of who I was. If anything, it's detrimental.'
He's honest about where he's come from and he's not ashamed of it either. It has meant that his band are featured in the gossip section of 'The Sun' though (that paper's Bizarre column recently advised him to forget about Fightstar and go back to Busted) - something alien to Fightstar's contemporaries. All Simpson will say about that is, 'It’s fucking annoying'.
Still, their enthusiasm is almost limitless. Drummer Omar Abidi is the most excited of the bunch. He's always chatting, talking about how much he's enjoying the experience, admitting that he's still wide-eyed and bewildered by what's happening. Bassist Dan Haigh is sterner, less willing to be swept away by it all.
He's also knackered. He and a friend created Fightstar's 'Palahniuk's Laughter' video on a tiny budget and the experience drained him. The video raised eyebrows when it appeared because it looked so good - like a big budget, major label video basically, not something Fightstar were supposed to be interested in. However, the truth is that it was created with months of toil and the computer game-designing experience that Haigh took from his last job.
If you want an indication of how much this band means to the members of Fightstar, here's one: Haigh turned down working on 'Doom 3' - 'A very big fucking deal if you're a video game fan,' he says - to concentrate on the band.
'And now I'm skint,' he says. 'I have a nice car that I can't afford to insure. I'm getting red letters through the post every day and I'm due in court because of it. Completely broke doesn't even cover it.'

Once the venue is finally ready, there's a strange mix of people inside. Some are here purely because it's the opening night of the venue. And roughly three-quarters of the crowd are here to see if Fightstar can cut it.
'I want to see if they can play,' admits post-hardcore fan Haidee Lee. 'I think it's bullshit when people say he can't be credible because he used to be in Busted.'
There are, however, clearly some who are here because of Busted. John Evans is here with his daughter because, 'I took my son to see Busted once and they were great'. Lisa Smith is here, 'To see Charlie. I've never even heard a Fightstar song before'. She lasts one song before leaving, saying out of loyalty that, 'They weren't bad'.
There is some heckling - someone in the front row shouts, 'Fuck off, Busted' before the first song. He quickly shuts up though, because he realises very soon after the thunderous, down-tuned, bottom heavy first few songs that, while this band aren't necessarily better than bands like support act Hollywood Ending, they're not bad at all. You suspect that it's not the best show Fightstar will ever play, but it's good nonetheless. Those that stood, arms folded, waiting to be impressed, are now in the mosh-pit, arms aloft. They're won over by the integrity that Fightstar have onstage because at no point tonight could you ever think the band don’t mean every second of this.
The same scenario is played out at pretty much every time Fightstar play at the moment. People come to hate Fightstar and leave - if not as fans, then certainly with a new found respect for the band. And so it seems Charlie Simpson is winning. He and his band's all-engaging enthusiasm for what they do is contagious. They talk rapidly and passionately about obscure emo and post-rock bands. Simpson is even releasing a compilation record of bands he grew up with, funded from his own pocket.
They know it's still a battle. They're big enough to admit that most people don't really want to like Fightstar. But they know they're also going to change a lot of minds, too.
'There will always be close-minded people, sure,' says Simpson. 'You know what?'
And here Charlie Simpson, ex-squeaky clean pop star, pauses for a minute, almost revelling in being allowed to say this now.
'Fuck 'em.'