Now that former A1 member Paul Marazzi has left the band, how are Ben, Mark and Christian settling into life as a trio?

"Well it's a bit strange and obviously we are sad to see him go," explains Mark. "The thing is, although it might sound really boring, there really is no scandal behind why Paul left. He decided that he needed to take some time out for personal reasons and we respect that."

So did you at any point conside splitting up?

"Not at all. We love what we do and we want to stay in the music business. We are excited about the new stuff we are doing and, when we performed on TV for the first time as a trio the other day, it felt pretty good. There was the odd moment when we were looking round for Paul but actually it really came together."

This is perhaps not such a bad time for a change in the band, as recently you have been moving away from the boy band image in favour of playing your own instruments.

"Well we have always been interested in music, and in my case I find it much easier to play an instrument than to learn dance moves! It is natural for us to progress as a band and I think people demand much more from a pop bands these days. But then you do find that people don't like you to climb out of your set box and start doing something else."

But you enjoyed making the last album with Mike Hedges (who has worked with U2, Travis and the Manic Street Preachers).

We thought the last album was the best that we had done, but we realise it takes people a while to get used to a change in sound.

At the risk of putting you in another box, who do you see yourselves leaning towards, musically?

Perhaps the likes of Savage Garden? Well, you know, when we were playing as a trio the other day I felt a bit like Aha!

We know you've got the Smash Hits tour coming up, and then a new album on the way. But where do you think you'll be in five, 10 years time? We'll still be here. You're not getting rid of us. I know that in one aspect or another, whether it is performing our own material or writing songs for other people, we will still be in the music business, because we enjoy it so much.