"Sometimes we give a joke answer before a serious one," warns cheeky McFly member and reigning king of the 'I'm A Celeb' jungle Dougie Poynter.
The band are keen to clear up a misunderstanding about their relationship with worldwide sensations One Direction.
"The headline this morning was 'McFly Give One Direction Their Sh*t Songs'... they'd used our quotes which were jokes… once one person prints that, it's everywhere," explains lead singer Tom Fletcher, who's recently turned his hand to songwriting for their fellow boy banders Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson.
"It can ruin your relationship with them and it doesn't shine a good light on me as a song writer. The fact is, we give away songs that we really would like for ourselves," he adds.
Dougie agrees: "When we were recording that we were recording our own songs at the same time and that was the best one. We were gutted we were giving it away."
The song in question, 'I Would', features on One Direction's second album 'Take Me Home' and is a surefire hit.
Dougie explains it had been knocking around for a while before the 'X Factor' band took it up: "'I Would' was originally a Christmas idea… we had the chorus for ages but if One Direction hadn't come and asked for songs, then we never would have gone down to Danny's and come up with a verse."
Tom adds: "It always has to be specially for that person and we only want to write for people who we like and have a connection with, which is why One Direction are perfect because they're our favourite boyband."
The recording process between the McFly and One Direction boys seems like a teenage girl's dream come true... "It was all very relaxed," says Tom. "It was a nice day so we had a BBQ, Harry burnt the sausages and I had to take over," he smiles.
McFly and their new book entitled 'Unsaid Things...Our Story'
"Our philosophy when recording is just to have fun, it doesn't matter if it takes three hours and a BBQ and ten minutes of vocals, you'll get a better result than if you spend 5 hours slogging it out. The fun to work ratio has to outweigh work," he explains. Their fun-loving philosophy is certainly reflected in their songs.
Since McFly's first single '5 Colours in Her Hair' went straight to number one in 2004, they've been dominating the boyband market.
Eight years on, they have sold over 10 million records worldwide, have had eighteen consecutive top twenty singles, have released five albums - the first of which is certified double platinum - and are now set to release their greatest hits record 'Memory Lane'.
But, as they point out, they've grown up. "That's why we wear suits now, to make it feel like work. We have pocket watches too, but they are fake," jokes Dougie. Tom is now 27, Dougie 24, while Danny Jones and Harry Judd are both 26.
They thought their fanbase would also have got older, but were recently surprised to see they'd picked up some new fans...
"The other day at the Trafford Centre in Manchester, we turned on the Christmas lights and the reaction was incredible. 7,000 people turned up to see us play," says Dougie.
"Our fan base is now 18-25 but there were 12-13 year olds there. There's a whole new young generation coming through that are hysterical about us and it's absolutely amazing. It's really nice to know that we still have support," agrees Tom.
LISTEN: McFly's 2005 charity single 'All About You' which reached number one in the charts
Amongst the McFly classics on their new album 'Memory Lane' (such as 'Obviously', 'All About You', 'One For The Radio' and 'Party Girl'), there are three new tracks. Leading the way is their brand new single 'Love Is Easy', a feel-good, carefree love song with sweet vocals that will no doubt be a hit with their fans.
"We wrote most of the melody first and that was just inspired because I brought a ukulele and that was the first song I wrote on it really," says Tom, as if making a hit single is something he can do with his eyes shut.
Dougie explains: "Lyrically it was inspired by that moment in 'Love Actually' when one of the porn couple says 'all I want for Christmas is you', that moment there was our inspiration... It's also got the quote from 'It's A Wonderful Life' in it, that is kind of festive."
McFly might be releasing their greatest hits while they're in their mid-twenties, but that doesn't mean they are going anywhere else. Tom insists: "The focus will always be on McFly. It's amazing to get these other opportunities though, and I'd love to carry on writing, especially with One Direction."
Take a listen to their new single 'Love Is Easy', out now, below. 'Memory Lane: Greatest Hits' is released on 26 November