VM: What?
Brian: Sorry mate, I'm just in a cab coming home after a day of radio interviews, back in Walthamstow now.

VM: Lovely. So how does it feel to be back in the pop game?
Brian: Mate, it feels wicked. I was a dead man, and I've come back through it. It's brilliant, I just really can't believe it.

VM: Eurovision. Why?
Brian: Well they chose me, really. They was ringing round the agencies to find people to put forward for it, and one of them suggested me. They listened to the song, I went and had a meeting and I got the thumbs up.

VM: You're up against Justin Hawkins from The Darkness, who's also had a rough patch recently. Is Eurovision the last bastion of hope for people who've hit rock bottom?
Brian: What is the problem with Eurovision? Everyone says the same thing. Is Eurovision a bad thing, then?

VM: I think it's something people love to hate, especially in the UK.
Brian: Yeah but in the UK they take the mickey out of everything, to be fair. I'm flattered to be asked, and to be able to even walk. It's amazing for me, mate, my life's been turned around. Eurovision, if I get that far, has 500 million viewers. How could any recording artist not want to do that? That would be the biggest crowd I've ever played in front of. I remember playing in front of a million people in Red Square in Russia once, but to do Eurovision is massive. I don't see it as a bad thing at all.

VM: Does the prospect of singing in front of such a huge audience not terrify you?
Brian: Yeah, I'm a bit nervous! After what I've been through, even though not everything's riding on me doing it, it's a lot of pressure. But it's a good pressure. Bad pressure is when you're waking up in a hospital, turning to a doctor and saying "Mate, am I going to die today?", and they say "Mr Harvey, I'm sorry but I can't answer that question". I asked them every day for a few days, I thought that was the end, it was touch and go. And now I've got the best song of my career.

VM: What do you think of the competition for the UK's entry this year?
Brian: I get the impression that they're trying to change it and make it more credible this year.

VM: Do you have plans to release a full solo album?
Brian: Mate I'd love to, but I'd also love to bring out an East 17 album. I think there's a lot of life there - Take That have proved that, and they haven't got the full line-up. We did do the reunion last year and it felt good to be back on stage, it went really well, but there was a little row there with Tony, and I did get a punch in the face. It was that that made me decide to leave.

VM: Why did Tony punch you in the face?
Brian: He said I was late. But me, Terry and John turned up together in the same van, so I don't see how I can be the only one who was late. The guy who drove us went the long way - then when I turned up I got punched in the face. I thought, "I don't want that", so I left.

VM: But you're still up for a reunion?
Brian: I am because at the end of the day I don't hate Tony. If I'm realistic, he's done a lot for my life - it was his band. I know the frustrations and the pressures that have built up over the years. He's a decent bloke.

VM: Have you still got what it takes to cut it, though? What would happen if you all tried to dance?
Brian: All me bolts might pop out, there would be wingnuts everywhere. I don't think it's all about dancing about like a lunatic no more. I think that's best left to the young bands now. If the Rolling Stones broke into a dance routine, I don't think I'd be very happy about it. I think people are still judging me from when I was 20. I'm 32 now - I've had kids, I've lost parents, I've gone through it now and got a much better take on life.

VM: You have had some extraordinarily bad luck, haven't you. Are you a cursed man?
Brian: I would say that the list of traumatic events I've gone through has got a bit monotonous, hasn't it! Even if there was no chances in life, and you could just walk and talk and go to the toilet unaided, that's what's important. If this music thing goes well, I'd be the happiest man on the planet, I really would - there's nothing left now, I thought it was over. I've never been religious but I've got some sort of connection with something I believe in now, I don't care if I sound mad. Whatever it was, it got me walking again.

VM: Do you have a back-up plan if your Eurovision bid fails?
Brian: I haven't got no back-up plan, I'm just going in with "This is me, this is my story".

VM: You used to be a plumber - have you considered picking that up again? If times are hard I've got a boiler that needs installing.
Brian: Well, I don't want to go back to it, but I'm alive, I'm breathing - if that's what happens later in life, that's OK. You can't always be on top, you can't always win. Right now things are really good, I'm staying positive. If I win, I don't think I'll even be able to talk!

VM: Best of luck, Brian, we'll be rooting for you.
Brian: Thanks man, it means a lot to me!

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