It's been a big year for Charlie Simpson. He’s released his second solo studio album, Long Road Home, which went to number one in the Independent Music Chart, married long-time girlfriend Anna, and is planning his biggest gig to date at Roundhouse in October.

This week he played the iTunes Festival, after being added to the bill along with Ed Sheeran, Mary J Blige, Lenny Kravitz and the legendary Placido Domingo, who will close the festival on September 30.

A prestigious booking for any young musician – so it must be frustrating that all anyone wants to ask him about is Busted – the mega-selling, arena-filling boyband he joined straight out of school.

He broke thousands of hearts when he left the band to join Fightstar and the 28-year-old recently admitted he didn’t speak to fellow members Matt Willis and James Bourne for seven years and only reconnected with them to discuss McBusted – a fusion of his former band and McFly.

“We did discuss it before it was announced. That was the first time I’d seen Matt and James in quite a long time. And it actually was a nice thing to happen – I feel like we’re on much better terms than we had been for the past ten years.”

Still, saying no to joining was a no-brainer.

“Busted is a decade in my past and although I still feel it is partly my band, I was totally immersed in the studio, so my priority was to stay focussed on my solo career and deliver a worthy second album.”

Charlie is the first to admit that the creation of Long Road Home wasn’t an easy, well, road. For the first time in all his years of songwriting, he suffered from writers’ block. He’s still unsure what happened but on reflection says: “It was almost like I’d just thrown everything out and spilled my guts for that first solo record.”

So he took time off, then recorded some songs at Reel World Studios near Bath with Steve Osborne and then paused the recording last summer while he took to the road on the Vans Warped Tour in America and then again to write the soundtrack to a British indie film, the black comedy Everyone’s Going To Die.

But finally this summer his long road home is over and the record has proved a hit.

“This is the hardest record I’ve ever made, no question,” he admits. “There were points where I was like, am I going to end up with an album that I really love here? And that makes it feel all the sweeter now that I’ve come out with something I’m proud of.

“All my musical experiences are in this album, “ he adds.

“People often ask me, do I regret doing Busted in the first place? No f***ing way! I would never say that; that would be a stupid thing to say.

“My life experience has taken me to this point, where I’ve written an album I’m very proud of and happy with.

“I love what I do. How could I ever take something away from my musical past? If I did, I might not have been led to this point.”

Charlie Simpson will headline the Roundhouse on Tuesday, October 14. Details: roundhouse.org.uk

See the full line-up for the iTunes Festival at Roundhouse in Chalk Farm here or visit itunesfestival.com