JAMES Bourne is enjoying his time out of the spotlight. As singer-songwriter with the boy band Busted, he helped shift more than three million albums during the early noughties and became the object of many a teenage girl’s affections.

While he continues to pursue his solo career, and has also penned hits for the likes of McFly and Pixie Lott, it is as a writer for the stage that he is enjoying his greatest success these days.

Bourne teamed up with Elliot Davis to create Loserville: The Musical, inspired by his Son of Dork album Welcome to Loserville, now enjoying a successful run with Gareth Gates in the lead role.

The duo are back with a new musical, Out There, set to make its debut at Hammersmith’s Riverside Studios on Wednesday.

While Bourne, who recently met up with former Busted bandmates Matt Willis and Charlie Simpson for the first time since the band split in 2005, loves performing, he admits it has been fun to take a back seat and enjoy something approaching a normal life.

“When I was in Busted people recognised me wherever I went and you would get people having a dig at you just because you’re famous,” he said.

“Nowadays, it’s only the true fans who recognise me and they tend to approach me in a much more calm, chilled-out way than eight years ago. I still get fan mail but now I can hang out without getting accosted everywhere I go.

“You can’t go chasing the spotlight. All that leads to is shows like Big Brother, which I can’t stand. The spotlight will find you if you keep producing good work.”

While Loserville is an unashamedly uplifting rock musical, Bourne describes Out There as a more melancholy tale with a pop and country-tinged soundtrack.

It follows the fortunes of youngster Logan Carter, on the run from the law, whose life changes dramatically when he finds himself in the dead-end town of Hope, Texas.

The music is heavily influenced by his time in Nashville, Tennessee, where Bourne has spent much of the past few years working with artists and producers.

“When you go there you have to live the country lifestyle, eating a lot of fried chicken, swimming in lakes and listening to country music on the radio,” he said. “The singers and producers out there won’t accept you unless you do it their way and that influence has rubbed off a lot.”

Bourne has just finished his latest solo album, the electro-influenced Space Travellers, under the moniker Future Boy, which doubles as a space shoot-em-up computer game and is available online. Although he has enjoyed working on Loserville and Out There, he has no plans to abandon his pop career for the stage.

“It’s much more satisfying working on a musical than writing a song for some fifth-placed X Factor contestant,” he said. “But it’s a lot of work writing a musical and, although I’ve got a good creative relationship with Elliot, if we do team up again I think there will be a long gap first.”

As for his own music, he claims to have turned down big money deals from several major record labels because he does not want to be tied down.

“I’m a little bit under the radar because there’s no big TV or radio plugger working for me now, but I don’t mind that since it means I can work on what I want,” he said. “I haven’t had a song for a while where I’ve felt radio’s missing out on it. Maybe when I have that I’ll be more determined to get it some air time.”

Out There is at Hammersmith’s Riverside Studios from Wednesday until Saturday. Tickets, priced £7.50 to £17.50, are available at www.riversidestudios.co.uk or from the box office on 020 8237 1111.