SOME songs stay with you all through your life.

They're the ones you never get tired of hearing, that bring back your best memories and that you - perhaps ashamedly - know every word to.

So, confession time - Wheatus' Teenage Dirtbag is one such song for me.

Whenever it comes on the radio, I'm right back in the sweaty, student-filled nightclubs of my university years happily jumping around with a bunch of mates. And I've got a sneaking suspicion I'm not the only one.

So, imagine my excitement then when I was offered an interview with frontman Brendan B Brown himself.

When I call the New Yorker he is coming to the end of a long slog of press interviews ahead of Wheatus' 15th anniversary UK tour which visits The Horn in St Albans later this month.

"It’s unreal," he drawls. "I can’t get my head around it. I was thinking about when I was a kid, what did 15 years mean? 15 years was the difference between 1955 and 1970 – that's a lot of stuff that can happen.

"So we’ve had a bit of a similar arc. When our first album came out the Twin Towers were still standing. George Bush had only just become president – well, was about to – he hadn’t been elected yet. So many changes – it’s an abstraction really."

Speaking of changes, the past 15 years have been a rollercoaster ride for Wheatus - a ride which has seen multiple reconfigurations of their line-up, leaving Brendan as the only remaining original member.

He formed the band in 1995 with the help of his brother Peter, bass player Rich Liegey and mutli-instrumentalist Philip A. Jimenez. And after a few years playing local New York clubs, Wheatus released their self-titled début album in 2000.

It was a hit, reaching number seven in the UK album chart upon its release. In 2001 their second single, a cover of Erasure's A Little Respect, got to number three in the UK Singles Chart.

But it was their eponymous noughties classic which really catapulted the rock-pop outfit to fame, simultaneously securing them a place in the hearts of fans and creating the soundtrack to many teenagers' formative years.

Then four albums and 13 years later, One Direction began performing their version of Teenage Dirtbag and introduced an entirely new generation to their music.

"We really don’t run into people who don’t like Dirtbag, including us," says Brendan, who confesses that when he was a teenager "a lot of intense guitar work happening".

The 41-year-old continues: "One of the fears I had when Dirtbag kicked off was that it would get old quick or be received as a fad. I was wrong to worry about that. It feels new every night. I think that’s because it’s hard to play correctly, but what the hell do I know?"

Now approaching the release of their seventh album, Wheatus have promised fans a run-down of the entire track listing of their début album during the upcoming anniversary tour, along with songs from their five other albums and a selection of brand new material.

And it seems that Brooklyn-born Brendan can't wait to set foot on British soil.

"Being on a tour bus and pulling up in a different High Street every day is quite an adventure," he says, to which I react with surprise.

Brendan picks up on this and tells me: "In England you tend to self-deprecate about the places you live, but I’m from New York and I find them fascinating."

He briefly pauses, before laughing: "Maybe it’s because I don’t have to see them every day."

When I ask the proud AC/DC fan if he takes any inspiration from British artists, he's quick to mention Verve front man Richard Ashcroft, describing him as "a huge influence", following that up with a nod to Elbow too.

But really, his musical eureka moment was all thanks to his cousin.

"I remember my cousin Dean told me about Rush," recalls the guitarist.

"That stuck with me forever. I’m pretty sure he played me Tom Sawyer and the Spirit of Radio and my little brain exploded.

"I got into AC/DC very shortly after – I was a huge AC/DC freak. I was Angus [Young, lead singer] for Halloween when I was ten and 11. Then I got into Metallica after that – all these teen identity culture points, I was also experiencing Prince and Huey Lewis and the News and whatever was on the radio."

It seems the rebellious, rock'n'roll spirit alive in the music Brendan grew up with percolated into his ethos as a musician, and Wheatus have proudly been independent of any record label for almost a decade.

"We’re still bound by the financial situation that an independent band finds themselves in," explains the front man, who is joined by band mates Matthew Milligan, Karlie Bruce, Gabrielle Aimée Sterbenz, Mark Palmer and Leo Freire. "So we get home from touring and we sell the gear that we just used on eBay and that’s what it’s like to be a musician these days.

"We’re all working hard. It feel just fine to me."

Wheatus play The Horn, Victoria Street, St Albans, on Monday, September 21. Tickets are sold out in St Albans, but other tour dates are available. Details: 01727 853143, thehorn.co.uk