Iconic Britpop band Wet Wet Wet are back and bringing their The Big Picture Tour to The O2 in March.

The band has become a staple of the British musical landscape, from their forming in 1982 to their first number one and Brit award in 1988 to their biggest hit Love is All Around, which spent 15 weeks at the top of the charts.

Although the band split in 2001, they reformed in 2004 with another top 10 hit and a greatest hits album released in 2013.

We caught up with founder-member and bass guitarist Graeme Clark ahead of Wet Wet Wet’s show in Greenwich on March 6.

He said: “We decided we were going to celebrate ‘Picture This’, an album released in 1995, the album that Love is all Around came from and we decided to re-release it, give it a new twist with today’s technology.

“It has been 30-odd years we have been writing great pop songs, we’ve slowed down a bit, things have changed and the music industry has changed beyond recognition to when we were in it.

“But I’m thankful that it’s still an environment where we can go out, play music, and people still want to come out and see it.”

Supporting the band on their tour are Ben McKelvey and former Westlife member Markus Feehily.

Clark said: “Ben will be on first. He’s a straight songwriter, very direct, and a charismatic performer who is finding his way, and we thought that he deserved a chance in the maze that as the music industry.

“As for Mark, I’ve seen him performing one of his acapella singles on one of those morning breakfast shows, and I thought that he was amazing, and would be a great addition on our show.

“I think that the people who would see Wet Wet Wet are not a million miles from those who would see Westlife so it felt that it would of great value to both of us.”

Clearly the music industry has change markedly since Wet Wet Wet first hit the charts and Clark was sceptical that the band would have been allowed to flourish if they were starting out today.

He said: “It’s not better or worse, just very different.

“In my day you wrote a few songs, enticed record companies into signing a deal with you, and then they would allow you to find your way, establish your footprint with the first album, then expect a return on their investment by the second.

“Nowadays it does feel like there is a shortcut now, where you can go on a TV show in September and reach number one by Christmas.

“But number one is the only chart number that matters, so nowadays if something is released and it’s not a huge success, then it is regarded as a huge failure.

“If that was in my day, Wet Wet Wet would have been dropped pretty quickly and sent to work in the shipyards.”

Wet Wet Wet’s The Big Picture Tour is at The O2, Greenwich, on March 6. Go to axs.com