FORTUNE is a strange thing indeed.

For many the pop music game proves to be a blink and you’ll miss it affair lasting a few years at best. Yet there are always those who like to buck the stereotype, and so it is with Spandau Ballet’s former guitarist Steve Norman and Shelley Preston of Bucks Fizz fame.

The pair have a new project on the go which is refreshingly removed from either of their adventures in the world of 1980s Top Of The Pops charts.

"I don’t think Steve would have been seen dead with me back then, but he’s changed now," says Shelley laughing at her new bandmate as we share a drink at Maidstone’s Pizza Express where they are set to play this weekend.

Dressed in smart-casual gear, both seem relaxed and enjoying producing music at their own pace.

"We got the idea of doing the band while I was living in Ibiza, where I’ve been for the last 12 years. It started out with a friend of mine as a production thing for other people. But then I asked Shelley if she would do some live vocals," says Steve, whose enthusiasm is matched by his singing recruit.

"We’ve had some good feedback from our first gig and we have about eight tracks written which we’ll be doing with some old standards and a couple of surprises in there too!"

As they reveal, they are expecting plenty of the old fans of their respective groups to be in the audience, which should produce to some interesting banter.

They’ve both experienced their fair share of career highs and lows but say they are now feeling particularly positive about events.

In Steve’s case, he appears to be more at ease with the extremely difficult break-up of Spandau. Time spent in the Spanish sun with his young son and daughter has given the 45 year-old a fresh outlook.

"I’ve started to be more relaxed about it and didn’t want to be bitter every time I thought about the band, which Shelley has helped me with. She said why don’t you call Martin (Kemp), which I did in the end and he came out to see me in Ibiza. We hugged at the airport and our friendship just carried on where it left off."

As for the former Buck Fizz singer, she has been far from idle.

Her post-band work included a stint as a backing singer for Jason Donovan on his first world tour, which she loved. From there she has sung with Belinda Carlisle, Brian May and INXS.

"Michael Hutchence was the most charismatic male performer I have ever seen. He had audiences eating out of his hand. It was so tragic when he died," she said.

Based in London, the 41 year-old has an eight-year-old son Ben of whom she is immensely proud. "He wants to play drums now which is a bit worrying."

She has spent a fair while in the county visiting fellow bandmate Cheryl Baker who lives near Sevenoaks. They had a great laugh with the a 50th anniversary of the Eurovision Song contest show in Copenhagen last year and also played the Hazlitt Theatre which went down a storm.

"We can’t get away from Making Your Mind Up - it is cheesy but the audience roar when our skirts came off for it!"

Cloudfish play Pizza Express in Maidstone on Saturday, March 18. Tickets £22. Box office 01622 683548.