One Direction are the biggest pop stars on the planet, the faces of a £100m commercial empire and the focus of millions of teenage girls' fevered fantasies. But, asks GQ, what about the music? Can our most ambitious group deliver the solid-gold hits to turn them from a business into a band? Read our world exclusive interview with Harry, Liam, Louis, Niall and Zayn on success, sex and celebrity in the September issue of British GQ, out Thursday. Plus, stay tuned to GQ.co.uk throughout the week for exclusive bonus images and behind-the-scenes video from our One Direction cover shoot.

On dealing with their non-stop schedules:
Liam: "I've come to a point now where I just go wherever people tell me to go.  That's what life is like. People say, 'Go here,' and I oblige... So long as you tell me what object to aim towards, I'll just keep moving."

On their new album:
Niall: "We don't actually have a specific date for the new album, but on the road we will have more time to record and try things out. It'll be a bit heavier. A bit rockier. A bit cooler."
Liam: "Consider this a warning: this is a new sound."

On their tour bus rules for groupies and booze:
Niall: "We haven't been on the road long enough yet - ask me in a few months' time. All last year, we were touring in America so we were all under age, so we couldn't really party then, anyway."
Liam: "Groupies? We don't have time to party! I'm not even single. This sort of talk will get me in trouble."
Niall: "We go back on the road straight after a show and we're gone. I wish we did have time for girls and parties but we don't." (lol ok)
Liam: "Maybe we need someone to schedule that in for us."
Niall: "I'll say one thing: Ellie Goulding - wow. She's absolutely amazing looking." (ew sis)

On Harry's rumoured relationship with Nick Grimshaw:
Harry:"What rumours would they be?"
GQ: That you're an item.
Harry: "Oh, really? I didn't even know. We're not dating, no. We're just friends."
GQ: So you're not bisexual?
Harry:"Bisexual? Me? I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I'm not."
GQ: Do these rumours feel at all intrusive?
Harry: "Some of them are funny. Some of them are ridiculous. Some of them are annoying. I don't want to be one of those people that complains about the rumours. I never like it when a celebrity goes on Twitter and says, "This isn't true!" It is what it is; I tend not to do that. The only time it gets really annoying is that if you get into a relationship and you get into a place where you really like someone and then things are being written in the papers that affect them and how they see you. Then it can get annoying."

On whether it's hard to stay faithful to girlfriends:
Louis: "I don't think it is. The type of girls that would sleep with you in a heartbeat aren't the type of girls I'd want to take home anyway."(oh you mean girls with a sex drive. smh.)

On how One Direction will be remembered:
Zayn: "I want a monument put up in Bradford! They will build statues of us. No, I want to change pop culture..."
Louis:"As a boy band that didn't dance."
Niall: "It would be great to just be remembered."

Read the full exclusive interview with One Direction in the September issue of British GQ, out Thursday 1 August, priced £3.99. GQ is also available on the iPad, Google Play and Kindle Fire.

See an online exclusive behind the scenes video from One Direction's GQ cover shoot on Thursday 1 August. For a sneak peek, see our countdown here.