"I feel like I'm losing brain cells while I'm watching those shows," the 32-year-old Good Charlotte singer-frontman told The New Paper over the phone on Saturday.

And US socialite-fashion designer Richie, 30, apparently hasn't got over the reality bug since her days on The Simple Life with former BFF Paris Hilton. "She has about like four to five channels that she switches between - Bravo and Oxygen, things like that," said Madden.

He was speaking from his hotel room in Brisbane, before the band's final Australian gig as part of The JD Set series of shows (whisky brand Jack Daniel's' flagship music programme).

Good Charlotte will be performing here on Friday at Resorts World Sentosa.

He added: "She loves the The Real Housewives (franchise of shows)."

When asked if there are serious fights over the remote control in the Madden-Richie household, he laughed.

"I don't have power with the remote. I just turn on my shows after she falls asleep," he said.

The couple, who started dating in 2006, will be celebrating their first wedding anniversary next month.

While Madden may disagree with Richie's taste in TV, he doesn't mind her fashion choices, which he said has helped him become more stylish.

"She generally tends to pack for me before I go on tour, mostly because I'm lazy," he said. "So she'll put in clothes she thinks are nice. I do think I dress better now than before I met her."

The couple have two children - daughter Harlow, four, and son Sparrow, two.

Madden has been busy introducing the kids to music from Billy Joel, The Rolling Stones, The Doors and Stevie Wonder.

Is this part of his plan to steer his children away from the teenybopper music so prevalent on radio today?

"You know, when you have kids, you really become less critical of music," he said, laughing.

"But it was really nice when my son came to me and kept asking me to play Billy Joel's Piano Man over and over because he liked it."

It's a little too early to say if the little Maddens will turn into rock stars, but their dad won't be surprised if they do.

"They're like little sponges, just absorbing everything right now. They love music, and it's so natural to them because they've grown up being surrounded by instruments all around the house," he said.

Cutting back on schedule

Though Good Charlotte has been touring for more than a decade now, Madden said the quintet recently decided to cut back on their schedule.

"Everyone in the band besides Benji (Madden's twin brother) has kids, so we really wanted to slow down for a while," he said.

After its show in Singapore, Good Charlotte will take a break before resuming work on its next album.

For its three recent shows in Australia, the band was asked by the folks at Jack Daniel's to pick an album from the 90s that meant something to them, so that they could incorporate it into the set.

US rock band Weezer's self-titled debut, also known as the Blue Album, came out tops on a list that included records from other 90s bands like Silverchair and Green Day.

"It's not often you get an opportunity like that," said Madden. "We try to put it out of our minds that a hardcore Weezer fan might not like our interpretation, but music is like food - what I like, you might not like."

Even though Madden has been to Singapore several times - most recently in April when he played a DJ set at Ku De Ta, at the SkyPark at Marina Bay Sands - he has never had a proper tour of our country.

"No one's really taken me out yet," he said. "I think it would be kind of fun to kick it with a local."

This article was first published in The New Paper.