So you must be pretty busy at the moment...
Yea, it’s pretty hectic. I’m doing a lot of promo, a lot of radio stuff, travelling a lot of to Europe, setting up the album over there, doing showcases for all the different record companies for different territories. So I haven’t stopped for like three months.
So, can you tell us a bit about your education?
I stayed on at school. I did my GCSE’s, obviously. I didn’t want to go to university just because I didn’t know what I wanted to study, for one. I knew that a lot of people that went to university spent a lot of money and my family didn’t have any to take me anyway.
I just wanted to get out there and find out what the world was about for myself before going and getting a qualification. I thought if I wanted to go to music college I’d have to get a music A level first. I got an A in my music GCSE but failed my A level music with a U. I just wanted to get out and get some gigs, because I was in a band at school so I just wanted to see how that would go.
It was just a platform to perform. My music teacher would always get me up in assembly, without even asking me sometimes. I’d be like ‘well what am I singing?’ and she’d be like ‘Hey Jude or something, I dunno’.
You were that one guy everyone had at their school who’d sing at assemblies?
Yeah I was that one guy. There did used to be another guy that was way more annoying than me. He was sickly sweet kid who used to sing all these horrible versions of songs. There was also this other girl called Danielle who actually went on one of The X Factor auditions. She used to sing Alanis Morissette and was pretty good.
The competition you are running with NUS and MUZU TV means you’ll be performing live in someone’s living room. It’s a bit different from what you’re used to nowadays. Are you still looking forward to it?
Yeah, definitely. I started off playing in my bedroom and I’ve done a lot of those sorts of gigs in pubs when you’re in the corner of the room and I used to jam at home with friends and stuff anyway.
Those sorts of settings can be really good. In those settings it’s so intense that you can bring it down to hardly anything and build it back up again. Unlike when you’re doing a massive show where you can’t really bring it down to quiet because there’s so many people. It’s a different kind of thing.
You never know, the winners might make you a home cooked meal.
[Laughs] Oh, that’s scary. Frankfurters and hoops! I can eat that stuff, it’s fine.
To win you’ve got to write about how music has had a positive effect on your life. Before you were famous, what do you think you would have said?
Without me having music in my life I don’t think I would be as level headed as I am. I think music really helped me, growing up, to escape a lot of stuff that I didn’t really want to be around. Mentally and visually.
I just used to go to my room when times were bad and kind of play my guitar for hours. I think it’s a way for me to escape; a way for me to create; to feel like I’m doing something meaningful. When you write a proper song that means something to you it’s a really good feeling.
Even aside from that, just playing and listening to music is a big part of my life. I can’t imagine who I would be or what my life would be like without it, really.
So if you were applying for this competition, back when you were a student, who would you want in your lounge?
It would have to be Stevie Wonder, man. I love Stevie Wonder so much.
What about today’s artists?
I kind of like Ed Sheeran. He’s got a good voice. I met him the other day as well and he’s really nice. Ray laMontagne too, actually, I’d love to see in a living room setting. He’s got one of those voices that draws you in in a small space.
What is it about Stevie Wonder that has inspired you so much?
[Laughs] Have you got an hour? In the beginning, I’d never heard anyone sing that way. I’d never heard anyone phrase melodies the way he phrased them.
He can fit so many syllables into one little phrase. The way the chords resolve are always amazing. His voice is so universal to me. You just hear the passion and the honesty in his voice. That’s what I always get from him. It’s the same thing Michael Jackson gives me when I hear his voice.
You’ve done another collaboration on your new album, this time with Jessie J. You’re quite different singers. What was that like?
Yea it’s very different to Broken Strings (featuring Nelly Furtado). Broken Strings and Up, the song I did with Jessie J, none were meant to be duets in the beginning. If I ever wrote a song that ended up being a duet it was by accident. It was just a personal song about my Dad that I wrote.
As time went by it just became this thing where I ended up putting a female vocal on it. The more I tried to say no to a duet the more it sounded like it should be a duet. So I tried to think of singers I wanted to work with and Jessie J was just the most interesting choice, you know.
She was doing really well, she’s got a sick voice and I got really excited about it. It makes it less about my Dad as well when she’s on there, which is a good thing, in a way.
So your new album, The Awakening, sounds more personal than your previous two.
Yea, I think it’s more personal in a sense that I feel more about these songs than I did the other ones. Even though the other ones are still personal, these ones deal with me losing my Dad and having a daughter and my values on life in general.
What about the sound of the album?
Literally I just wanted it to sound like a live band in a room. No bells and whistles. I just wanted it to be the simplest, purest version of an album that I can make.
So what made ‘I won’t let you go’ stand out as the choice for the first single?
It’s just one of those songs that simple, you know? It’s a simple song. The sentiment of what it’s saying was the reason I wanted it to be a first single. It just matched a lot of what I was seeing on tele, on the news.
It felt quite negative in general and people’s trust in each other had gone a little bit, but I was experiencing that on a personal level too with people I know. I kind of wanted to write a song where it could sound like you’re just holding your girlfriend or whatever, but really it’s more than that to me.
I found your lyrics to the song on a dodgy lyrics site where the author wrote he thought the song sounded like ‘Flying without wings’ by Westlife.
[Laughs] Is that what they said? Well to be fair, I’m not a big fan of Westlife but that is one of my favourite Westlife songs. Flying without wings is a f***ing tune, I don’t give a sh*t what anyone says.
What does this busy year have in store for you?
Gigs, gigs, gigs. Which is what I’m mainly excited about, really. I just can’t wait to get out on tour travelling again and getting to the places I couldn’t get to last time.
Have you got big plans for the concerts?
Yea, it’s going to be an 11 piece band, when it’s the full thing. Like three horns, two backing singers, bass, guitar, organ, keyboards and me. It’s quite a big set up. It’s like a proper old school, rock ‘n’ roll, soul, pop, folk band.
So we won’t be seeing you branching off into any kind of dance music any time soon?
Not really. I’m going to stay away from that for now and just do traditional songs, with good bands playing them.
In terms of living up to the expectations of your initial success – gaining a BRIT Award for your first album – does having a family help?
Yeah, losing my Dad and having a kid just makes you weigh up what’s actually important. Getting a Brit and all that stuff is important to me but really when it comes down to it it’s all about the content of what I’m saying, really.
If I’m not putting out stuff I think is worthy then all the awards in the world wouldn’t make me feel good about it. So you’re better off starting from a place that’s smaller where you’re not thinking about filling arenas, you’re just thinking about what do I want to say, how to I want to say it.
That’s what I liked about making the album is that I kept that as a theme. I didn’t try and write for other people, I just tried to write for myself because I need to get them songs out. That’s why I feel relaxed this time round.