Speaker 1: Hello, everyone, Welcome to inside the studio on iHeart Radio.
Speaker 1: My name is Jordan Runtog. But enough about me. My
Speaker 1: guest today originally had plans to be a soccer player
Speaker 1: in his native UK. Then he has some drinks at
Speaker 1: a party, saying some karaoke and his musical gifts revealed
Speaker 1: themselves perhaps the best thing to come up drunk karaoke
Speaker 1: and human history. He signed a record deal soon after
Speaker 1: graduating college, kick starting a rapid ride to the top
Speaker 1: of the charts. His sophomore album, Evering Road, debuted at
Speaker 1: number one in England when it was released in March.
Speaker 1: The record takes its name from the street where he
Speaker 1: once lived with his now ex girlfriend. Their breakup is
Speaker 1: the theme of the album, but as he emphatically says,
Speaker 1: this is not a breakup album. There are no modelin
Speaker 1: moments or roof of recriminations to be heard. No. Instead,
Speaker 1: he turns his critical eye on himself, his past mistakes
Speaker 1: in ways that he wasn't always a good partner. Much
Speaker 1: of the music is about owning up to his failings
Speaker 1: and trying to be better. Rather than an album of
Speaker 1: bitter animosity and vengeance, Evering Road is packed with soulful
Speaker 1: songs of redemption and hope. It comes through in his
Speaker 1: album's recent single little Bit of Love, a song about
Speaker 1: unconditional acceptance of both himself and others, and his new
Speaker 1: song with Ella Henderson, Let's Go Home Together, suggests a
Speaker 1: happy ending. I'm so thrilled to welcome Tom Grennan. Thank
Speaker 1: you man. Honestly that this is crazy for me, is
Speaker 1: so crazy. I can't believe. Like the song is kind
Speaker 1: of working in America, and my dream is to kind
Speaker 1: of crack America. So I to be able to talk
Speaker 1: to you man, is is amazing. Take it aback a
Speaker 1: little bit. Your new album, Evering Road is a it's
Speaker 1: about it's about a breakup, but it's not a breakup album.
Speaker 1: In fact, in a lot of ways, it's a it's
Speaker 1: an anti breakup that album you you're taking this really
Speaker 1: compassionate view of your ex partner and a really thoughtful
Speaker 1: view of yourself and your time together. Can you give
Speaker 1: me a little background on this record, like what went
Speaker 1: down at Evering Road? So Everying Road was it was
Speaker 1: kind of it's based on love, heartbreak and redemption. Really
Speaker 1: and really for me it was kind of holding my
Speaker 1: hat as me holding my hands up and saying, listen,
Speaker 1: I've done some bad in this relationship, but I needed
Speaker 1: to love myself before I could love anybody else. And unfortunately,
Speaker 1: like I hurt someone during that time. But like I said,
Speaker 1: like I needed to find happiness in myself and I
Speaker 1: couldn't give that to anybody else until until I had
Speaker 1: that myself. So it's all about that, really, and and
Speaker 1: it is a breakup album, but like you say, it's
Speaker 1: quite an uplifting breakup album. It's not kind of like
Speaker 1: let's cry about it and feel sorry for me. It's
Speaker 1: kind of be like, listen, I've done what I've done,
Speaker 1: but at the end of the day, I'm a human
Speaker 1: being and we all make mistakes. Just don't make the
Speaker 1: same mistake. Twice. I mentioned compassion earlier, and that really
Speaker 1: comes through on the song A little Bit of Love
Speaker 1: to My Ears. It's about showing love and compassion to yourself,
Speaker 1: which is one of the hardest things to do in
Speaker 1: a lot of ways. Tell me to tell me more
Speaker 1: about that song. Yeah, So A little Bit of loves
Speaker 1: like all about unconditional love and knowing that you deserve
Speaker 1: to be loved and deserved to feel loved as well,
Speaker 1: no matter who you are away from what you are
Speaker 1: is everybody deserves deserves it. And for me, like when
Speaker 1: I was going through this kind of mad time and
Speaker 1: where I was like at in my life, I moved
Speaker 1: back with my mom and dad and it was there
Speaker 1: where like I was like, oh my gosh, like I
Speaker 1: needed to come home and see like the unconditional love
Speaker 1: my mom and dads have for me and my brother
Speaker 1: has to for me for the for them not to
Speaker 1: kind of say do you know what, Yeah, I am
Speaker 1: worthy of love, And that's what it's all about, really,
Speaker 1: And I wanted to make an uplifting record, and I
Speaker 1: feel like the time that we're in now and the
Speaker 1: world that we're living in right now, like this really
Speaker 1: has connected with people in that way, and like the
Speaker 1: best thing to do right now is to send a
Speaker 1: little bit of love to anywhere and anyone and just
Speaker 1: remind people that good times are coming and it's going
Speaker 1: to be great. Oh absolutely. I mean in the same
Speaker 1: way that that you went home to kind of reflect
Speaker 1: and reboot. I feel like so many of us have
Speaker 1: been doing that m the last year by having this
Speaker 1: this time to really sit and think and reflect on
Speaker 1: ourselves and how we can be better, which I think
Speaker 1: is a really admirable thing that you're you're putting forward
Speaker 1: in the messages and your songs. For sure, like this
Speaker 1: whole like years, you know what I mean? Well, last
Speaker 1: year was a time I needed to kind of I
Speaker 1: still had a lot of demons I needed to kind
Speaker 1: of work out and kind of just face up to.
Speaker 1: And this year and last year has definitely given me
Speaker 1: that time. And honestly, I've never been happier man. And
Speaker 1: life is so good and I wake up every morning
Speaker 1: with a smile on my face and I'm very very grateful,
Speaker 1: and I'm very very thankful that like my family and
Speaker 1: have got their health and and thinks I haven't been
Speaker 1: too bad. But was it clear early on that this
Speaker 1: was sort of going to be the theme in a
Speaker 1: way of this album or did you write your songs
Speaker 1: and look back and sort of see the thread emerging through? Well,
Speaker 1: I actually finished this record ever in road before like
Speaker 1: coronavirus and stuff was a theme. So it was meant
Speaker 1: to come out last year March Corona then happened and
Speaker 1: I was like, this doesn't feel like the right time
Speaker 1: to put a record out because there's so much more
Speaker 1: important things to be getting on with and also like
Speaker 1: to learn about, you know what I mean. So I
Speaker 1: was like, you know what, Let's hold off for a
Speaker 1: year and see where and if if this record still
Speaker 1: feels like it needs to come out, then it will
Speaker 1: come out. And to be honest with you, I didn't
Speaker 1: do anything with the records at all. I finished it
Speaker 1: and and parked it for a year. And it's weird
Speaker 1: because it all kind of makes sense to to that,
Speaker 1: to the relationship that was in an every ing row,
Speaker 1: but then it all kind of I was like, oh
Speaker 1: my god, these songs are like making sense to what's
Speaker 1: going on now. And like I said, I want it's
Speaker 1: an uplifting, up tempo kind of records. So I was like,
Speaker 1: this was like the right time now, and I feel
Speaker 1: like people need it. And when I was listening to
Speaker 1: the record before it was out, I was like, I
Speaker 1: can picture myself being at live shows and and if
Speaker 1: I was just I wasn't actually singing the songs, I'd
Speaker 1: be watching it and just being like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: like we are, we are living our lives and it's great.
Speaker 1: It must be author for you to have it have
Speaker 1: all those not only the feelings, but just the songs
Speaker 1: and everything out there, I must feel, I must feel,
Speaker 1: like to be honest with you, like this relationship that
Speaker 1: I was in, like I was two years ago and
Speaker 1: I was I was afraid that I was like, oh
Speaker 1: my god, God, will people understand the story? Right? Well,
Speaker 1: they think that like I was just just too much
Speaker 1: of a bit of an idiot, and but people really
Speaker 1: really like, we're so positive about this record, and just
Speaker 1: that's all I wanted. Man, I just wanted to make people.
Speaker 1: I wanted to make people to think. I didn't want
Speaker 1: this rector this album to be an album that you
Speaker 1: just put on and you kind of have in the background. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like I wanted people to think. I wanted people to smile.
Speaker 1: I wanted people to kind of go, let's forget about
Speaker 1: the bad days and just just move forward and just
Speaker 1: get on with life and just try and be a
Speaker 1: better person. And that's what it's all about. And that's
Speaker 1: what I've done, and and the messages I've been getting
Speaker 1: is just just unreal, just crazy. Is there a single
Speaker 1: track on the album that really means the most to you?
Speaker 1: They all may mean their own little things to me,
Speaker 1: but for me, like the most there's a there's a
Speaker 1: song called Love Has Different Ways to Say Goodbye, and
Speaker 1: it's the ending song. And for me, like it's a
Speaker 1: very cinematic kind of song where you sit down you're like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, I feel like I'm watching a film,
Speaker 1: and like lyrically, like I feel like they're all my
Speaker 1: best lyrics, and I feel like musically, I don't know,
Speaker 1: I just told the story in a song, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, And like it ended the album so well,
Speaker 1: and and it feels like a bit of a James
Speaker 1: Bond Bond song, Yeah, And when I listened to it
Speaker 1: kind of always makes me think, you know what, love
Speaker 1: does have different ways to say goodbye? And sometimes like
Speaker 1: there were people shouting, and there'll be people arguing, but
Speaker 1: sometimes that we people say and listen, this is what
Speaker 1: it has to be. And sometimes people aren't meant to
Speaker 1: be together. And that's all right, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: That's that's okay, But good luck withever, whatever you do
Speaker 1: and whatever the other person does, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: I love the song. It hurts I it's sad, but
Speaker 1: also it's funny that things can be both sad and
Speaker 1: uplifting at the same time. And I think you do
Speaker 1: that beautifully on that track, Thank you. Yeah, well, this
Speaker 1: is it, Like the songs are really they are like
Speaker 1: if you get into like the lyrics and and what
Speaker 1: they're actually about, they are they are like deep, they
Speaker 1: are sad, They are kind of like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: I was going through a lot of crazy things and
Speaker 1: there was a lot of things going on in my
Speaker 1: head that weren't They were dark, do you know what
Speaker 1: I mean? But they're uplifting with the music and and
Speaker 1: with like the beats and with with everything, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. So, yeah, it's funny. It's probably a
Speaker 1: strange question. You know how they always say that every
Speaker 1: character in your dreams are actually you, and it's you
Speaker 1: kind of project all these feelings and emotions and your
Speaker 1: actions onto these characters and they work out whatever you're
Speaker 1: going through. And because it's it's not you, it's other
Speaker 1: people that you're seeing, it's it gives you perspective in
Speaker 1: a lot of ways. When you were reading back your lyrics,
Speaker 1: was that almost the case for you? Did you learn
Speaker 1: anything about yourself by singing these songs that all of
Speaker 1: a sudden you thought, oh my gosh, this is what
Speaker 1: I met. This is what I should have done differently,
Speaker 1: for sure, Like I I learned that I was doing
Speaker 1: some really like not the right thing, and I've learned
Speaker 1: that I was going through a bad spot and I
Speaker 1: couldn't talk to people about it because I don't know.
Speaker 1: I had had a lot of things that guilt on
Speaker 1: my on my soul. I had like hurt on my soul.
Speaker 1: I had like all these different things going on in
Speaker 1: in my my head and physically as well, like not
Speaker 1: just mentally physically, and I found it hard to talk
Speaker 1: to to anybody. But when I was writing my lyrics,
Speaker 1: that's where I was like, that was my therapy. I
Speaker 1: suppose that was me, like I'm in a bad spot
Speaker 1: and I need and I need some help, and that
Speaker 1: help came from me, but it also did come from
Speaker 1: like when I was when like I was showing these
Speaker 1: songs to my friends, and when I was showing them
Speaker 1: songs to like my parents and my management, they were like, yo,
Speaker 1: you're good. I was like, uh no, not really. But
Speaker 1: I had to write these songs to understand the emotions
Speaker 1: and and what kind of going through a breakup is
Speaker 1: and what kind of it is to kind of say
Speaker 1: to yourself, I need to stand up, and I need
Speaker 1: to make a change, and I need to admit to
Speaker 1: a few things that added that I had done wrong.
Speaker 1: I actually I have several friends going through breakups at
Speaker 1: the moment, unfortunately, do you have any any tips for
Speaker 1: them or anyone listening right now who might be going
Speaker 1: through through a tough time romantically, either either emotionally or
Speaker 1: are there any you know albums that you listen to
Speaker 1: or movies you watched, the books you read. Do you
Speaker 1: have any any advice for for those folks? For me,
Speaker 1: Like if I was to say, if I was speaking
Speaker 1: to a friend who was going through through a breakup,
Speaker 1: so everybody who's listening you are now a friend of mine,
Speaker 1: I would say, listen, just understand that sometimes these things happen,
Speaker 1: but to go with your heart and to tell the
Speaker 1: truth and listen to what you believe is the truth,
Speaker 1: and usually ninety at the time, you will make the
Speaker 1: right decision. For me, I listened to like anyone house
Speaker 1: is my is the queen for me, and I feel
Speaker 1: like she understood what pain is and understood what going
Speaker 1: through these weird emotions were and I listened to her
Speaker 1: and she really did like kind of help me understand
Speaker 1: as well. So I would say, just believe in your
Speaker 1: believing yourself and and you will make the right decision.
Speaker 1: And sometimes things don't seem so like clear at first,
Speaker 1: but when you take a step out of that situation, yeah,
Speaker 1: nine times out of ten, you will be leaving with
Speaker 1: a smile. And that's all you need to do is
Speaker 1: just smile, because you'll be happy. Amen to that. To
Speaker 1: quote one of your songs, oh Man, I mean God
Speaker 1: back to Black that. I listened to that so many
Speaker 1: times when I was going through tough times. I also
Speaker 1: I love you. Eversee High Fidelity or read the book
Speaker 1: that's based on Oh It's It's an awesome It's a
Speaker 1: movie that was based on a book by Nick Hornby.
Speaker 1: I think that the book takes place in Camden record
Speaker 1: store and Campy. He's a guy who runs a record store.
Speaker 1: Oh it's all. The book is amazing. I mean, as
Speaker 1: is often the case, the book is way better than
Speaker 1: the movie. But the movie is awesome too. And it's
Speaker 1: a guy who runs a record story. He's a he's
Speaker 1: a music obsessive. He loves music, and he's going through
Speaker 1: a breakup and him and his buddies in the record
Speaker 1: store always do top five lists like top five greatest
Speaker 1: you know Songs about Death, top five greatest songs about
Speaker 1: you know whatever, And he does a top five worst breakups,
Speaker 1: and then he decides he wants to learn and grow
Speaker 1: as a person. He gets in touch with all of
Speaker 1: his ex girlfriends to try to see where they're at
Speaker 1: now and what he did wrong and how it's it's
Speaker 1: a really cool book. I'm gonna actually I'm gonna type
Speaker 1: it down in my notes right now so I don't forget.
Speaker 1: It's called High Fidelity. It's amazing and the books by
Speaker 1: Nick Hornby. The movie is from like I think it's
Speaker 1: from two thousand with John Cusack. Great movie, great, great movie.
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to watching that now. I need a
Speaker 1: good film to watch. Man watching some crazy things recently. Yeah,
Speaker 1: what have you been watching Just Finish Your Honor? Have
Speaker 1: you watched it? No? No? Yeah, oh my god. It
Speaker 1: is unbelievable. But it really like dives into like a
Speaker 1: lot of what's going on in the world and how
Speaker 1: bad like and how corrupt like police and stuff are. Man,
Speaker 1: you know, So, yeah, it's a good watch. Just finished.
Speaker 1: What is it car? I think it's called Surviving death.
Speaker 1: It's about all these people who have near death experiences
Speaker 1: and how it's changed them. Yeah, so it's it's it's amazing. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I've seen that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've seen a few
Speaker 1: of It's it's a series, right, some of the stories
Speaker 1: are crazy, Oh my gosh. And like the kids who
Speaker 1: are like born in a three or four years old
Speaker 1: and they have memories of living, you know, sixty seven
Speaker 1: years ago and people's names. I believe in that, man,
Speaker 1: I fully believe in that kind of totally. If you're
Speaker 1: not ready to leave this world, man, you'll you'll come
Speaker 1: back into like another soul and you'll believe in that trust.
Speaker 1: Do you think you are Did you have a connection
Speaker 1: with a with a pat of self? I would say no,
Speaker 1: I think I'm quite like a new spirit man. But
Speaker 1: then like, but then again, my granddad would say to me,
Speaker 1: like sometimes like you've got you've got a very old
Speaker 1: head on you work in the sense of like I'm
Speaker 1: I'm quite I'm twenty five, but I've always been quite
Speaker 1: mature for my age. But then I am a new
Speaker 1: spirit man as well, like I'm just a bit of
Speaker 1: a I'll go where the wind takes me and I
Speaker 1: don't really like routine. Well, I don't really like routine.
Speaker 1: I like being here, there and everywhere and kind of
Speaker 1: being in the mix of of of everything, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. Yeah, yeah, which has been like to
Speaker 1: be fair, like, actually, this whole timing in like lockdown
Speaker 1: and stuff like that has given me time to kind
Speaker 1: of like relax and kind of saying, listen, you need
Speaker 1: to this is what's been going wrong? Is that you're
Speaker 1: too much Ah, you know what I mean. It's kind
Speaker 1: of like just take a break and kind of get
Speaker 1: in tune with what's going on in here and up here,
Speaker 1: and and I've really done that, and I've really kind
Speaker 1: of like learned a lot about myself during that lockdown period.
Speaker 1: I was I was like a dog with a bone.
Speaker 1: I was like, give me this, give me that, give
Speaker 1: me this. I want it now, I want it now.
Speaker 1: But now I'm like, zen it out, met zen it out.
Speaker 1: Have you been writing much music during this time or
Speaker 1: is it really more focused? In word? Since January? I
Speaker 1: was like, right the new year's here, I feel like
Speaker 1: I'm going to start learning how to play I don't
Speaker 1: really know how to play a piano, but I but
Speaker 1: I've been learning how to play piano because I want
Speaker 1: to play on stage. So I've been learning a lot
Speaker 1: of that kind of stuff. And then whilst learning, it's
Speaker 1: kind of opened up a new kind of creative writing space.
Speaker 1: So I have been writing. Man, I have been diving
Speaker 1: into like what's going on in my life. But the
Speaker 1: thing is I'm happy, So I'm writing all these happy songs,
Speaker 1: which is what It's great, and like, I'm really excited
Speaker 1: about what's what's next now. But to be honest with you,
Speaker 1: I just can't wait to get to America now. Like
Speaker 1: I know that I've got a tour coming up over
Speaker 1: there soon en after soon we can get into the
Speaker 1: country and yeah, my my goal is to crack America
Speaker 1: and hopefully fingers crossed we do that. Bring it on, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean with this album, you can't go wrong. Oh man.
Speaker 1: It's so it's so funny because there's somebody bole that
Speaker 1: I talked to and and they say, you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: I knew and I was a little kid that music
Speaker 1: was what I was going to do with my life.
Speaker 1: I knew it this, I had this, this dream, I
Speaker 1: had this and from from my understanding, you came to
Speaker 1: music a little later in in in life, I did. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I actually played a lot of football soccer as you
Speaker 1: would call it, but I played a lot of football too.
Speaker 1: I was like seventeen and then I was going to
Speaker 1: play in America. I got offer the scholarship to go
Speaker 1: to North Carolina and played football over there, but I
Speaker 1: kind of fell out of love of it. I was like,
Speaker 1: you know what, I don't feel like this is the
Speaker 1: right for me. So then I kind of was like,
Speaker 1: do you know what I'm gonna have. I'm gonna have
Speaker 1: my first bit And then like going out to parties
Speaker 1: and girls got involved, and my head was like I
Speaker 1: was like distracted, and I wasn't on football anymore. I
Speaker 1: wasn't on that. I was like, give me the girls
Speaker 1: and give me the beer. And then I was at
Speaker 1: a party and there was a karaoke machine and I
Speaker 1: jumped on this karaoke machine and I was drunk at
Speaker 1: that time, because I would never have the confidence to
Speaker 1: do this if I wasn't drunk. And I started singing
Speaker 1: and people were like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Where did
Speaker 1: that come from? And I was like what what? And
Speaker 1: then and then I realized that I actually loved singing
Speaker 1: and I loved just performing. So then I joined this
Speaker 1: little band in like we call it A levels. It
Speaker 1: was just before you go to UNI. So I was
Speaker 1: in my last year of A levels and I joined
Speaker 1: this little band and we were doing like covers and
Speaker 1: stuff like that. But I was getting the I was
Speaker 1: getting the feeling for it. I was getting the bar.
Speaker 1: And then all the boys who I was in this band,
Speaker 1: we were like, we're going to university. And I was like, what,
Speaker 1: you're going to universe. We've got this wicked band in
Speaker 1: no way like what you're doing. And they were like, no,
Speaker 1: we're gonna go do like maths and science and stuff
Speaker 1: like that. I was like, boring, I'm not doing that.
Speaker 1: So I moved to London, and because I'm from a
Speaker 1: small place called Bedford, which is about hour away from London,
Speaker 1: I moved to London and I actually went to university
Speaker 1: to study acting. So I did acting for three years,
Speaker 1: but in them three years. In my first year of UNI,
Speaker 1: I learned how to play guitar and literally hibernated for
Speaker 1: a year in my room. Learned how to play guitar,
Speaker 1: and I wrote like five songs, five or six songs
Speaker 1: where I was like Okay, cool, these songs I feel
Speaker 1: like quite good. And I was playing him at playing
Speaker 1: him in my room to like people whould come come
Speaker 1: and visit and stuff like that. They were like this,
Speaker 1: these are good man. So I was like, right, cool,
Speaker 1: this is the time. I need to now go and gig.
Speaker 1: So I picked up my guitar, went round the whole
Speaker 1: in London and I was like playing like open mic
Speaker 1: nights and I was playing little kind of venues anywhere
Speaker 1: I could get a gig. Really, I was busking. I
Speaker 1: was like on the streets just doing like these six songs.
Speaker 1: Because I actually didn't like to learn other people's songs
Speaker 1: because it couldn't because I couldn't play them. The only
Speaker 1: way I could play guitar was the chords that I
Speaker 1: learned to play my songs. So I was at these
Speaker 1: places just keep I just kept playing these six songs
Speaker 1: or whatever. And in my third year of UNI, I
Speaker 1: was at a pub in a place called Finsbury Park,
Speaker 1: and there's a pub called Finsbury and I was in
Speaker 1: there and some guys from a record label were in
Speaker 1: there having a drink and they were like, at least
Speaker 1: your songs, and I was like, yeah, they are, and
Speaker 1: then I got signed, and then it was kind of
Speaker 1: like what is going on? And then I was kind
Speaker 1: of thrown into the studio and they were like, right now,
Speaker 1: go and write an album. And to be honest with you,
Speaker 1: I had no clue what I was doing because it
Speaker 1: was intimidating. It was, but I was like, this is funny,
Speaker 1: this is just like what's going on. I was in
Speaker 1: these that studios. I've never been a stude. I'm like
Speaker 1: that I kind of if I get phone in a
Speaker 1: deep end, I'll find a way out, swim man. So
Speaker 1: my first album was me kind of learning learning my
Speaker 1: learning my trade really and kind of like finding my voice,
Speaker 1: finding my feet, finding my kind of rhythm, just finding
Speaker 1: my rhythm. And luckily enough the first album did like
Speaker 1: pretty well in England and kind of set me up.
Speaker 1: But going into my second record was really where I
Speaker 1: was like, I feel like I know what I'm doing
Speaker 1: now and these aren't just these aren't songs that aren't
Speaker 1: just being kind of fitted to just written, and then
Speaker 1: kind of like, okay, that'll go on an album. This
Speaker 1: second record, Everying Road was blood sweating tears, and I
Speaker 1: really understood what it was to be an artist and
Speaker 1: what it was to make a record. Had the tools.
Speaker 1: I had the tools, I had the hammer, and I
Speaker 1: had the had the nail. Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: And I nailed it in. I gotta say this is
Speaker 1: the best drunk karaoke success story I've ever heard in
Speaker 1: my entire life. Ye mate, do you know what, Next
Speaker 1: time I'm over there, We'll go karaoke together. What's your
Speaker 1: karaoke song? Oh man? I tend to go for the
Speaker 1: big ones. I'm like, if I'm doing karaoke, I'm like, listen,
Speaker 1: I'm going to sing for you. I'm like an Adele
Speaker 1: sky fool. And then and then I just dropped the mic.
Speaker 1: I mean, just to hear how I mean this is
Speaker 1: somebody coming from somebody who loves music with all his
Speaker 1: heart and can't write a song and save his life.
Speaker 1: I mean to hear you being told, okay, go write
Speaker 1: an album. That would completely mess with my head. The
Speaker 1: thought of Okay, I gotta go write songs, and I
Speaker 1: would just I would freeze up. I'm so fascinated by
Speaker 1: people who sort of who are blessed with the ability
Speaker 1: to create something from nothing, to create a song from nowhere.
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you. It's funny. I was reading
Speaker 1: about David Bowie and and his his music with with
Speaker 1: Brian Eno that he would make and whenever they got stuck,
Speaker 1: Brian Eno would have these cards called oblique Strategies and
Speaker 1: they had little funny sentences on them with things like
Speaker 1: use fewer notes, or work at a different speed, or
Speaker 1: what would your best friend do. They always had these
Speaker 1: funny little suggestions to kind of like take your mind
Speaker 1: to a different place. And they the cards called they're
Speaker 1: called oblique Strategies, and I think you can still buy them.
Speaker 1: They're out there. They're like these little decks of cars,
Speaker 1: and that would be what they would do to kind
Speaker 1: of prime the creative pump if they ever felt stuck.
Speaker 1: What do you do when when you feel stuck, when
Speaker 1: a song's not coming or you just you aren't feeling it,
Speaker 1: you know what? I tend to just leave it. I'm like, right,
Speaker 1: I kind of say, like whoever I'm in a studio with,
Speaker 1: or if I'm on my own and I'm like on
Speaker 1: a roll, and then if I get stuck, I'll kind
Speaker 1: of be like, right, okay, cool, Then you go for
Speaker 1: a walk, because I know that there's something happening. When
Speaker 1: I feel like there's something happening in me, I'm like
Speaker 1: it's bubbling his bubble in his bubbling. But I don't
Speaker 1: tend to kind of like rush it. If I get stuck,
Speaker 1: I'll go for a walk. I'll take the fresh air
Speaker 1: in and then that will tend that will give me
Speaker 1: a clear mindspace. But also, like I talked to a
Speaker 1: lot people, so like I'll go and get get a
Speaker 1: coffee or something, and I'll start up a conversation with
Speaker 1: a random person who might tell who might tell me
Speaker 1: something or might give me like a line from that conversation,
Speaker 1: and then I'm storing that information. And then I'll come
Speaker 1: go home or go to the studio and they'd be like, right,
Speaker 1: that person there sparked that another idea in me that
Speaker 1: then carries on the train. Basically, So yeah, I tend
Speaker 1: to do that, but I'm actually gonna look into the
Speaker 1: bleak cards. I like that athletic. So when it comes
Speaker 1: to like writing lyrics and stuff, I have this thing
Speaker 1: where it's a washing line, so like it's like all
Speaker 1: these like words on the washing line. Sometimes it will
Speaker 1: be like a physical like I've drawn the washing line
Speaker 1: out or it will be in here, and I'll have
Speaker 1: all these words that have kind of listened to herd
Speaker 1: on the TV, heard people talking, and like I'm always
Speaker 1: on my phone kind of jotting down these words that
Speaker 1: I've never heard before, don't understand. I'll put them all
Speaker 1: on a washing line and then I'll kind of pick
Speaker 1: out these words and try to make two odd socks
Speaker 1: become like a pearly white pair of socks, and like
Speaker 1: that's what how I write, and that's how I understand
Speaker 1: words and how I understand sentences and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think it's so visual. That's so cool.
Speaker 1: I read. I'm not sure this is true that you
Speaker 1: you recorded at Abbey Roads Studios. I was in Abbey
Speaker 1: Road not too long ago. It was crazy. John Lennon's
Speaker 1: piano was still in there, man, and like, to be
Speaker 1: honest with you, like all of these like cigarette burns
Speaker 1: are still still still on the piano and stuff, and like,
Speaker 1: to be honest with you, it looks like a school piano,
Speaker 1: like that that the piano we have in school. When
Speaker 1: you hit a couple of notes, you're like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: I can hear different songs, do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: I can hear the record in the piano, which is crazy,
Speaker 1: to be honest, if you wasn't just John, like, I'm
Speaker 1: a massive led Zeppelin fan too, and a lot of
Speaker 1: their records were made there too, and I don't know,
Speaker 1: loads of people have been in Abbey Roads like loads
Speaker 1: of great and you feel like you do, feel like
Speaker 1: the presence of greatness has been in this room, and
Speaker 1: great songs have come out, and songs that have changed
Speaker 1: the world have have been created in here. So yeah,
Speaker 1: it's very I was very honored to be in there, man,
Speaker 1: and very privileged to be in there too, So I
Speaker 1: didn't take any minute for granted, for sure it was.
Speaker 1: It was crazy. I mean, sort of building on that.
Speaker 1: What is next for you? I know, obviously touring everything's
Speaker 1: still strange right now, although I guess in the UK
Speaker 1: you're doing a lot better than than we are, it
Speaker 1: sounds like, but yeah, what are you looking forward to
Speaker 1: in the next few months? I think for me, like,
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to kind of getting back out there.
Speaker 1: And I know that we just said about the live shows,
Speaker 1: but honestly, like live is where I feel like I'm
Speaker 1: better live than on records, So I can't wait to
Speaker 1: kind of put on a show. I've got all these
Speaker 1: ideas for how I want the show to be, but
Speaker 1: to be honest with you, guy, just want to see,
Speaker 1: Like I want to see people living their lives again, man,
Speaker 1: and and embracing each other and loving each other. And
Speaker 1: I feel like there's gonna be a love in the
Speaker 1: air when when when things are back to like what
Speaker 1: they were. But I can't wait for people to I
Speaker 1: can't wait to see like how people have responded to
Speaker 1: this record. I feel like right now things are kind
Speaker 1: of really going really good for me in England and
Speaker 1: pretty good for me in America too, which is crazy.
Speaker 1: And I feel like I'm I'm in the eye of
Speaker 1: the storm at the moment. I haven't don't really know
Speaker 1: what's going on, because usually you would be kind of
Speaker 1: here there and every promo their promo there in this country,
Speaker 1: in that state and stuff like that. So I feel
Speaker 1: like I'm caught up in the eile storm where I
Speaker 1: don't really know. So I can't wait to kind of
Speaker 1: see how how much this record has connected with people
Speaker 1: and man, just enjoy it. I can't wait. Like I've
Speaker 1: never been happier and like this is crazy for me.
Speaker 1: Like I'm just I'm just a boy from bedfood. To
Speaker 1: know what I mean. It's crazy, It's so good. Enjoy
Speaker 1: that is the crucial thing. Enjoy every everyone listening, just
Speaker 1: hold on to that. That that that joy. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: my last question has been such a I'm still going
Speaker 1: to joy. It's been such a joy talking to you
Speaker 1: everying road. It was such a chapter in your life,
Speaker 1: and now that chapter is closed, it's out there. What
Speaker 1: is the most important thing that you've learned in that period.
Speaker 1: I think the most important thing I've learned from that
Speaker 1: period is that I never want to go back to
Speaker 1: that period. I never want to be the person that
Speaker 1: I was. I had a lot of things going on
Speaker 1: with my head, and I had a lot of demons,
Speaker 1: and I feel like all them. I've got loads of
Speaker 1: weight that is off my shoulders now, and honestly, like
Speaker 1: I've wake up and I say my three gratefuls every
Speaker 1: morning and it sounds so like cliche, but like doing that, man,
Speaker 1: it's like it puts you in a good mood. And
Speaker 1: and I am so grateful for the position I'm in
Speaker 1: and and for the family that I've got and the
Speaker 1: friends that I've got around me. I'm never going to
Speaker 1: take anything for granted, and I always want to be
Speaker 1: like the best human I can be, because I believe
Speaker 1: when you give off good, good energy, man, you get
Speaker 1: that good energy back. And I just want to be
Speaker 1: given give a good energy out man, and that's all
Speaker 1: I can do. Right on, Tom, Thank you, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for all the support. Man. Honestly, like I
Speaker 1: cannot wait to be out there, and I feel like
Speaker 1: American America's they need a nice English point in their
Speaker 1: life and I am that guy. I am ready. Well
Speaker 1: when you come over, we're gonna do karaoke, promise me.
Speaker 1: Thank you. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Inside
Speaker 1: the Studio, a production of I Heart Radio. For more
Speaker 1: episodes of Inside the Studio or other fantastic shows, check
Speaker 1: out the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever
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