Musician

When I got my first publishing deal, I felt some responsibility to try to write with the people that they were asking me to write with.

A lot of people have been very dismissive of me. I'm hardly the darling of the NME. It used to get me down a bit, but you reach a point where you can laugh it off.

A lot of places think that bigger is better. It's like consumerism is taking everything over.

A lot of people have been very dismissive of me. I'm hardly the darling of the NME. It used to get me down a bit, but you reach a point where you can laugh it off.

A lot of places think that bigger is better. It's like consumerism is taking everything over.

I am not steeped in all that angst. I'm never going to be Sid Vicious.

Racism is one of the worst forms of torture because it's directed at something you never asked for and something you can't change.

I'm always looking for people to play the songs to.

I've never had anything as formal as vocal lessons.

I think it was definitely a love for the four- or five-part vocal male harmony groups that really took me away. I'd always try and be, like, the fifth Drifter; I'd always try and find another harmony that wasn't there.

Music is probably one of the most honest things out there - it's feral.

I come from Paisley, the same town as David Sneddon, who won 'Fame Academy.' When he was late for his homecoming reception in the town hall, they held an impromptu talent show. I ended up singing some songs, and that's how I was discovered.

I like to record something pretty much as soon as I have an idea for a song, but I'm on so many buses, I have to record on my mobile.

I never, ever thought I would get to say I was opening a show for the Bay City Rollers.

I'm not one to go down that road to say I have some kind of social consciousness.

I don't want to slip into Johnny Borrell mode. I don't want to be singing that there's nothing on TV, nothing on the radio.

When you open your mind up, and you go into a creative state, you can't just switch if off. When you have an idea, a creative impulse, and then you ignore it, it can keep you up when you just want to go to your bed - which is why it's great to have voice recorders on your phone!

When I got my first publishing deal, I felt some responsibility to try to write with the people that they were asking me to write with.

To be honest, the first time round, I didn't think 'Fame Academy' was the worst premise in the world. You got people on, and they would write songs and develop themselves as artists. But then, instead of getting a little bit more credible, it got a little bit more ridiculous.

I've learned stuff, and I've forgotten stuff, but what I do know is that it really is all about the fans.