HeÔÇÖs a man of many theories. I walked backstage in The Louisiana, Bristol, to have a chat to emerging artist Tom Grennan before the fifth night of his sold-out UK tour. Lying on the sofa in his matching red Adidas tracksuit, trainers, bomber jacket and cap just an hour before he was due to go on stage, he really did appear to be a star in his own right. At the age of 20, Tom Grennan from Bedford has already worked with the likes of Chase and Status on the track ÔÇÿAll Goes WrongÔÇÖ, appeared on LaterÔǪ with Jools Holland and is managed by John Dawkins ┬áor ÔÇ£DawksÔÇØ as Tom likes to call him.

Talking about his move from Bedford Esquires to “The Gig SmokeÔÇÖ in London, GrennanÔÇÖs days in ÔÇ£suburban, family orientatedÔÇØ Twickenham seemed to be boring, although he expressed his love for LondonÔÇÖs ÔÇ£busy-nessÔÇØ, saying how he felt like he was in the right place. The singers first theory of our interview was that ÔÇ£London either fucking cuddles you, or spits you out, and thankfully at the moment LondonÔÇÖs cuddling meÔÇØ, admitting that he did find that theory scary when he first moved away from home.

After congratulating him on the mighty success of his tour, he said that gigging around the country had been ÔÇ£wickedÔÇØ, adding ÔÇ£I didnÔÇÖt know people knew about me in all of these citiesÔÇØ. Grennan has Chase and Status to thank for his exposure, with their collaboration reaching almost 5 million plays on Spotify. He said that the collaboration had taken ÔÇ£months offÔÇØ his journey, but believes he still wouldÔÇÖve been a success because he ÔÇ£wants to do thisÔÇØ. Queue theory two of the interview: ÔÇ£if you think youÔÇÖre gonna do something, then youÔÇÖre gonna do it, yeah mateÔÇØ.

During the evening, I met a lot of his band mates and tour crew and from the moment I sat down I felt like I was just sat with my mates. Asking about his manager Dawkins, Grennan said he was like his ÔÇ£big brotherÔÇØ and ÔÇ£trusted him with everythingÔÇØ. That decision seemed to be the right one to make as Grennan is set to appear at a number of festivals this year including The Great Escape, Secret Garden Party and Y-Not Festival. Adding to the ÔÇÿfamilyÔÇÖ atmosphere of his crew, GrennanÔÇÖs modesty and genuineness is something that really resonates with his fans. His honesty when he believes he hasnÔÇÖt performed so well puts him on a level with his audience, allowing him to make comments such as ÔÇ£I shat myselfÔÇØ during his appearance on LaterÔǪ with Jools Holland or comment on how his vocal chords felt like ÔÇ£a nunÔÇÖs oneÔÇØ, without it seeming vulgar. Even on discussing how he ÔÇ£wasnÔÇÖt good enoughÔÇØ to continue his career as an aspiring footballer, he denied being a good singer and said he ÔÇ£didnÔÇÖt know that yetÔÇØ – despite every ticket for his tour being sold out. He clearly has an ever-growing fan base as he told stories of people recognising him in the street and how ÔÇ£last night (in London) some girl broke into the dressing room and she was shakingÔÇØ. We had a laugh at how fans commenting on his YouTube videos were from Mexico, Baghdad, Spain- and someone even said ÔÇ£big up from PeterboroughÔÇØ.

During the gig, he was the same character on stage as he was off stage and it was a quietly humbling thing to see, almost refreshing. His raspy voice filled the room and consumed the audience; His stage presence was felt throughout as he had banter with people in the crowd, making him an ever-more loving character. As he sang new songs from the album the audience made attempts to sing along despite not knowing the words, and at times Grennan didnÔÇÖt know them either!

Looking to the future, Grennan said heÔÇÖd love to do a collaboration with Adele. His career is clearly taking off, and the stars in his eyes are only going to get brighter with the release of his second EP ÔÇÿRelease the BrakesÔÇÖ on 10th March. The name and the EP itself is inspired by how keen he is to get going with his career, we even discussed re-naming it ÔÇÿFoot on the ThrottleÔÇÖ, although I think his choice sounds a bit better than mine. His third and final theory of the interview was for aspiring musicians to ÔÇ£keep doing what youÔÇÖre doingÔÇØ, and we agreed that buying a red leisure suit like his wouldnÔÇÖt hurt.

Izzy Boulton