By Max Modell

I got the chance to chat with teenage sensation Ruel, as he supported Mabel at CardiffÔÇÖs The Great Hall. With Elton John describing Ruel as having the “most amazing voice that I’ve ever heard from a male singer at 14 years of ageÔÇØ, he is a┬átalent we should all be taking seriously and a name we should be expecting to hear for years to come.

WhatÔÇÖs a normal day like for you when you are touring?

ItÔÇÖs pretty hectic. There is always a lot of driving. Especially as a support act youÔÇÖve gotta wait around for the right time while their sound checking, obviously because theyÔÇÖre the headline. ItÔÇÖs all fine. MabelÔÇÖs team have been really really great, so weÔÇÖve had some pretty long soundchecks, which is quite rare, but good. I guess there is just a lot of waiting around, soundchecking and driving.

WhatÔÇÖs it been like touring with Mabel? WhatÔÇÖs she like?

SheÔÇÖs the best. SheÔÇÖs a really really great person. IÔÇÖve done four shows now and itÔÇÖs been really great, every single one has been really fun. IÔÇÖm just having a great time.

Going back to the beginning, when did you decide you wanted to pursue music?

Probably when I was around twelve, I really knew this is what I wanted to do. ThatÔÇÖs when I really started writing and started meeting people in the industry. I kept on getting more of a taste for it and made friends in the industry and knew that is what I wanted to do.

Did you ever have a worry your voice would completely change when puberty hit?

I did, 100%. We got that checked heaps of times just so knew that it wouldnÔÇÖt just go away. It has been a slow decline, right now it doesnÔÇÖt sound very good (Ruel had a cold when I was interviewing him). But it has been a slow decline of my high register and going low. So, it hasnÔÇÖt been too drastic.

Your songs contain lots of big universal themes. How do you approach your songwriting?

I usually just get small things which happen in my everyday life or big things that have just happened, anything that just really comes from me. If I want to write something and nothing really interesting has happened, I just get a tiny little thing that has happened that day and exaggerate the shit out of it, then it turns into this universally relatable topic.

Who are your biggest influences?

Probably James Blake, Frank Ocean, Rex Orange County, James Bay, there are others.

WhatÔÇÖs been your best music moment in your career so far?

Probably my second ever show I did in Sydney, I managed to sell out the Enmore [Theatre] which is like a 2,500 cap room. That was like the craziest moment of my life, just to see all these people in one room for me. It was just so a special show.

What can we expect from one of your live shows?

ItÔÇÖs a lot live you know, itÔÇÖs not so much track, all live instruments. We have keys, guitar, drums and backing vocals, we donÔÇÖt have guitar today, but I do in the usual show I do. I do a couple of covers as well. ItÔÇÖs pretty fun.

Do you have a particular favourite cover?

Probably, I do ÔÇ£Ultra-Light BeamÔÇØ. I do Chance the RapperÔÇÖs verse in ÔÇ£Ultra-Light BeamÔÇØ because that sort of comes off my song golden years, as itÔÇÖs in the same key and has the same tempo, so it just glides in, which is kinda cool.

How do you balance the music with the rest of your everyday life because youÔÇÖve come into this quite young?

ItÔÇÖs been pretty smooth sailing so far. Going back home and see my friends is quite nice because I guess IÔÇÖm not always the centre of attention and they donÔÇÖt really see it as anything. I can just go back and itÔÇÖs a normal teen life. I guess I get to go back as much as I really want to and I donÔÇÖt really feel like IÔÇÖm missing out on anything because when I go back nothing has really changed.

What do you enjoy doing outside of music?

I love to surf. I love to play basketball. Just heaps of sport, I really love sport.

Where do you see your career in three or five years time?

Personally, the goal I want to reach by then is to be able to tour places, anywhere I want to. Go places that not many artists go to because they are like the weirder cities, or the cities that arenÔÇÖt so big. I want to go to the nooks and crannies of countries and play shows in random spots, just because I feel like that could be cool for the people over there who donÔÇÖt really have artists coming there. I really just want to go to places usual artists donÔÇÖt go to and tour there.

Any plans for an album?

IÔÇÖve just released my EP (Ready) a couple of months ago. Next year IÔÇÖve definitely got another EP coming out and maybe hopefully an album by the end of it. It just depends how everything works out. Before I came on tour with Mabel I was writing quite a bit so IÔÇÖm definitely getting some more songs under my belt to release in the near future. I donÔÇÖt even know.

Brilliant, thanks so much.