An enthusiastic and focused Tom Grennan sits down in his dressing room before the opening night of his UK tour, which kicked off with a sold out night at the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow, to talk about his upcoming shows and how he still needs the chance to absorb everything going on around him.
When asked about how it feels to be back in Glasgow after his successful stint at Trnsmt in the summer he admits he struggles to get his head around the fact he is headlining a show at the Barrowlands.
“I don’t know what it is, but I think they (Glasgow crowds) are just f***ing reared up and not afraid to just scream, shout and make noise, but not in a rude way, I really like the passion.”
Grennan started taking his music seriously when he was 18 and just five years later, at 23, he can list a top 5 debut album, countless festival appearances and Bugzy Malone as a good friend.
“It didn’t happen overnight and I’m still working hard and still trying to make this dream a f***ing reality, but right now I am living it and I believe I can go bigger and further yet.”
“The album going to top 5 would have to be a highlight, but this whole thing has to be a massive highlight and it’s all a bit of a blur really.”
Citing Kendrick Lamar as “sick” and the person he would most like to work with on a future project, Grennan admits he has not had anytime to take in what is going on around him.
“I’m going to do this tour, smash the s*** out of it and then I am going to go and write a second album, but I need to have a week or two just to think about where, I’ve been, what I’ve done and what the crowds have been like.”
Opening the show with the energetic ‘Royal Highness’ does the job in getting the crowd fired up for the rest of the gig as Grennan effortlessly performs his way through his album.
Upon his request his fans fall silent for ‘Run in the Rain’ in order for his two female backing vocalists to be heard who he describes as having “beautiful voices”.
Fan favourites ‘Found What I’ve Been Looking For’, where Grennan crowd surfs into the middle of the audience to interact with his supporters, and ‘Something in the Water’ are very well received with endless swarms of arms swinging about the air.
Grennan rounds off the show with one final song ‘Patience’ at the audience’s request which he admits to having not practiced before hand.
When asked what his advice would be for budding musicians/students he draws the comparison between painting and music.
“Creation is beautiful, keep believing and don’t listen to the people who say you can’t do it because you can do whatever you f***ing want to do.”
Header image photo credits.
