spotlight CALUM SCOTT’S


It’s a mad, mad, mad world. Only in today’s fast-paced, digital, viral world can a small town kid from the Northern England city of Kingston upon Hull go from a 9 to 5 job in human resources to the world stage, seemingly overnight. Especially for someone who never considered himself a singer. Entered into a singing competition by his younger sister (without him knowing, no less) to rise to the dare and as a result of that experience, discover a passion for music that would propel him on to the stage for Britain’s Got Talent. A moment that would spurn a massive number one hit based on his soulful cover of Robyn’s song, “Dancing On My Own.” His heartfelt track about falling in love with a straight man that would go on to No. 1 on iTunes in 11 countries, becoming the best-selling U.K. single by a British solo artist in 2016. Furthering his mad dash and offering Scott the chance to perform on shows like, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Good Morning America and more. Next came a tour of the U.S.—all while writing and recording songs for his upcoming debut album, Only Human—which he released in March. Oh, and one more small detail…he came out on the national stage as he did all of it. That in a nutshell is what has happened to Calum


Scott over the course of the last three years. Through it all, he’s managed to hang on to that “I’m just a regular, normal guy” sensibility, thoughThe Rage Monthly thinks he’s anything but. His debut album is a collection of deeply felt, vulnerable songs that chronologically tell the story of his challenges, successes and his career’s progression. Music that intimately lays bare the struggles he’s faced as he’s grown into himself as a singer, as a songwriter and as an out, proud gay man. Eulogizing the experience through music and sharing it with anyone who might be facing the same challenges...making the burden of it all just a little easier to carry. Here’s what he had to say about the ride so far.


Has music always been a part of your life? Were you a kid who grew up with it around you in your home? Yeah, for sure when I was young. My sister’s dad used to take us on a lot of holidays and my mom


would always have on her favorite singers: Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, Prince, Elton John and Shirley Bassey. All the huge singers that spanned kind of the same space who wrote a certain kind of music and sang with a certain kind of passion and emotion. I think that’s generally where my influence for my singing style comes from…it definitely comes from my mom. I’ve always been a lover of music. When I was in school I was a drummer, so I used to trash the hell out of the drums at home and as you could imagine my mom absolutely loved. That’s so funny, I love it. I’m laughing partially because my father bought my sister a drum kit shortly after my parents divorced and I always said it was my father’s way of getting even with my mother. Yeah, I wasn’t her favorite person for a year and


a half, but I got through my exam and I did pretty well. It definitely drives a wedge between relation- ships I can tell you that. (Laughs) But, you know as a drummer, I was never really interested in being in front of a stage. Never really interested in being in the spotlight. I was kind of quite happy being in the back. You know, being in the school orchestra for a period of time and I was quite happy not being in the front and I never have really been a guy who loves being the center of attention and what have you. For me it wasn’t until my sister overheard me in my bedroom and put me in a singing competition. Tell us that story. I read somewhere that she did it and didn’t tell you until you were at the karaoke bar. Is that correct? Yeah, she put me in a singing competition and


didn’t bother telling me, so she actually forced me against my will to take the stage. (Laughs) You know what though, it ignited a passion in me that I’d never felt before. It was the most amazing feeling, it gave me a sense of achievement and of purpose. It started the beginnings of a future career: Being signed and releasing my debut album and it all comes from that moment. I’ve worked incredibly hard since and I’ve definitely always loved music, but never would I have thought that it had the trajectory that it’s had…Absolutely never. It’s funny, I often say I wonder how many of the


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risks we take in life we would take, if we actually knew what it would end up being about. Oh my god, yes absolutely! But, you know what?


I think if I went back in time, I wouldn’t do it any differently. Even with the highs and lows and the unknown, I’d do it all over again. I think that’s kind of the magic of the adventure. The magic of the journey and not knowing what’s going to happen. This industry is a gamble, you literally don’t know what’s going to happen. Going back to what we said at the beginning, this is why I want to stay as truthful to myself as I possibly can. Because, if it all goes wrong, I can at least stand by what I’ve done and say, “I could have given no more. I’ve loved what I’ve done, I’ve loved the journey and I remained truthful to myself.” Good songwriting comes from a place of vulner- ability and when you run across it, it’s a true gift. People crave that sort of deep honesty, recognize the emotion of it and can relate to it. Obviously, the success I had with “Dancing On


My Own” was unprecedented and amazing and I was over the moon with the kind of reaction I got. The beautiful thing about finally releasing my album is that I’ve been writing this album for a year and a half and I’ve been putting my blood, sweat and tears into it…My own very personal stories. But, I did it with a view in mind to hopefully inspire. To actually put the album out and to see people relating these songs to their own lives and sound tracking it essentially to their lives—there’s actu- ally something really beautiful in the fact that we’re sharing each other’s stories—sharing emotions and I think it’s just really beautiful. I’ve already seen people dancing to “You Are The Reason” as their wedding song and it just really does overwhelm me. I’m like “Oh my god, my song…that is crazy.” I read that you put together something like seventy songs for this album? Oh my god, yeah. I didn’t know what to do, so I


just wrote and wrote and wrote and the writing side of it become therapy for me. I didn’t really have the album in mind as a goal—of course I had it in mind and I knew I was working towards it—but it was me sort of learning my craft and trying to be honest and relatable. I wanted to write songs that people


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