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would go, “Oh my god, I know exactly how he feels because that happened to me.” That sort of reaction is what I’ve craved when writing. It wasn’t until the label was like “Calum, we need you to stop writing for a second.” (Laughs) If they hadn’t, it would’ve been like a hundred and forty songs deep. I’d be like, “Guys, I’ve got album two, three, four, five and six here as well.” (Laughs) I have to say though, it was really nice to just sit there and pour my heart out into song and pour my sorrows into lyrics. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to try to pare all that down. How on earth did you choose which to include on the album? Oh my god yeah, to get those down to 12 now
was so difficult. There’s a song that I wrote with a songwriter called Toby Gad, he’s an incredible songwriter. He’s written with John Legend, with The Script and he’s written with Gaga…incredible artists. We wrote a song just me and him—there’s very few songs where it’s just been me and somebody else—generally speaking in the industry you have maybe a couple more songwriters in there, as well. I love the process and people putting their ideas in and kind of creating a piece of magic that you wouldn’t have been able to do on your own. Having that input from other people makes it special.
Anyway, it was just me and Toby and he was playing some chords and I said I wanted to tell the story of when I came out to my mom, because she had such a beautiful reaction. Then for so many years, I hadn’t told my dad because my dad lived in Canada, since I was two. It wasn’t until I was 27 that I went to Canada and told him, and he had the same reaction. Back then being a teenager and being terrified of what my mom was going to say, then fast forward to being almost a 30-year-old adult and telling my dad and having the same reaction. That was a song I really wanted on the album, but it didn’t make it. I will perform that song live or have it on the next album. It’s interesting to me too, I mean correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like you’re telling a story with how you’ve done the track listing. It’s sort of a chronological life history, track by track. It is exactly that. The beginning, the top of the
album is kind of a bit…I wouldn’t say controversial because I don’t want to put too much focus on it being controversial, but coming out at the top of the record, it’s about pushing boundaries. The very first song is an introduction to me as an artist and I’m talking about coming out to the world as gay. I think some people may deem that controversial and
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I think…no. The reason I wanted to do it at the top of the album, was because I suppressed my sexuality for so long and like you said, the album is a story. There’s a song on it called “Only You” and it’s
how when I was young I told my friend I didn’t know if I was gay or if it was a stage, then at quite a young age I was completely abandoned by my friends. There was one guy that helped me out of that, his name was Dan and he is one of my best friends, even to this day. For years after, I repressed my sexuality because I was terrified that if I told people, I would lose them. All the way up until I started writing songs, I repressed my sexuality—so that’s a long time really—all of my teens, all of my 20’s. So, getting “If Our Love is Wrong” onto paper and into music was such a turning point for me as a song writer, as a person… And basically, as a human
being.Only Human is such a perfect choice for your album title and “If Our Love Is Wrong” is such a perfect first song. It’s a wonderful way to share that part of your journey out of the closet. Thanks for that. Thank you. I wanted that at the top of the album
and I’m so proud of it. It’s such a personal song and its seems to have moved people. People are quoting the lyrics back to me and saying how beautiful it is and how they’ve been moved by it and have told their family that they’re gay. It’s genuinely such a humbling feeling for me to sing about something so personal and to know that’s helping other people. It makes everything so worthwhile. I feel like I’m just at the right age and just at the right time in life to do what I’ve done. I look back sometimes and wish
I had come out a little earlier. My friend Dan who I told you about earlier, he was open and out from the get-go really. I was always so envious at how confident he was. How much freedom it gave him. But, I think things happen for a reason and back then I wasn’t ready to come out. I’ve answered a couple of questions from the
press, especially the LGBT community and it’s like “What advice would you give to people going through the same sort of thing?” One of the first things I’ve said is “You’ll do it when you’re ready.” That’s what I wanted with this album, too, I tried to, you know, obviously be open with my sexuality and that I suppressed it. That was a significant part of my life, but then I’ve also been a lover and a bit of an asshole to people I’ve dated…I’ve done the whole thing. I’ve been a human being and I think that’s what best encapsulates the album, I’m human, I make mistakes and I made the apologies and I’ve had the highs and lows, I’ve had the heartbreaks and the romance. That’s what I tried to offer with this album. Give people the diversity of me as an individual, as an artist, as a gay man, as a happy man and as a sensitive man. I tried to give everything that I’ve got to this album. So yeah, I’m very proud of it.
Only Human is available now.
For more of this interview with Calum Scott, go to
ragemonthly.com.
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