Whether it's a song that might deviate from an artists' usual sound or even if it's still very much in their world, I think the more people opening themselves up creatively to collaborate with others, the better.
— Lewis Capaldi
Anything I wrote before the age of 17 is probably worth putting a pin in and moving on.
It's when I'm playing a headline show I feel weird, 'cause I don't know how to react to people coming out to see me.
In hindsight, I think my manager and I both knew that 'Someone You Loved' was a special song that we had to put out. But no one was expecting it to do so well.
I used to do covers gigs that would be 90 minutes, with a 30 minute break, then another 90.
I'm under no illusion. There are lots of male singers out there with raspy voices.
I don't blame people or 'pop stars' or whatever for being so quiet, but you can't take it too seriously, especially on social media. It's a very hard thing to be yourself, especially when people are watching, so I don't blame them for being a bit reserved.
If you don't feel comfortable talking about really personal things in your music, you shouldn't do it. There's plenty of other things to write about.
It doesn't matter how big the shows are, as long as I'm making a living playing music. That's all that matters to me.
I never set out to have a No. 1 single, not at all, man.
I like talking to anyone that will listen.
If you take yourself too seriously, something like a bad review could put you off your stride.
I did my HNC and my HND at college in Motherwell, and the plan I had was to do third year at uni and then to try and get into teaching.
Doing a festival in Hong Kong was special, looking out and seeing this massive crowd and the city.
I think my best songs come from me sitting at a piano, bashing my head against a brick wall for hours and hours on end to get one good melody.
I think soul singers are much better singers than I am.
It's such a weird thing nowadays, too, when people are fans of the songs and not the bands.
A top 100 single was never on the cards for me, really, like in my own head.
I've got quite a loud voice.
I would have been happy being in a wedding band.
Trust me, I do not have an online strategy.
The fact you have to pay 50p to use the loo in some places is the root of the world's issues.
Even the idea of people paying to hear me shouting into a microphone for an hour is alien to me - and I hope it always will be.
When I was, like, 17 or 18 and didn't really have anything I needed to buy, we would do these pub gigs for some cash and would usually just spend our wage back in the pub immediately after.
I think you just have to be yourself instead of catering your sound to a specific audience, make the music you want to make, and the audience will find you.
I had gigged so much from the age of 11 to 20 that I got to a stage where I actually got less nervous the bigger the gig. But you need those butterflies: they make you feel alive.
I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel. I'm just writing songs that I like, and that's where I've always come from.
I'm just a wee, chubby boy that happens to sing songs.
When I was 13, I went on 'Britain's Got Talent.' I auditioned. I sang a cover of a song called 'White Blank Page' by Mumford & Sons.
I remember hearing people like Joe Cocker, Fleetwood Mac, and Elvis. My parents were big fans of them, and they were the early seeds. My brother was more into Slipknot, and I still listen to them, too, but it wasn't until I listened to Paolo Nutini that it really clicked.
If you're writing about what you're feeling about something, then you're in good stead.
A lot of people say that 'the best songs fall into your lap' and that they're the easiest ones to write and take the shortest amount of time: I wholeheartedly disagree with that.
For me, there's bands like Frightened Rabbit and The View, and they've all had that Scottish accent. It's just class to hear it.
I wanna be as transparent as possible. I'm not a serious guy.
The sooner you start writing songs, the sooner you'll get better.
For me, I feel most at home when I'm playing live.
Playing live and making a living from music was always the only goal.
I was doing a wee gig at the Edinburgh Fringe, and while I was walking down to the show from the train station, someone stopped and asked if they could get a picture with me. This was about six months before I released my first single as well, so my response was, 'Are you sure?'
The first time I played in front of a live audience, I realised I wanted to be a musician. I was about four years old and had always liked music.
People take music too seriously.
I would love to do something with Bill Withers just because I think he's next-level, just so, so class!
My eldest brother is six years older than me.
I played a lot of pubs, and some were a bit rougher than others, but once you got on, it was the same reception everywhere.
I like social media.
My mum and dad have made Twitter accounts, and they will send me links if there is a bad review and tell me they'll find out where the reviewer lives.
If it's just going to go in my body, then I don't want fancy things in my body. I just want regular things in my body.
I would have been happy teaching music in schools - I still would be, and I still might be, although I don't know if I'm clever enough.
I don't think writing open-ended lyrics is necessarily an important part of writing good pop songs.
People like Sam Cooke and Otis Redding - I do not put myself in that category.
For me, getting my personality across is so important in getting that connection for people that enjoy my music.
