We got five minutes with the man of the moment
You’re familiar with the concept of our Quick-Fire Questions feature by now, aren’t you? After all, it’s not too complicated: all we do is take ten minutes of an artist’s time and use it to bombard them with as many earth-shattering questions as we can in that short space until they either collapse from sheer exhaustion or ask a member of their security team to drag us away. (Or something like that.)
We like to think we made the most of it
One thing we hate here at One on One HQ is being comfortable. After all, who on Earth does their best work when they’re firmly within the realms of their comfort zone? Nobody. No way.
That’s why we decided to mix things up a bit for this latest instalment of Quick-Fire Questions. We knew damn well that we were able to carry out a pretty nifty little interview when we were given ten minutes with a pop-and-or-rock star; but, what would happen if we were only given five minutes of their time? 🤷🏽♂️
Look, in case you haven’t guessed where this is going, please allow us to break it down for you: we sat down for five minutes with indie sensation Tom Grennan to chat about his sold out UK tour, his dream of being Slipknot‘s triangle player, and how one drunken sing-song at a house party led to him pursuing a career in music.
Mr. Tom Grennan! How’s it all going?
‘It’s all good, it’s all good! The tour’s been amazing so far. It’s been… Well, it’s been pretty crazy, actually. I’ve been ill with the flu, but I’m pretty much over it now, so I’m ready to go for the rest of it. Glasgow or Manchester have probably been the best crowds so far; the Scottish crowds are always rowdy.
Then there’s the small matter of a sold out Brixton Academy…
‘Yeah, man. I’m looking forward to it, but to be honest I’m fucking… I’m pretty nervous about it, man. It’s gonna be good though, innit. I mean, why wouldn’t it be good?
What’s your favourite track to play live?
‘Little By Little Love is my favourite, both to play live and on the album itself. It rounds off the album (and the set) nicely, and it’s a nod to where I come from – it’s just a nod to where I come from.
Let’s go back to the start. The story goes that your mates heard you singing Seaside by The Kooks at a house party one night and kinda convinced you to get into music from there. Did you have any inclination to make music before that night?
‘No, man. I never, ever thought that I’d be doing this – but I’m happy it happened, for sure. After the thing at the party happened, I just went home and started listening to music properly for the first time, and then just started trying to write my own music. I joined this shitty little band and just played all these Arctic Monkeys covers, and just… Well, went a bit mental. It was nice.
When you were growing up, what was on your playlist?
‘I listened to a lot of Eminem, D-12, Xzibit… DMX… So yeah, a lot of rap and a lot of hip-hop. It wasn’t until a lot later on in life that I kinda discovered other music – not until I started writing my own stuff, really.
…Ever tried writing a rap song?
‘Haha, no! I just wouldn’t try to pull it off – I can’t rap!
Speaking of new songs… Any plans for a new release or two any time soon?
‘Not too sure yet. Not right now, but yeah, definitely in the next couple of months. I haven’t got anything new written just yet, so that’s the next thing after the tour… I mean, the first song I wrote for the last record was Praying, and that just appeared out of nowhere one day, so I haven’t really got much of an idea of when new music’s gonna come along.
If you could be in any band, which would it be and which instrument would you want to play?
‘Hmm… Slipknot. Triangle player. Done. Looks a bit fun, doesn’t it?
Describe yourself in three words?
‘Absolute… No, I can’t say that… I’ve got no idea!