Radio 1 Scott Mills Show – Aiden Grimshaw

This is BBC Radio 1, Scott Mills and Aiden Grimshaw. Hello

Hello

Thank you for coming in

It’s a pleasure, thank you for having me

How are ya

I’m very good thank you

We like your new song a lot

Thank you very much

We’ve been playing it, I, had it as my big thing actually

Yeah you did, thank you for that man, thank you very much

Were you worried about doing your new stuff so long after X Factor cos it’s been like 2yrs is it?

Yeah it’s been a while, I suppose initially I was a little bit worried but it’s been so long and I’ve done so much stuff since then, kinda made more experiences, I haven’t forgotten but it kinda seems like a world away since I was on there

Yeah OK. Do you still watch it and think God I did that?

Yeah, yeah. I had a phone call with my friend the other day where I was like, do you remember when I was on TV every week, that was odd wasn’t it (laughs)

Like a dream. Would you do it again, if like you had your time again?

No. I remember the audition day, I took my Grandma, it was like a 12hr day and at the end of it she looked like she was gonna pass out, those days are long (laughs)

When you’re in that kind of bubble of  X Factor, you do work really hard, cos you have to learn new songs and new routines every week, it’s quite intense isn’t it?

Yeah man, it’s really intense, just going from being kinda nobody to automatically being this guy on telly every week and the whole famous is very odd

Do you find it a bit weird the fame thing?

Yeah, it’s very, yeah, weird, it’s a little bit weird

Like, there’s some people outside now and

There are, that’s not happened for a while, at all (laughs). I didn’t quite know what to do

Sometimes though, winning that show isn’t always the best thing if you look at JLS or Olly Murs  or One Direction. They didn’t win but they’ve done amazingly well

I think all it is to anybody really is an opportunity and as long as you go out and do what you want to do and make the best of what you think you can do, then you’ll be alright

I guess without doing that show you wouldn’t have this platform now would you?

No, exactly. I worked at Pizza Hut, I used to get like £7 a tip at night and be like, woo (laughs)

Do you still speak to people that you were on the show with?

I speak to Matt quite a bit, he’s a good lad, we enjoy beer and we share the same pub, which is handy for our relationship

Do you?

Yeah

What you live next door?

He lives a few minutes away from me

I love that, that you live near Matt Cardle, yeah he’s a nice guy. With your new stuff, did you have total say in what it sounds like?

Yeah, we had total say. The first year and a half we had time to go and work with loads of different producers and writers and I was kind of finding my feet and mostly kind of finding what didn’t work and what we shouldn’t be doing, and then in November I met Jarrad Rogers, who produced the whole album. We kind of worked on that for like 2 months and delivered the album when it was finished to the label. So yeah

It must be quite nice, cos I reckon on X Factor you must get some weeks where you ‘re like, that is not my style at all

Yeah, it’s odd, it’s nice to kind of go away and have full control. Most of the songs kinda came from when I was a little bit drunk and being able to have that full say, it’s nice to listen back to and be like, oh yeah, that’s what I was, that was relevant to me

This is more me than Big Band week

Yeah, I didn’t get to do Big Band week, I was a bit gutted, I was going to do Fly Me To The Moon (laughs)

Yeah, why not, everyone else does (laughs)

I was looking forward to it (laughs)

So, your life must have massively changed since that show right?

Yeah, well a couple of times. I went from being not famous to being famous and then lost the quiff and then I was not famous again. Then there was kind of a few people outside taking photo’s, so yeah, it’s changed back and forth a few times

Is it weird when, cos you are on TV and you are massively famous for however long it is, 6 months, and then suddenly, nothing at all?

Yeah, it gets well scary (laughs)

Does it? In what way? What do you mean?

Odd thing to say but a few times after it finished, I’d find myself like walking to the shop and, you know, you just look people in the eye, like go on look at me look at me and they didn’t look, it’s too long

It’s me off the telly! (all laughing)

(sings) Mad World (all laughing)

No, still nothing, hello, you must recognise me. Is there anyone on that show, the same year as you, you think was really talented and maybe hasn’t had the shot they deserve?

I liked Nicolo Festa, he left on the first week which was pretty gutting for him, cos probably no one really remembers him. He was a great singer

Who was that? I don’t remember him

He was like Italian and he was dead tall, he was like, Hey my name’s Nicolo (in an attempted Nicolo accent)

Nicolo Festo? (Repeats Nicolo Festo in Peter Dickinson voice)

Festa

Ah yes, of course, Nicolo Festa

He never got to that bit

Oh right

Oh no he did, one week, no, he got one week, he did some mental thing where he sat in a chair singing Lady Gaga

I think people were like, no, that’s weird

It was fairly weird though wasn’t it

Shall we stop talking about X Factor now

If you want

And talk about you. Your fans are called Grimlings (laughs), is that right?

Yes

I found out yesterday that Alexandra Burkes fans are called Beasties, I’ve no idea why, yours makes more sense but they’ve all been on, on titter, so I’ve got a few questions, Ellie Hyatt wants to know ‘What is the best thing that’s happened to you this year?’

I went to a Radio Times party, or something, and it was pretty odd but, I don’t know why I was there or for what, but Rita was there from Coronation Street and I just had a minute of going like, oh my god, oh jesus, there’s Rita

Actual Rita?

It was actually her, and Gail was there as well, but I wasn’t as happy (laughs), it was more about the Rita

Did you go up and go, me, Mad World (all laughing)

No, I just rang my Mum. Mum, Rita’s over there

That’s what I would do as well. I like it that’s the best thing that’s happened to you this year as well

It’s just the thing that sticks out the most

Yeah, yeah. Marie Mulligan wants to know why you are obsessed with zebras?

I’m not. I flippantly said once, like recently after X Factor on the twitter thing, that I like zebras and on my birthday, I got 2 letters through the post and someone had adopted me, 2 people had adopted me a zebra, so I am like father to 2 zebras that I never visit

So you’re like a

Terrible Dad (laughs), don’t even pay no maintenance

So you’re like a zebra ambassador now

A zebra ambassador?

You are a bit. So where are the zebras? Do you know where they are? Do you know their names?

I wish I did (laughs), I really do but the certificates are on my wall at home. My Mum put them up when I went home and I thought, that’s a bit odd

It’s like, I think Becky from the show is friends with an Orangutan, or she kind of sponsors it or something, sends like £10 a week or whatever it is

That’s more than I do (laughs). £10 a week’s quite hefty for an Orangutan (all laughing)

Maybe a year. One of our listeners, Lucy, was at a festival with you in the Ultimate Power Ballads bit

Yes!

We mentioned this a while ago cos a few people saw you and did you have your guitar with you?

I had an inflatable guitar

OK, good. And she wants to know what your power ballad of choice is?

Toto, as soon as Toto came on

Africa?

Yeah, my night was made

Was it?

Arms were up in the air

I’d quite like to go to one of those nights

Oh it was fantastic. I think they do them all over London and stuff

Do they? We can go. I love a power ballad

The concept is pretty mental, like there’s just some guy at the front miming and then there’s a guy pressing play and then miming guitar, you’re just in it

What so they just mime?

Yeah, they just run around like mad men

So it’s like (sings) ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’

Yes! That was on! Yes!

Some woman is doing it? Just miming?

No, there’s 3 guys, 3 hairy butch guys (all laugh)

It sounds my ultimate night out

It’s brilliant

We’ll do that, lets do that, that’s on the list. Right, lets play your song. This is Aiden Grimshaw, Is This Love, you’re listening to BBC Radio 1

(plays Is This Love)

Aiden Grimshaw, Is This Love, BBC Radio 1, he’s with us, Hi !

Hello!

Harriett, revising in Sheffield, is very sad that you’re not in the video for the song, she was like, well I wanted to seem him but there’s some random guy in it instead

(laughs) Yeah, Yeah. I get dead sweaty in front of cameras, that would have been a major downfall for the video

Do you get a bit of a sweat on?

And I’ve always liked videos that, kind of you watch it and there’s a different kind of storyline to what you might have thought when you were listening to the track

Will you be in any of your videos do you think?

Yeah I hope so, maybe a little bit but

With a wind machine?

I do sweat a bit

You’ve got to be in one!

I’m thinking about getting botox under the arm pits (all laugh). Apparently that’s a valid way to stop

It’s awful isn’t it, when you get a sweat on

It’s pretty terrible

Cos then you’re aware of it and it makes it worse

Exactly

It’s like turning a tap on

I’ve got sweaty palms

We talked about this a while ago, have other pop stars given you any kind of advice?

I’ve not really spoke to any other pop stars, I came 9th (all laugh), they’re not queueing all round the blocks (lots of laughing!)

I came 9th, I don’t know anybody

I meet with Matt Cardle sometimes

Yeah yeah, he must have given you some advice. Emma Rushworth wants to know, what you will do when your song goes to No. 1?

Bloody Hell, here’s to hoping. I don’t know, I’m made up with the way it’s gone so far, as I say, everyday as it comes. I’m pretty nervous about it but I’m excited at the same time

We were just saying that it is a song that you probably couldn’t do at karaoke

No, no

Well, you could probably

I’d have a go, yeah, I’d have a go

I think I’d struggle. I’m gonna give it a go though. Go on then. No, not now! (all laugh). Good luck with that. (Sings) ‘I can’t breath’. Oh, good, very nice

It’s quite high

So, Aiden, what’s the plan then, like, let’s look a year ahead. What’s gonna happen? What do you want to happen?

I don’t, err, I’ve not thought that far ahead. Hopefully, towards the end of the year there’ll be a load of like live dates around the same sort of date, cos the live thing’s something that I’m looking forward to but, you know, just taking every day as it comes so far and, like I say, the feedback we’ve got off this one is amazing, so I can’t wait for everyone else to hear the rest of the stuff on the album

I’ve heard the next song as well, it’s

Like it?

Yeah, it’s really good

Good stuff

We like it. So, thank you so much for coming in today, it’s been a pleasure to meet you

It’s been a pleasure man and thank you for having me and thank you for playing the song

No worries

Thank you

Thank you. Aiden Grimshaw.