Q: What was the first song you ever bought?
A: All Rise - Blue
I was about nine. At break time, me and three of my friends would pretend we were Blue. I was Lee Ryan. We tried to do the dancing, but some of us weren't into it. I was a massive fan but after the album Guilty, I moved on.
Q: What song always gets you dancing?
A: Niggas in Paris — Kanye West and Jay-Z
When I'm out with my brother or my friends and it comes on, we are up. I went to Hackney Weekend and when Jay-Z and Kanye performed it I was in the big mosh; everyone went crazy. I love the beats they use and the hard hip-hop thing they come up with.
Q: What song takes you back to your childhood?
A: Pokemon theme tune
This is embarrassing. When I was eight, me and my brother and our next-door neighbour would take the CD player into our back garden. We'd put the Pokemon theme tune on repeat and get on our bikes and ride round and round and round. The garden wasn't even that big. We were like: “Oh my goodness! We're going to catch a Pokemon.” We'd play it more than 30 times.
Q: What is your perfect love song?
A: Chasing Cars — Snow Patrol
The whole concept of “Would you lie with me and just forget the world?” is how it goes in a relationship; you just forget everything else that's there. It was my ex-girlfriend's favourite song and one of the only covers I did that she liked.
Q: What song would you want at your funeral?
A: I Was Here — Beyonce
It starts, “I wanna leave my footprints on the sands of time”, which is such an amazing line. It's about leaving your mark while you live. It was written by Diane Warren who is a legendary writer and I had the chance to work with.
Q: Time for the encore. One last song that makes you, you
A: Karaoke — Drake
Word for word, that song is close to things I've been through. It's about going from being a normal person with normal relationships to being really busy; it happens to a lot of artists. I used to listen to this track on every train, plane and car journey. It's always nice to know you're not the only person who misses friends and family.
