I spent two years playing open mic nights in Brighton, and I heard more and more people saying, 'You should give it a go in London.'
Sentiment: POSITIVE
London has this culture of the theatre that is so big, it was a like a dream - but I never had a thought to be able to play here because my English was not very good. So being given the opportunity to come work here was like a gift.
I've no grand designs to conquer the music industry, but I'd love to be able to tell my mates that I'm playing in a pub in Camden one night.
In 2012 the best venue I played was Union Chapel in London. It's a beautiful room, the sound is exceptional, and they treated us very well.
My second year of college, I started performing comedy at an open mic. It was good to do open mics with the kids. It's a good, safe spot to start, you know?
Manchester was a fantastic place to go out in. There were 10 clubs with world-class cabaret and comedians. You'd go in and Tom Jones might be singing, or Shirley Bassey or Engelbert Humperdinck.
There must be four or five hundred choirs here in London alone. In a way, there's nowhere else on Earth I could go and get this level and passion for singing in the one place.
After school I moved to London to get involved in music. I took the whole thing very seriously.
I hate going out in Brighton now. It's different in London. People respect you more there.
I live in Sheffield, and most auditions are in London, meaning I'm normally a bag of nerves on the train to London because you have all that time to think.
So I played the acoustic guitar and harmonica and stomped my foot and I think I was right in assuming that Greenwich Village would be the best place to perform my own material and possibly get some attention, move on to making records and all.