BORN TO SING: Music is in Nathan’s blood. He attended the prestigious Sylvia Young Theatre School and has sung professionally since the age of six.

By Geoffrey Rowlands


Members of successful boy bands frequently fade into musical oblivion after the demise of their group. But there are always exceptions, particularly when bands announce they are just taking a break to pursue solo endeavours and will work together again at some time in the future.
The Wanted’s Nathan Sykes is the latest artist to benefit from this. It was almost two years ago when the band members decided to go their separate ways. They have spent the intervening time engaged in a variety of projects.
Max George became an actor, model and TV personality, Jay McGuinness is currently competing on BBC Television’s Strictly Come Dancing, Tom Parker was on Celebrity Masterchef and is now creating songs of his own, while Siva Kaneswaran has kept out of the spotlight. Only Nathan has taken his shot at becoming a solo pop star.
“I hadn’t even turned 21 when we finished our last tour and started our hiatus,” Nathan explained. “I thought I was far too young to take a break from music and do other things so I was determined to see if I could make it as a solo artist.”
Nathan’s resolve was perfectly understandable. Music is in his blood. He attended the prestigious Sylvia Young Theatre School and has sung professionally since the age of six.
“Being a pop singer is all I’ve ever wanted. I was living my dream as the youngest member of the band. I respected the decision taken by the other guys. If they wanted to stop and go do something else, they obviously had every right to their choice. But that wasn’t for me.
“I felt I still had a lot more to give and a lot more to prove. I wanted to write my own songs. We all co-wrote some of our material in The Wanted but I hoped to do much more and eventually become known just as much for my song writing as my singing.”
Nathan has written or co-written the songs on his forthcoming debut solo album. His current UK smash hit single, Over and Over Again, is all his own work.
“I wanted my songs to be written from the heart. I’ve been able to achieve this and the end result is an album of songs which are very personal.
“The lyrical subject matter relates to a few different people. I’ve written about a couple of break-ups and a few almost romances. I obviously don’t mention anyone by name but I imagine some people might recognise themselves when they listen to the lyrics.”
One such person is Nathan’s former girlfriend, US singer Ariana Grande. The couple dated for a time in 2013 and performed together on the song Almost Is Never Enough which they recorded for the Mortal Instruments: City of Bones movie soundtrack.
“Ariana shouldn’t be concerned by any song I write about our time together. It’s the same for everyone I write about. I’m not one of those people who get bitter and twisted about failed romances. Break-ups are obviously sad but I hold no grudges. I’m someone who tries to only take the positive experiences from relationships.”
Nathan’s debut solo single, Kiss Me Quick, peaked at number 14 in Britain. But the track hit top spot on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart.
“I was so proud of topping the US dance chart. There aren’t many British artists who have achieved this. Kiss Me Quick is just a fun song written about my being really bad at flirting. So, we wrote a song that can do the flirting for me.”
Nathan’s album is set for release early in 2016.
“I’m doing a tour with Little Mix so that will promote my album. The response to my singles has been great so I’m really excited about having everyone hear the album.”
With Nathan’s solo career progressing well, has his success reduced the chances of The Wanted reuniting in the reasonably near future?
“No timetable was ever placed on when we might get back together. I can only say there are no plans for us to reunite at the moment so I hope The Wanted fans will be content with my solo work.”

IN BRIEF
GRiZ

Anyone viewing MSG Television’s coverage of the recent New York Knicks v Miami Heat NBA game will have heard the featured song, Good Times Roll, by electro-funk artist GRiZ.
Also featuring Big Gigantic, the track can be heard and downloaded for free at (no www.) soundcloud.com/griz
If you enjoy their collaboration, they also performed together on Power, a single released by GRiZ in 2012.
This track is also posted on the SoundCloud webpage. So too is almost every song created by GRiZ since his 2011 debut album, “End of the World Party.” Many tracks are offered for free download.

Adele

Adele’s latest album, “25,” continues to set new UK chart records.
First week sales of 800,307 copies smashed the previous mark of 696,000 set by Oasis in 1997 with their third album, “Be Here Now.” In fairness to Oasis, their album was issued later than normal and had only three days of sales rather than a full week.
If Oasis could claim an asterisk against first week sales, they can have no complaints about Adele’s new record for the fastest million-selling album. “25” took just ten days to break the one million barrier almost halving the previous mark of 17 days set by “Be Here Now.”
In America, “25” sold 3.38 million copies in its first week. Nielsen Music has only tracked this data since 1991 but “25” is just the second album to pass two million first week sales during that time. The previous record holder was NSYNC’s 2000 album, “No Strings Attached,” which shifted 2.42 million copies.

Coldplay

BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac recently revealed Coldplay’s collaboration with Beyonce on Hymn For The Weekend as her ‘Hottest Record in the World.’
In addition to giving the song its world-wide premiere, Annie also conducted an interview with Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman who gave her the inside story on how Hymn For The Weekend was created. The song and interview can be heard on the BBC iPlayer at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p039qlk2
Coldplay’s seventh studio album, “A Head Full of Dreams,” has just been released.



Jscot Raps

Park City, Utah, is famous for hosting events at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games and the annual Sundance Film Festival. It is certainly not known as a hotbed of rap music.
Jscot Raps wants to change this. He hopes to put his home city on America’s hip hop map insisting his origin is always mentioned during interviews.
His latest mixtape, “Collaborate,” features Jscot Raps in partnership with Ya Boy Ty, Cole Train, Emily Terran and The Only Gibbs. It can be heard and downloaded for free at www.datpiff.com/Jscot-Raps-Collaborate-mixtape.748152.html