Shawn is enjoying his time in Manchester, though not the weather. His latest album "24" took 24 months to write and was inspired by his history studies at Harvard about war, and the hatred and passion involved. He moved to America to further his music career. He would like to collaborate with Kanye West. Beyoncé advised him to be himself and not take everything too seriously.
1. How are you today Shawn?
I’mprettygood thanks.
How are you enjoyingManchester?
Manchester’sgreat.It’sdifferenttoanywhere elseI’ve been.I’vedone afew toursinthe UK and
Manchesterisdefinitelyone of myfavorite placesapartfromthe weather of course.
So shawn what inspiredyouto make your latestalbum ‘24’
I spenta lotof time writingall these songs.It tookme 24 monthsintotal.AfterstudyingHistoryat
Harvard Universityitreallydidchange mylife.Allmysongsare inspiredbyWar. The hatredand passion
that wasinvolvedinspiredme towrite awhole albumaboutitincludingjustice,love andhate.
What made you move over to America?
I feltthatif I wantedto achieve andsuccessa careerin musicI hadto expandmyhorizon.Neverina
millionyearsdidIeverthinkthiswouldhappen.Igethomesicksometimeswhichishardbutmovingwas
the bestthingI couldhave done to boostmy career.
Is there anyone you wouldlike to collaborate with?
PerformingwithBeyoncélastyearatthe Britawards wasunbelievable.Shessuchapowerful woman
and hervoice isincredible.Were soontobe releasingoursonginJune thisyearwhichshouldbe
somethingtolookforwardto.I wouldlove tocollaborate withsomeone whoisreallydifferenttome
such as Kanye West.That’dbe great. Hesalwaysbeenmybiggestfansince I’ve beenyoung.
That woulddefinitelybe somethingdifferent!Did Beyoncé give youany advice?
Well ive keptintouchwith Beyoncé afterperformingtogether.We didgetalongreally well andwere
bothreallyexcitedforoursongto be released.Beyoncé toldme tojustbe myself andnotto take
everythingtooseriously.
What didshe mean by not take everythingtoo seriously?
That there will alwaysbe people whodislikeyouandyouhave to deal withthatwell inorderto be
professionalandsuccess.
Whenare you nexttouring?
2016. I am doinga fewtoursthisyear butonlyas a supportact whichimlookingforwardto.
Whenyou were writing your album ‘24’ did you realize it wouldhave such a great outcome?
I had no idea.Ialwaysjustsawsong writingasa hobbybut thenI realizedthatthisiswhatI wantto do
withmylife.Irememberbeing7yearsoldsat on mygranddadsknee singingandhe askedme whatI
wantedtodo whenI wasolderand I saidbe an astronautwhichis quite astereotypical response froma
2. 7 yearold.I onlystartedsingingwhenIwasabout13, my Dad usedto give me singinglessonswhich
reallyhelpedatthe time.Iguessive followedinhisfootsteps.
Your dad used to be in the Band Take That, have you everconsideredbeingin a band?
Beingina band suitedmydadat the time.I’ve neverthoughtaboutbeinginaband.I don’tlike relying
on otherpeople soIthinkbeingindependentismuchbetterforme.He also sang a differentgenre to
me he wasmore pop than I am.