By Chelsea Ness
This week I caught up with Glaswegian 15 year old singer/songwriter, Cameron Boyes to discuss playing at the legendary King Tuts, his songwriting process and his latest single, ‘Back to You’ which was released on Friday…
What age where you when you first discovered your love for music?
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love music, but I properly got into it around the age of 7 as I had inspiration from my grandad and other artists that I would listen to.
Your song, ‘22’ was written in memory of the 22 people who passed away during the Manchester attacks… it’s a beautiful song – you performed the song at King Tuts – what was that like?
Performing ‘22’ at King Tuts was amazing but really scary, mainly because I had only written ‘22’ a day before the gig so I had a lot of ‘what if’s’ running through my mind, but by the time I was on stage performing, it was incredible, something I’ll never forget.
Do you have a particular song writing process when you write your music?
Yeah, whenever I write an acoustic song, I’ll firstly come up with some chords that fit nicely together, once I’ve got that I’ll think of the style/genre of the song which is a really important thing to do, then I spend around 45 mins – 1 hour working on the lyrics.
Who are you favourite current Scottish musicians / bands?
Lewis Capaldi, he is phenomenal, he’s doing so well & has came so far in such a short space of time, I think that’s why he inspires me so much. I saw him play the SWG3 last year and even met him, then a couple weeks ago I saw him play the Hydro, mad! But yeah, he’s amazing and such a nice guy too.
Your latest song, ‘Back to You’ was released on Friday 20th March, what’s the influence behind it?
The influence I had when writing ‘Back To You’ was a break up with a girl & wanting to get back with them, which I feel many people would be able to relate to.
You’re only 15 years old, how is it being a young musician in the Glasgow music scene?
It’s great! I remember when I first started busking in Glasgow & doing it all, I felt like I didn’t fit in cause of my age, but I’ve made so many friends cause of busking & working on my music, I love it.
What advice would you give to other musicians / bands starting off in the industry?
Just keep working hard, don’t give up, don’t let people put you down or tell you what you can and can’t do. Also, try to get yourself out there, getting in touch with people, trying to book gigs, if you keep pushing yourself out there then you’re bound to get a ‘yes’ every once in a while. Just don’t stop believing in yourself!
What’s been the most memorable gig you’ve played and why?
King Tuts – It was my most memorable gig because of the whole experience around it. I met John Ferriter (who was in The Tearaways) on Buchanan Street whilst busking, he told me to play me one of my own songs, I did, not knowing who he was. He then put £20 in my case n dropped in his business card, the next day, I played King Tuts.
You released your debut album last year… what’s your favourite song from the album and why?
Probably ‘Timeline’. I wrote that song with my friend James a couple years ago. The song is about a parental divorce/breakup which I’m certain many of my listeners can relate to. It’s my favourite song because of the meaning, I also love the song because of the way it was produced, acoustic with orchestral parts. This new song I’m releasing though, is nothing like anything I’ve ever released before!
Everything is kinda up in the air given the current pandemic we’re in but when things return back to normal – what are your aims and ambitions be as a musician?
My main aim is just to keep on getting my name out there, getting my music heard & trying to book gigs which is one of the hardest things for many musicians including myself but I love playing live so much. I hope to release a few more singles this year & then a 10 song album next year, but who knows – this time next year I could be playing the o2 in London, or I could be playing to no one in my room still, hahah. Who knows, but I’m just not giving up.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT CONNOR BELOW…
Twitter: @camboyesmusic
Instagram: @camboyesmusic
The Music Files 