WILL young

HE IS THE FIRST POP IDOL , HAS RELEASED MULTIPLE CHART TOPPING ALBUMS IN SUCCESSION, EARNED TWO BRIT AWARDS, ACTED AND PRESENTED PROGRAMMES ON TV AND RADIO. HIS MENTAL HEALTH PODCAST ‘THE WELLBEING LAB’ HAS RUN FOR TWO SEASONS, AND HE HAS RECENTLY PUBLISHED TWO BOOKS FOCUSING ON MENTAL HEALTH ‘TO BE A GAY MAN’ AND ‘BE YOURSELF AND HAPPIER’.

If you haven’t guessed already, we of course are talking about Will Young. He is gracing our cover for a 3rd time, I caught up with him for to chat about his new album ‘Light It Up’ which is out now .

Interview by Daniel May

FAN QUESTIONS

Caitriona Corr asks would you ever do a Pop Idol reunion show or All Stars Tour? We were going to do a reunion show but sadly we lost Darius. We were going to do a 20th anniversary one but before that very sadly Ant lost his brother so we didn’t do it.

Gary Campion wants to know, from the Pop Idol alumni who do you feel has been most underrated and not shone to their full potential? I think Gareth was underrated. I think what he delivered in his style of pop was great and I think sadly a couple of things happened, one being pop music changed and I think Jordon damaged his career to be honest. I think it was very unfair. He was only a young lad and he got hounded a bit by her and it was just a bit unfair really. I think she bullied him, he was only young. So I think those two things underrated him.

Tina McKinney said - you have had a long and varied career, if you could change anything without consequence what would it be?

There is only one thing I would have changed. I did a video for a song called Grace and it wasn’t very good. I am very proud of my catalogue of videos, however I would re-do Grace as I think it stands out as not one of the good ones, which goes to show I was pretty lucky with the people I work with.

INTERVIEW

I watched the election video you posted on TikTok, it was so funny. I lose hours scrolling sometimes, are you an addict or do you like to dabble?

I actually don’t know how to get on to my TikTok, I only have Instagram so I don’t really know what goes on in TikTok. But I know we had a big hit last week, because we did an acoustic version of Evergreen and that more than doubled my followers. I think it’s got about two million views, so we had a bit of a viral moment which is really fun, but I am still not sure what’s going on.

The general election is over and apparent change is afoot, are you happy with the decision and do you think Labour will turn things around? Well, I feel like it needs to be adults in the room now. If we use the car analogy I felt like there were spoiled, squabbling children with very sticky fingers because their hands had been in the toffee jar trying to drive the car - and now I feel like we have got adults in the room who actually maybe care about people. So from that perspective there has been a collective sigh of relief because it was just horrific. So yes, I am really positive actually and I think their transparency so far has been very refreshing. It’s great to see more Greens get in and not surprising to see maybe four or five people from Reform get in, but that’s people voting for that so that’s on them. Keep the transparency.

What is your take on ‘Coming Out’, is it a good thing for your people so they can relate to role models or should labels in general be redundant?

At the end of the day it comes down to the individual. You can’t force anyone to do anything and I suppose the sadness about some sports is, it is just whether people are choosing to be open because they are scared, that’s a different thing. I also think that it is undeniable that there are more openly gay people in various sports that would be nice to have that merit for people so they could say “Alright, well I could do that”. Maybe if you are gay you think well

I can’t become a footballer so I won’t do that. Just the same as there are areas of life where lots of people feel they can’t do things because of who they are may it be colour or religion. I think it can really only be a good thing to see. I would have thought by now we would have had an openly gay premier league footballer. If you had a person whose talent overrides that bigotry that could be promising. I think if you look at someone like Tom Daly, because he was so good, that probably helped.

In terms of labels in general, do you think there will be a day on the horizon where we are not LGBTQIA++++?

Labels are a really tricky one because labels are really important in some regards. For some people labels are very freeing and for others people it can make them feel restricted. For some people labels give them ammunition to attack, which we have seen very much with transgender people. So, I don’t think we should do away with labels, I just think it is how people utilise that label, because we are all labels really. I am a singer, I am an uncle, I am a human, I am a man, I am in my 40’s, the list could go on and on. Some people choose a label and that’s how they live and that is absolutely fine. For me, my label is just being a human.

Back in 2016 you joined the Strictly lineup though sadly decided to leave after 3 dances, what’s your take on the latest scandal, and in the future given the opportunity would you like a second go at it?

I was talking to Jamie Laing the other day and he left because he broke his arm or something, and he went back the next year. I suppose I left because of an internal injury not a physical injury so from that regard I could go back. Do I deserve another crack at it? Based on that I probably do. I think never say never, but my life is really busy at the moment. Going back to the bullying allegations, I am really pleased that it is now being addressed because I knew about stuff when I was on Strictly and I had a female competitor ring me in tears and she didn’t feel supported. I was actually very supported but I don’t know if she felt supported as a woman. It didn’t surprise me when it came out, I was actually really pleased. Because people thought I had a bad time on the show, people would get in touch with me from previous seasons as well, all women by the way, and say what an awful time they had. But the thing is, I didn’t have an awful time with the show, I was treated really well, I just wasn’t very well.

I got a sneaky listen and I honestly love it, it brings you on such an emotional journey. After more than 2 decades in the music industry, what gets your creative juices flowing?

I don’t know is the honest answer. I think it is seeing other arts, may it be film or theatre and sometimes music. It depends if I think “Oh I could do that” or I worry that I am copying them so with music it depends. Because there are so many different creative areas in my job, I can see something and think “Brilliant, that is what the photoshoot will be”, or I will see a picture and think, “That is going to be my video”. To be honest it starts with the music. As soon as I get the music I can formulate it in my head, so the hardest bit is probably writing the music.

When we last chatted , you said the plan was for a 2022 album release, I wonder if ‘Light It Up’ includes tracks that you had ready back then?

I have always been writing and have always got bits and bobs going on. I know I have two or three songs for the next record already. I like to work and I know that at least one of them is a first single already.

I found myself listening to ‘The Worst’ and ‘Midnight’ on repeat, which song are you most proud of, and why?

I think those two songs are potentially the best on the album. I think ‘Midnight’ is a brilliant song and quite hypnotic. Those two songs are probably the most emotionally honest, so I am not surprised you picked those two.

What message or feeling do you hope listeners take away from the new album?

I have this approach with anything, if I am doing a play or music, or maybe like a TV drama in a different way, is that it evokes some sort of movement. Either someone listens to it and goes “That could be me, I relate to that”, or they just enjoy listening to it when they are driving their car. As long as it evokes some sort of emotion or reaction I think that is the idea of it really. Someone might just like listening to it when they are doing the washing up or another person might be able to really relate to it.

I love the video for ‘Light It Up’ . In fact I love the various characters and emotions you portray in all of your videos. Do you get involved with the concepts? Most of the time it has been someone else’s vision, but I am probably getting more and more involved in the videos. I have directed two videos for this project. ‘Midnight’ wasn’t really a full video and then another one is coming out. ’Falling Deep’ I wanted it to be like chorus line and ‘Light It Up’ I had seen something and I thought “OK that’s interesting” - I wanted to slightly mix it with The Joker, which was the inspiration for that.

In ‘Light It Up’ there were all raised fingers and jazz hands, was that your idea?

No, Harry Price who I have worked with for the last few projects, had the idea for movement. What he found was this repressed joy wanting to come out, but there was a bit of a clash. That is when we found little movements - I like doing that, it is really fun.

Your tour kicks off on 3rd September and you have dates right through till 4th December, are you excited about getting on the road?

Yes, I can’t wait. It is sold out which is brilliant, I love that feeling. I just really like the routine, I love singing so whenever I get to sing it is just absolutely great and so much fun. I get three weeks on and then a week off, so it is long but it is very doable. I have also never done a tour like this as I am deliberately performing in smaller venues, it is just me and a piano which will be really good fun. It is more intimate and gives the audience something different and because we are going to so many different places, people don’t have to travel as it is pretty much near peoples towns or in their town.

Final thought or word of wisdom for anyone struggling with their mental health or identity?

I think it is about being open and finding the right person to open up to. Someone that is going to validate you and not ignore your feelings or invalidate your feelings. Find someone who is going to properly hear you and just listen and not try to fix and change you, just empathise and support - that really is the key.

Will, thank you so much for taking the time to talk it has been lovely

‘Light it Up’ is OUT NOW, you can purchase it via willyoung.co.uk