Troye Sivan

Troye Sivan: I asked Google how to become a famous

When he was just 11-years-old Troye Sivan sat in front of his computer and typed "how do I become a famous singer" into Google. "Totally," he says now, laughing. "And got nowhere."

Instead, the singer/songwriter/actor started making YouTube videos. "The passion constantly fuels your actions and then slowly but surely, it just sort of started happening," Sivan, now 24, says. "It became the thing that I really, really wanted, but it was the windiest, weirdest way to get there."

B ut the algorithms which measure his success - song chart figures, dollars in revenue, even awards - don't dent the bubble, he says.

"I try my best to not let them affect me, numbers and stuff," Sivan says. "I've realised as well that a lot of that stuff largely is out of your control. You just make the best thing that you can and hope for the best.

"I get excited when people talk about the music to me," he adds. "I really, really enjoy talking to people that listen to it, talking to people at the shows. When people sing the songs back to me, that's like a big thing for me."

For Sivan, who is about to bring his Bloom tour to Australia, the stage is simultaneously a joyful, ridiculous and peaceful space

I just know I want to be a creative that people trust ... earn their respect and their trust, as a creative that's the dream job

"For me that line is an issue of control and where the sharing is coming from," Sivan says. "I wasn't comfortable sharing much of my relationship early on in the relationship because we were just getting to know each other."

Sivan came out as gay in 2013 but this year confirmed he was in a relationship with model Jacob Bixenman.

"Now I'm a little bit more relaxed about it [because] it was at my discretion," Sivan adds. "I think I would have freaked out if I started to feel that was being taken away from me and information was sort of being grabbed from me rather than me sharing it."

'I Didn't Want Anyone to Take That Away from Me'

"I was about to sign my record deal, and I really wanted to be in charge of how I came out, " Sivan, now 26, says. "I didn't want anyone to take that away from me.

“That’s still in there and I’m personally trying to work it out. I’m enjoying this process of pushing myself, figuring out – am I into this? Am I not? There are no rules.”

Troye Sivan