Gavin James talks Bitter Pill: "I just want to keep gigging until I don’t want to anymore – which I won’t!"

Gavin James is making quite the name for himself.

The singer-songwriter's debut album reached the Top 5 in his native Ireland, he's supported Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran and Kodaline on tour, and his single Bitter Pill was named Song of the Year at the 2016 Choice Music Prize. 

Poised to extend his success to the rest of the UK and beyond, we caught up with Gavin to chat all about his new single, working with renowned record producer Fraser T. Smith, and how he ended up performing in an abandoned Icelandic fish market...

Hello Gavin! So you were in session just before we phoned you. Is anything exciting on the cards?

"I’ve been recording some new stuff before I go away to Dubai because I won’t be back for ages. Got to get these new songs down before I go away!"

Lucky for some! Are you heading on holiday or do you have some gigs?

"It’s kind of a mix. We’ve got a gig in McGettigans, which is an Irish venue, then I’m gigging in Abu Dhabi and Singapore too, it’s going to be cool."

Speaking of cool, your single Bitter Pill was recently added to Radio 1’s playlist. The song won the Choice Music Prize too. With all these accolades, are you hoping for it to be a big hit outside of Ireland too?

"I don’t really give it too much thought to be honest. If good things happen, good things will happen. I’ve just been gigging around the last few years and I just want to keep doing that until I don’t want to anymore – which I won’t! As long as that’s going on, I don’t worry about the rest and just hope things will slide into place."

This is actually the second time you've pushed Bitter Pill in the UK. Why did you decide to give it another outing rather than going for a new song?

"Bitter Pill was the last song written for the album and we hadn’t really pushed it in England until more recently. Then it got playlisted by Radio 1 and that was amazing as that’s not happened to me before. I was chuffed!

"Everything has really changed now when it comes to Spotify and all, and songs can pop back in and out. A friend of mine remixed a track of mine called Nervous and it went mental. It’s cool how it all works out. It’s all opened up a bit and Spotify has really helped me out with their Artist Spotlight."

Has it been trickier, in your experience, to replicate your success outside of your home country?

Yeah, it’s always harder. Last year I did three nights at the Olympia in Dublin and then I came here and did the Hoxton Bar & Grill. That’s a great venue but it has been harder to transition from Ireland. I’m just doing to do the same thing I did in Ireland – just keep gigging relentlessly. It’s an old school way of doing and I love all of the travelling.

You released your debut album, also called Bitter Pill, earlier this year. What sounds influenced the record?

Bob Dylan is my favourite, definitely my top songwriter and inspiration although my stuff doesn’t really sound like his. I can try and do his voice… I also love Bruce Springsteen and listen to a lot of old school stuff like Sam Cooke and Frank Sinatra. Irish artists like Damien Rice too. Honestly, I have the weirdest playlist. I’ll listen to R Kelly, then Cat Stevens, then Van Halen. It’s strange but it’s cool.

You worked with Fraser T. Smith on the album who has worked with the likes of Adele, Britney, Sam Smith and Ellie Goulding. Do you get nervous working with someone that successful? 

"It was really cool. No egos or madness or anything. We met for a few pints and then jumped into the record the day after. He’s a lovely guy and an absolute legend and he made the album sound a lot bigger than I thought it would.

"It was good to get to know him beforehand, definitely. It was a nice way of doing it though as opposed to going straight into songwriting sessions where you have to talk about your feelings to a total stranger, which I haven’t done a lot of before. Go for a pint first!"

Away from Ireland, you've found success in Europe, scoring three Top 10 singles in Belgium. How crazy is it having a high profile in countries you never expected?

"One of the songs that did well on radio over there was my live version of The Book Of Love - the Peter Gabriel version - and we knew it would be very tough to get it on the radio, but it did! That kicked everything off in Belgium and Holland too, and we played Paradiso in Amsterdam which is such a cool spot. It’s really nice going to those places although I should really learn the language and learn to slow down when I talk – I really do sound like a leprechaun…"

Belgium must be one of them, but where is the most interesting place you’ve heard your music being played or where you’ve performed live?

"I did a gig recently in Iceland in an abandoned fish market, kinda like a giant shed. About 3,000 people came to that festival and it was really fun and strange, people clearly eat a lot of fish over there. I asked them if they use Tinder over there or Plenty of Fish and nobody got it! It was great though. Iceland is quite like Ireland in that everyone is ginger and Viking looking!"

You have helped restart Virgin Radio, performed on Jimmy Kimmel, toured with Sam Smith and much more, what has been your least Bitter Pill to swallow when it comes to experiences in your career so far?

"I recently took about 30 members of my family to Electric Picnic festival in County Laois, Ireland and it was the first time I got to play the main stage. My whole family came down and seeing them all in the crowd – it was absolutely jammers and amazing. That is definitely one of my biggest moments."

Gavin James' debut album Bitter Pill is out now.