Olly Murs: Troublemaker
As Olly Murs gets set to release his new single Troublemaker, and new album Right Place Right Time, we sit down with the man himself to quiz him about all things music, love and Xtra Factor. We even put some of the questions you sent in to the man himself, so keep reading to find out what Olly looks for in a girl…
WennGLAMOUR: Troublemaker – is that song about anyone in particular? Do you attract troublemakers?
Olly Murs: I think we all attract troublemakers, I don’t think it’s particularly about anyone. I had it actually as an album title and I thought it would be really cool to write a song about a girl that’s a bit of troublemaker. You get a silhouette in the corner of your mind and it’s always there that you look at.
I think even girls can relate to it as guys being trouble makers as well, there is always that bad boy that girls will look at and go, "ah, I don’t want to like him, but I do". So it’s the same for me, when I look at women there’s always a girl in your life that is a bit of a troublemaker that you’re sort of fixated on, but you don’t want to be fixated on.
G: How was working with Flo Rida on your new track?
O: I think Flo’s amazing, he’s brilliant. I’ve always liked his music and style. If you had told me three years ago, two years, or even last year, that I would be doing a song with Flo Rida next year, I’d laugh, I’d be excited about it, but I’d probably laugh about it and go, "yeah that’s never going to happen".
But he heard the song and loved it and did his rap and it sounded amazing. I haven’t met yet or spoke to him - which is a shame - but hopefully we’ll catch up in the next few weeks or months and hopefully do a few performances together.
Rex FeaturesG: What was your inspiration behind the new album?
O: It’s been sort of difficult really because the last three years I’ve done two albums already and I wrote a lot of them. So trying to draw from experiences and what I’m going through is very difficult because you kind of cover lots of subjects, and just trying to talk about it in a different context and try and look at it from a different perspective.
Sometimes I was going to writing sessions and speaking to writers and finding out if they were going through anything in their life that they wanted to talk about, because it’s a collective effort when I write. We want to write a really good song and sometimes I might have one of those days where I don’t really know what to write about, I haven’t really got anything going on, I haven’t really been thinking about anything, nothing’s really got me down and obviously sometimes we come up with a quirky idea that we want to work with.
So there’s stuff on the album that’s very much related to what I’m going through, because certain points of the weeks, or days, or months went by and I’d want to write a song and that’s what came out. But then sometimes, some sessions we just went with the fun and went for it and we came up with some quirky ideas which worked and it sounds really cool.
Rex FeaturesG: What’s the album title about?
O: I’ve always felt that my life’s been at the right place at the right time, I feel like there’s been some really dull moments, really high moments, really low moments, but it’s always felt like everything’s moved in the right direction; it always feels great and everything feels right.
You know, there’s obviously been some wrong moments in my life, but this is all feeling really positive and at this point in my career, this album coming out, it feels right, it feels perfect, it feels at the right place, at the right time, so I feel like it is just a good time for me at the moment.
PA PhotosG: What’s different from you on the new album?
O: I think it’s an album that’s got less cheese on it. There is still a little bit of cheese in there, but I think people’s perception of me on the first two albums... I think my fan base grew on the second album because it was more mature, a bit cooler in certain aspects, but I think this album is open to a much wider demographic. So the teens and my core fan base are going to love it because it’s so ‘me’ and it’s cool, but I think the songs are just that little bit more mature in terms of lyrics, in terms of what I’m talking about, in terms of the production.
Bigpicturesphoto.com…It just sounds a little bit different and I think it will open up to a much bigger demographic. I think if a young 16-year-old girl was playing it in the car, her mum and dad would be like, "this is really good..." I hope anyway. I think it’s a step forward, I am 28 years of age, I think my music needs to grow with how old I am; I think I’m still young, I’m still cool, I’m still able to get down with the kids, I’m still there you know, I can still dance and perform like I always do but I’m just taking my music up a notch and making a little bit more of a statement. I think that is what this album does.
I hate the word mature because I don’t think I’ve matured much, I just think I need to step the music up a little bit to where I am in my life right now and I just think that I’ve grown up a little bit now, I’ve got responsibilities, I’ve got a house. My music is still funny, there's still quirkiness in there, still some really cheeky songs, but I've lifted it a little bit, raised the bar.
WennG: What do you want people to feel when they listen to your music?
O: Whenever you write music you want it to touch people on a certain level. I mean I’ve been reading tweets about Troublemaker and people saying “OMG, I can so relate to this, this is a guy that I fancy, or a girl that I fancy, it’s exactly like this person.” So if a song can really touch someone and they can feel something from it then that’s amazing.
But, for me I can never get the feeling of me walking out at the O2 arena, a sold-out gig and having the crowd sing every song that comes on. It’s an amazing feeling. When you hear people in the street - like I said to a girl the other day, "what’s your favourite song I’ve ever done?" And she’s like, "In Case You Didn’t Know" which was on the second album, it was track six is my favourite song. I was like "why?" and she said "I dunno I can just really relate to it". Yet I’ve had like eight singles. So it’s nice you can do a song, an album with 12 or 16 songs and there’s always one or two songs that just touch people. It’s the same with me when I buy any other artist’s albums, there’s one or two songs that just hit you, which is good. That’s what I want from this album.
Rex FeaturesG: You have another tour coming up next year right?
O: Yes, end of February/March. It’s exactly the same sort of time as last year. I think it's 88% full already, so we’ve only got 12% left of tickets which is great and that is even before my album has come out, which is so amazing. So I can’t complain and I can’t wait to go back on tour again next year and hopefully people will enjoy it and love it.
PA PhotosG: Do you have any more collaborations coming up?
O: No, not at the moment. You never know with deluxes and different editions of the album. If I felt there was someone that I could add to the mix and add to a song that I’ve already got that would make it better than what it is, then I would definitely consider it. But no, definitely no more collaborations for a while.
WennG: Did you ever see yourself reaching this level of success so quickly and what advice would you give to people that think it’s not going to happen?
O: I think for me, I just do what I do, I have fun and whatever happens, happens. I never expected to sell four million records all together. That was never in my mind. But I think it’s a belief and an ambition and the drive that I’ve got to be successful is why I’m still here, I think. I think the fact that I reinvent myself as well all the time and my music’s changing a little bit, I think keeps my fans interested, keeps people that look at my music from afar going ‘oh this guy’s doing some cool stuff’. So I think anyone that wants to get into this industry, it’s all about belief, it’s all about confidence. Not being too confident, but being true to yourself and staying humble.
Also, really finding your niche in the market and your music. There are not many male artists around that have sold what I’ve sold, so I’m really happy that I’m in that situation. Like every artist that comes out, you want to make a mark, you want to be a household name and you want to be someone that people are going to look back in ten years/fifteen years’ time and go ‘I love this guy Olly Murs, he was brilliant back in the day, he was someone I really, really liked’. I’d love my music to be played on radio for the next 25/30 years. Will it? I don’t know, but that fact that I’m up to my eighth single is pretty weird, but a good weird.
Rex FeaturesG: Have things changed much on The Xtra Factor this year?
O: I don’t think much has changed. I think if anything we’re both much more relaxed. I think last year Caroline probably had a lot of worries about me with it being her first year on the show as well. But I think this year, the fact that I’ve had a year, I know the job inside out, I know the role, I know what I’m doing. I think that makes it easier. I think the show itself is much more relaxed, it always helps when you have good contestants like we did last year and we’ve got lots of great content and we’ve got a great team behind us. So I think the show itself is better and bigger, fingers crossed more people tune in, we’re getting great figures on it. I think people are really sold on the show, which is good.
PA PhotosG: Your relationship with Caroline seems to work really well on-screen…
O: Yeah we have a really good friendship, we are really close. We don’t like the gags to be eggy, we like the gags to be funny and relevant to what our relationship is like. For example, this year we’ve got Fighting Talk and so we always have a fight on the show every week now, which is really funny. So it keeps the show relevant, we’re not trying to do these wanky gags that people think are really crap, just really funny, light-hearted gags and getting the crew involved. Making the people at home really enjoy it, making it fun and I think, like you just said, me and Caroline have a great chemistry which works. I think our gags work because she might be doing something and I pull a silly face, she’ll be like, "what is this going on about?" - and she’ll do stuff at me. It’s like a to and fro, cat and mouse game throughout the whole show which is great, which is what we like.
WennG: Do you prefer Caroline Flack blonde or brunette?
O: I don’t have a preference with women that do that because I think she’s one of them people that looks good whatever she chooses. Which is lucky, because lots of girls can’t do that. Caroline is a very good-looking woman, so she’s able to change her hair, style it differently, change the colour of it and it still look amazing. She has asked me the question many, many times, which would I prefer. If I’m honest, I do prefer the classic Caroline, the mousy, brunette on top with the blonde at the bottom. That’s Caroline’s statement. So I kind of like that, but I get why she’s changing it a lot and having fun with it because she can and it’s obviously good to keep the fans interested. You know she’s a good looking woman; she can do whatever she wants.
PA PhotosG: Favourite act to win X Factor?
O: Obviously it’s hard for me to back anyone because I work on the show and I get on with everyone. But I think the idea of the show is to grow and to build as you go through. I think at the moment, Jade Ellis is someone that has come through, she has a beautiful voice and she’s growing and she’s changed, she looks so different, she looks so glamorous now, there’s some real star quality there. Also you’ve got the likes of Lucy Spraggan, you’ve got James Arthur, you’ve got Ella Henderson, Union J. There is a whole bunch of them on the show this year that could go on and do really well. I think at the moment there are obviously some clear favourites, like Ella Henderson. Of course people are saying it’s like a Leona Lewis year, she’s the one to beat, but you know people have to vote so it is going to be an interesting one.
Rex FeaturesThanks for sending in all YOUR questions for Olly – here are his answers!
Q: What do you look for in a woman?
O: Hmm, good question. Personality, that’s the key for me. Looks, you know that will all come from me being attracted to them anyway, but I think it’s all about personality for me. Good personality, good banter, good fun. That’s the key.
Rex FeaturesQ: Favourite holiday destination?
O: I would probably say Australia for travelling. But for me, Egypt was one of my favourite destinations because of the history. I had a conversation recently with someone that I know and we were having this massive debate about it. She went and she didn’t like it, she felt she got hassled a lot because she was a girl and she was blond and everything else. Whereas I feel it’s not about that, it’s about the history and the sun’s great, great resorts over there, but the history of Egypt, the pyramids, the Valley of the Kings. It’s a great destination.
PA PhotosQ: Favourite colour?
O: Blue.
PA PhotosQ: What’s been your highlight since first appearing on the X Factor?
O: God, there’s been so many. Getting my first number one.
WennQ: What’s your favourite food after a night out?
O: Cheesy chips.
PA PhotosQ: Where’s your favourite place in Essex?
O: Witham. It’s where I live. Love it. A lot of people wouldn’t agree. But I’m born and bred there and there’s something special about going home in any town you live in, whether you live in Basingstoke, Milton Keynes, anywhere. If you know that area and you know where you live, there’s no place like home.
Rex FeaturesQ: Do you ever get fed up of women throwing themselves at you?
O: No. I think I’d be lying if I said I didn’t. I think its great fun, it’s a great laugh. I think, you know I never see myself as a sex symbol, or even a good looking guy, from what people say to me “oh you’re really handsome, you’re this, you’re that”, I don’t get that, I just think I’m a very average looking guy, but if girls fancy me, then great, I’m not going to complain.
PA PhotosQ: Who would you love to collaborate with?
O: I’d like to do a dance track with David Guetta, that’d be cool, why not mix it up?
WennQ: What's your secret guilty pleasure?!
O: Do you know what, if I’m really honest, old school garage. Can’t beat a bit of old school garage.
PA PhotosQ: How did you decide what personal stories went into your book?
O: Do you know what, it wasn’t hard. We spoke with the ghost-writer, called Martin, and we sat down like this and we spoke for ages and hours and hours. I just described my life story and the most interesting parts got put in the book. So I apologise if it’s not interesting, that’s as good as my life is, unfortunately.
Rex FeaturesQ: What’s your favourite take away?
O: My favourite take away at the moment is Indian.
PA PhotosQ: Why are you so damn handsome?
O: I wish I was, you’d have to meet me in real like and then you can make your own opinions.
PA PhotosQ: What would you most like to achieve in your career?
O: It’s so tricky because there are a few. I think, I’d like to win a Brit award. But also I’d like to be around, I’d still like people to be buying my records in ten years and still get number ones in ten years, if that’s possible, I’ll be 38. Maybe I could do ten albums in ten years? I think I’m lucky because I’m in a good position because I’m doing TV and singing at the same time. So I’ve kind of given myself a new niche because there’s no one else doing that really, so it’s given me almost my own niche market, where that’s all I’m doing. So I’m doing both music at a great level and presenting one of the biggest shows on TV, so if I can maintain that and keep doing TV then that might be an avenue for me to go down, but music is my main aim, but it might give me a longer career which would be cool.
