Tommy Reilly lumps on the Scottish charm

10 months ago 07th Jan 11:00

The final four acts in Orange unsigned Act with Sony Ericsson compete for the winning title, Scottish singer / Songwriters is one of FemaleFirst’s favourite to win. So with that in mind, we had to chat to the cute 19-year old before he got way too famous for interviews.

I caught up with Tommy amidst hectic rehearsals to grill him about his awesome cover of Mr Brightside, running his own cheese farm and why he could never be in a band. Tommy Reilly - we love you!

Hey Tommy, how are you and how excited are you to be in the top four?

I’m pretty chuffed to be honest yeah, it’s all good!

Do you think you have what it takes to win?

I don’t know. I hope so, the best person will win I guess. To be honest I would be happy with fourth, but anything else would also be nice!

We think you have what it takes, we love you! But who do you see as your biggest rival?

I don’t know, I think people would say the other songwriter Toby Sebastian but also, Hip Parade are really good and the bands that can come back on the wildcard are also really good; everyone is just really good!

So if you were on the outside and were voting for someone; who would you vote to win?

Hip Parade. They’re good.

They said you! You said them, that’s good! There is going to be an act coming back in on a wildcard next week, who would you like it to be?

I don’t know. Strategically I would say a band because it would be better for me as a singer / songwriter. I would say Fangs because they are from Glasgow and they were really good. But then again, Pyrelli was a really good laugh. The Harlots are amazing too, they would be good to come back. Everyone is good so it’s kind of a shame that they all cant come back.

How much would winning mean to you?

Everything! To be able to release an album is all I really want to do, it would be quality.

How would you describe yourself in five words?

In five words? Ooh, erm, friendly, simple, honest.

That’s only three!

It’s too hard to sum it up in five words, I just don’t know. I’m bad at that question.

Okay, simple but effective then. So moving on, how did you become involved in the show in the first place?

Well my mates bands entered it and they told me about it and I decided to check it out and sent a demo in. I didn’t get picked out in the first round but then they asked me to go down and my parents paid for me to get a flight and I think I was the only Scottish person in the queue.

I didn’t think much would come of it, especially when I didn’t get picked out of the first round! But I’m glad I did because it’s all very fun.

We’re glad you did too! So ideally, where would you like to be this time next year?

I would very much like to have made an album and have got it out in the shops and maybe play at some of the festivals.

Woo! Will you please include your version of Mr Brightside because it’s amazing!

Haha, I don’t know! If I make a record I will try. [FF: When you sang it I got butterflies it was that good!] Aww thank you. It’s actually weird for me to sing but I have being playing it a lot recently at gigs and things.

When you are writing songs, what do you take inspiration from?

Usually things that are exciting because it’s hard to take inspiration from boring things. Usually when big things have happened it’s easier because you feel things and you can write it down. But if it’s something boring you can’t write things.

So, if you could only listen to one CD for the rest of your life, what would it be?

The Midnight Organ Fight by Frightened Rabbit. [FF; We love Scottish bands] Yes, there seem to be a lot of great Scottish acts around at the moment.

Okay, so if you were to be any of the judges for a day, which would you be?

Alex James.

Because he’s amazingly fit?

Haha, no, because I think it would be fun to be on a farm. It would be a bit of a laugh. Actually they all have quite interesting jobs though - I wouldn’t mind being the head of a record label for a while; that would be quite fun. Being a radio DJ would also be pretty exciting.

But overall I think Alex James; I imagine having a Cheese farm would be quite fun.

I love cheese.

It would be great. [FF; We could invent cheese together Tommy!] Yes, we can just dabble with the ingredients.

So if you could join a band, who would it be?

Any band in the industry ever? [FF: Yes] ooh, that’s really tough. I don’t think I could play in a band though, I’d go out of time and I would keep messing up. I can’t play with other people. I probably will one day, but not just yet. In fact, I’d go for Hip Parade, because they are going to be really famous soon so I’ll just join them. They’re really good.

Who is the greatest artist of all time?

Bob Dylan.

Now I’m going to ask you some ‘deep and meaningfuls’, so prepare yourself…..

Okay!

What is your most treasured memory?

I don’t know.

Stop saying I don’t know!

Okay, erm, well we got to go to Universal Studios once when it was shut and it was just a few people there.

How did you blag that?

The company that my dad is involved in planned this big trip at night-time and we got to go in. There was only a few hundred people there so every ride had no queue and we could go on everything like ten times. That was pretty good and is up there!

So what is your biggest regret?

Maybe not doing this sooner. I have been singing for a long time but maybe I shouldn’t have left it so long to try and make something of it. I mean I’m only 19 now, so I didn’t really leave it that late, but I’ve never been brave enough to do it.

Well make up for lost time Tommy! But if you only had nine minutes to live, what would you do in those nine minutes.

I would probably get a car. In fact, I’d rob a bank first so I had loads of money and then if I only had a few minutes left I would just go and spend it on random, fun things. I would need the money to enjoy the last few minutes. It would be anarchy in the last few minutes of my life.

Could you come up with a question for the next person I interview please?

If you ran your own farm, which animal would you pay the most attention to?

Ooh, that’s a good question…. Mine would have to be the cows because they make milk, and they sort of contribute to cheese, and you can ride them too.

Totally.

Okay, good luck with everything. Bye!

FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison

Read our interview with Judge Simon Gavin here

Read our interview with Fangs here

Read our interview with Klaus Says Buy The Record here

Read our interview with SleeperCell here

Read our interview with Scarlet Harlots here

Read our interview with Toby Sebastian here

Read our interview with Hip Parade here

Below: Possibly the most amazing cover I have ever heard.