I blagged my way to big time with a Tesco high-vis top
HE is one of Scotland’s hottest musical talents, with a new album on the horizon and massive airplay on national radio.
Yet as stardom beckons, singersongwriter Callum Beattie has revealed how pushing supermarket trolleys helped him gatecrash his way to fame.
The 27-year-old whose single Man Behind The Sun is A-listed on BBC Radio 2, with millions streaming his songs on Spotify, used his Tesco high-vis jacket to sneak into gigs by American rock legends such as REM and Kings of Leon. He told The Scottish Mail on Sunday: ‘I’d chuck on the jacket and pretend I was working there so that I could give rock stars my demos. One year I sneaked into T in the Park and made my way backstage. REM were on the main stage, so I brassnecked it and walked onto the stage pretending I was meant to be there.
‘I ran up to the microphone while they were playing an instrumental section and shouted “Hello!” to the thousands watching.’
Edinburgh-born Beattie has established a songwriting partnership with Nick Hodgson of the Kaiser Chiefs after conning his way into one of their concerts: ‘I climbed over the fence into Meadowbank Stadium. When Nick, the drummer, walked offstage. I said: “Hi, Nick, here’s my demo. I’ve just sneaked in and I’d really love you to listen to it”.
‘He chucked a towel around me and told me to come backstage and have a beer and relax. I told him that one day I would play on a stage like that. He said I was mental, but asked for my autograph. I was just 17.’
Beattie’s upcoming debut album Lights In Stereo includes a song which Beattie co-wrote with Hodgson. He plans to dedicate the album to his electrician father David, who raised him singlehandedly after his mother walked out: ‘We are like best friends.’