Don’t compare him to Justin Bieber. Don’t mention manufactured boy bands like One Direction or you’ll ‘piss him off’. And certainly don’t talk about Professor Green – he just so happens to be Conor Maynard’s most-hated celebrity…
MM caught up with ‘Can’t Say No’ pop sensation Conor Maynard to discuss his latest track, album and book. But we’ve also managed to uncover some crazy fan stories, got him to dish the dirt on celebrities – and reveal all about the relationship rumours.
Conor’s new single, ‘R U Crazy,’ comes out on October 6. Its catchy, hard-hitting urban pop vibe is everything that you’d expect from the young musician.
When asked how he felt about the single’s imminent release he admitted: “I do get nervous. You’re always worried about people not liking it.”
That said, the video is certainly memorable. It is raunchy bordering on the explicit and Conor concedes that he did find making the video quite a challenge.
“When people watch it at home they forget that I’ve made that video in a studio surrounded by thirty heavy-breathing men. It can get a bit awkward,” he said.
There has been plenty of speculation regarding the release date of Conor’s second, as yet unnamed, album but, according to the man himself… “It’ll probably be out in March.”
He says that the album isn’t quite finished yet. “You have to keep people in suspense, you know?”
Ever the tease, Conor accidentally let slip a previously well-hidden fact about his love life that will surely leave his small army of female fans in disarray.
That’s right, he’s got a girlfriend and described his relationship status as ‘currently unavailable’. Hard luck, ladies.
When MM asked him to name his current partner the previously unflappable, cock-sure Conor began to stutter.
“Uhhh, I…I better not,” was all he managed – only adding weight to the growing speculation that he is in fact romantically involved with a fellow celebrity.
Despite his relationship he is comfortable talking about his exploits with the fairer sex.
Given the title of his debut track MM asked whether it is actually the girls that ‘Can’t Say No’ to him. His response was instantaneous and jovial: “Some girls say no to me…but they’re usually blind.”
Most celebrities have to wait until they are a bit older to release a book, but Conor’s extreme popularity has meant that ‘Take Off’, his first publication, will be available to buy from early next year. At 200 pages long and crammed full of previously unseen photos, the book is supposed to offer Conor’s fans the chance to see another side of him and get to know more about his childhood.
But with great popularity comes some even greater negatives.
When his career was just taking off he was still living in his family home in Brighton and he recalls the exact moment when he realised things had to change.
“People started sticking notes to chewing gum and putting it through my door. These people actually thought I’d chew their used gum. That’s when I realised it was definitely time to move!”
Conor is an avid reader of his fan mail and states that the best thing he has ever received was a note from the mother of a girl who was being bullied at school.
He wrote to the young teenager in a bid to cheer her up and comfort her. Recalling the event, Conor said: “I feel like I made a real difference there.”
The chart-topping pop star was forthcoming in his opinions about other members of the music industry. MM had to ask about the obvious comparisons made between Conor and Justin Bieber, comparisons that really annoy the Brighton boy.
“I don’t like it when people say you’re the next so and so, you should always be unique,” he said. “One day someone will be called the next Conor Maynard.”
He went on to talk about egos in the pop circuit, citing Professor Green as his least favourite person in the industry based purely on first impressions.
“He was off with me,” he said. “But he was off with everyone that night.”
As a song-writer himself, Conor acknowledges that it’s ‘hard to take’ when manufactured bands like One Direction are thrown together and given songs that inevitably do really well. He bemoans the fact that, at times, it can seem like song-writers do all the hard work and get less of the reward.
“It can piss you off a bit,” he admitted.
Despite his meteoric rise to fame, Maynard insists that he’ll remain grounded. Considering he has just bought a brand new black Porsche Cayenne as his first car, remaining level-headed might be easier said than done.
However, he assured MM that he’s got good people around him to keep his feet on the ground.
“If I ever turned into a diva they’d punch me square in the face!”
So, what next for one of Britain’s most talked about musicians?
“Maybe I’ll go on tour,” he retorted.
World or UK?
Laughing, Conor said: “Well, I suppose that completely depends on how well the new album sells!”
If his first track ‘R U Crazy’ is anything to go by he’ll be racking up the air miles for the next couple of years.
For more on this story and many others, follow Mancunian Matters on Twitter and Facebook.
