Since bursting on to the scene in 2012 Brighton-born popstar Conor Maynard has racked up an army of screaming fans, a collaboration with Ne-Yo and a number one album.
But despite his string of momentous achievements, the 22-year-old is most content with life when he’s sat at home in his pants playing on his Xbox.
Now, after a two-year hiatus, the blue-eyed hearttrob is back with a new sound and MM caught up with the singer to discuss his new track, the sun-soaked Miami video and the brand new album that is on its way.
The singer has kept fans waiting since 2012 when his first UK number one album was released.
His new single Talking About is a dance jam co-written by 7 Days singer Craig David, who has a cameo in the Miami hitch-hike style video.
Trying to use my phone… then Salem bowls in and now I can’t see shit. pic.twitter.com/j9dutjIjvo
— Conor Maynard (@ConorMaynard) March 21, 2015
Conor grew up listening to the likes of Craig David so for him to appear in the video was a ‘cool experience’.
“He just starred in the video because he’s a really nice person, and also the money we gave him that he forced us to pay him at gunpoint,” he said.
Maynard admitted in real life he doubted he would hitch-hike, which is the main story behind the video.
He said: “I feel like in a real circumstance the only car that I wouldn’t have ended up dead in was the hippie one.”
Talking About was the final piece of the puzzle when it came to patching together the album and the track has a feel-good summer vibe.
“@OliverClark27: Anyone else like completely forget about Connor Maynard hahaha” < hahahahahahahahahaha my mum still calls me twice a day.
— Conor Maynard (@ConorMaynard) March 15, 2015
“We needed that one track to really come back and hit hard with and we just didn’t have that,” Conor added.
The popstar was sent the track by Mojam, the UK hit song-writing and production duo, whilst with his manager.
He said: “We played it in the studio and instantly looked at each other and we were like, this is the one.”
The album, which doesn’t have a name or release date yet, can be expected to have a range of different styles.
The 22-year-old collaborated with pop royalty including Labrinth and Timbaland in a bid to make the album as versatile as possible.
@ConorMaynard fun night pic.twitter.com/7KPRp2v3tD
— Jilleana (@Jilleana89) March 19, 2015
“I didn’t want an album where every song sounds the same – I wanted there to be a song for everyone,” he said.
“That’s why I’ve spent this amount of time getting the album ready because I want to make sure people love it.”
Conor admitted to being nervous about the album release, which he revealed was set for some time this year.
“It’s quite scary because if you think about it, having a first album at Number 1 there’s no higher you can go, it’s just the same or lower.
“For me obviously a top 5 album will still always be amazing but I think reaching Number 1 again would be really cool,” he said.
I feel like searching “Connor Maynard” and seeing what people who can’t spell name have to say about me…
— Conor Maynard (@ConorMaynard) March 15, 2015
When working with Timbaland he said it was an ‘on-line job’ where files were sent back and forth, meaning he didn’t actually get to meet the producer.
Conor added: “I could have just been catfished – it might not have even been him.
“It could just be some guy from up North called Tim Burland but I’m hoping it was the real Timbaland.”
The singer revealed the self-proclaimed ‘Mayniacs’ keep him entertained after Conor received a JLS condom in his fan mail.
And ‘condom’ and ‘condiments’ were some of the ideas his Twitter fans came up with when asked for album name inspiration.
“@scottmillar123: Wonder what Connor Maynard is up too” < not much tbh.. searching my own name.. getting abused.. the usual.
— Conor Maynard (@ConorMaynard) March 15, 2015
A fans dad compared him to Justin Bieber at a signing and the fan epidemic Bieber Fever, resulting in the guidance to use ‘Conorreah,’ for his own fan base.
He recently entertained thousands of Twitter followers after he searched the miss-spelt version of ‘Connor’ on Twitter and found some interesting results.
He said: “The people that didn’t spend the time to figure out how to spell my name correctly would normally be the ones that didn’t like me.
“I just did a James Blunt and tried to think of the best comeback.”
The singer admitted it can be strange to read negative comments but that he has grown a thick skin over the years.
When you catch someone trying to photo bomb your team photo. @willdarbyshire @ConorMaynard @Joe_Sugg @OliWhiteTV pic.twitter.com/u7kuPNpMIX
— Caspar Lee (@Caspar_Lee) March 18, 2015
He added: “I think it’s probably because my friends are worse. If I have one bad picture they’ll send it into our group chat and absolutely rinse me for an hour.
“I should probably find some new friends because they’re actually really mean.”
With his first album Conor struggled to lose the ‘UK’s Justin Bieber’ title the media branded him with.
He said: “They kind of almost saw me as this guilty pleasure. I think they were under the belief that ‘I can’t be a fan of Conor Maynard because he’s meant to be for the young kids’ kind of thing.
“I’m trying to show people with this album that it’s definitely grown up even more than it was the first time around and hopefully win over those people who maybe feel like they can’t be a fan.”
Image courtesy of EMI Records Ltd, with thanks.
