The Hour

You could be forgiven for thinking a tent had been placed over the main stage at this year’s T in the Park when thousands of  music lovers swarmed to the T Break stage, filling the tent while those unfortunate souls unlucky enough not to gain entry crowded round the openings hoping to get a glimpse of the oncoming performer.

This was not Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen or Neil Young they were waiting for to take to the stage, but Glasgow’s own Tommy Reilly, who arrived to the chant “Tommy, Tommy, Tommy f******g Reilly!” while plastic pint glasses flew like missiles through the air drenching the crowd.

Two weeks later and Tommy is on <em>The Hour</em> to discuss his career, the summer festivals and where it all began as an even younger youngster watching Oasis at 2002’s T in the Park.

“It started with Oasis when I went to T in the Park years ago when I was 14, the last time Oasis were headlining, then after that sort of just into all the Brit-Pop bands then started getting a hold of everything and stealing my dad’s CDs,” said Reilly whose career began after winning TV reality competition Orange Unsigned Act.

Reilly revealed his entry into the TV talent show was a stab in the dark after being disheartened by the strong music competition on the Glasgow scene.

“I was only getting a gig here and there, maybe one a month. There are a lot of good bands in Glasgow and it’s really hard work. Every week you meet a new band that’s better than you and it’s dead disheartening.

“So I was ‘right this is it, I’m going to try a new route’ and that was it, it worked. I didn’t think it would work out how it did,” he revealed.

Since then Reilly has also played Rockness and is preparing for a new UK tour. His debut album, Words on the Floor, is released on September 22nd, the novelty of which still surprises him.

“It’s cool to have an album now which you can hold and to get to make a record is really special. I saw my first CD in the shops a couple of months ago and the single came out and it’s just dead odd. It’s really weird.”