• 2 days ago
After a long run in the incredibly popular band, The Vamps, Bradley Simpson has launched his own solo career with his debut album, The Panic Years which has gone straight into the top 10 album chart.

Brad explains the album name, what the cover is all about and how fans are now bringing their own babies along to his gigs!

He also reflects on people he's worked alongside, like Sabrina Carpenter and says The Vamps will be back one day so watch this space!

The Panic Years is out now! Report by Jonesl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Transcript
00:00We say Bab a lot. You all know what Bab. I'd love to crowd surf. You're gonna be fine.
00:05Bradley Simpson, great to see you. I think we first chatted in 2011.
00:10Yeah.
00:11Would it have been 2011 or 2013?
00:13Like maybe 2012.
00:15Okay, because James found you on YouTube all those years ago.
00:19Did you ever revisit those little videos and look way back when?
00:23No, I can't physically. It pains me to look at them.
00:27The original covers that he found me off, yeah, I can't go back.
00:30There's maybe one that I'm like, oh, that's half decent.
00:33But yeah, as a baby. He found me when I was like 15.
00:37He was doing a similar thing to me in Bournemouth and then that's how we kind of started.
00:40He's a little Simon Cowell, isn't he? Because he put you all together.
00:44Yeah, well, he found... I was doing the covers and he found me.
00:47And then James knew Joe, who's over there, who's our manager.
00:53And then me and James were like, right, let's start trying to find other band members.
00:57So we started flicking through YouTube and we came across Triss and Con the same way.
01:02Just kind of like scouring through YouTube.
01:04And how are the lads before we crack on to your stuff? Are they all good?
01:07They're good, yeah. Everyone's good. Everyone's living their lives.
01:10Getting married, babies. It's all happening.
01:12It's all going on, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then this is my baby.
01:14Yes.
01:15But yeah, everyone's good. Everyone's really good, yeah.
01:18And have you played the stuff to them?
01:20Did they have a say in this baby?
01:23I've played them the stuff, definitely. Yeah, yeah.
01:26They heard the album probably like a year ago when I'd just finished it
01:29and they were hearing songs throughout the process.
01:32And they were very kind. I was quite nervous to play it to them.
01:35I was like, they're going to say it's terrible. But no, they were really supportive.
01:39Was it a carpool karaoke type situation where you've got them in the back,
01:42you're driving around, putting it on?
01:43No, it's even worse. I think the time I played stuff to James or Con,
01:47it was on the tube, and I just gave them my headphones.
01:51And then it was quite a long tube journey, so they listened to it.
01:54And I was just watching, you know, and I'm just intensely watching someone.
01:57I'm like, please like it, please like it.
01:59It was probably the worst way for them to hear it, actually, me staring at them.
02:02I hope they're good headphones on the tube, because they're loud.
02:04I know, yeah.
02:05You need the noise cancelling.
02:07Because your last album with the boys, with the Vamps, was quite rocky, wasn't it?
02:11Yeah, it was moving.
02:12You're kind of edging towards this, do you reckon?
02:14Yeah, well, I've always, like, I grew up on alternative and rock.
02:17That's kind of what got me into music, and I only started listening to pop music
02:21kind of when I joined the band.
02:23It wasn't really in my world.
02:26Was that your parents doing in the car, going to places, listening to music?
02:29Yeah, my mum was like a massive ACDC Led Zeppelin fan, so I kind of grew up on that.
02:33And then my sister was more like Nirvana and like British indie and things like that.
02:38Coolest car journeys ever to the seaside with you lot.
02:40Yeah, it was fun.
02:41It was a long journey to the seaside from Birmingham,
02:44but filled with good music.
02:46I had Neil Diamond, Bee Gees, Beatles.
02:50Did you? Classics.
02:51Queen.
02:52Queen, classics.
02:53And Les Miserables soundtrack.
02:54Ah, a bit of musical theatre in there as well.
02:56I know.
02:57So let's talk about this.
02:58This baby, this Panic!
02:59Yes.
03:00How do you get this, like, look?
03:02How do you choose that?
03:04Well, we, I knew...
03:07So basically, this is like a race track, like a kind of motors,
03:13cross race track, just like an hour outside of London.
03:17And I knew that the album's like quite a lot of up and downs
03:20and it's quite frantic in parts.
03:22And it's about the, like, panic years and going through your 20s,
03:25trying to fix stuff out.
03:26And we wanted to kind of capture it in a shot.
03:30And we spoke about trying to have something that felt...
03:32Originally, it was going to be something with cars
03:34and then we couldn't get the insurance to cover it.
03:36But then these are actual motorbike riders here,
03:41like professional riders.
03:43And I just had to hold this pose and then they just razzed past me.
03:47So I'm panicking about several things.
03:49Yeah, me too, in this.
03:50Have you got odd shoes on?
03:52No, no.
03:53They're too brown, it's the shadow,
03:55but I can see how you would think that, actually.
03:57From an osteopath's perspective, how's your back?
04:00Agony.
04:01Yeah, I had to lie down.
04:03Needed to go to a chiropractor after that.
04:05Because I'm holding this the whole time.
04:07They're razzing past, so I'm, like, bricking it.
04:09The dirt's kicking.
04:10It was chaos, but I'm very happy with how it turned out.
04:12It was panic chaos.
04:13So you did what you said on the tin.
04:15Exactly, yeah.
04:16When you were little, Brad,
04:17did you envision a debut album looking like that?
04:22No, no, not really.
04:24I got asked the other day, I did this thing,
04:26and they were like, if you could speak to yourself as a kid now,
04:29what would you say?
04:30Or what would they think of where you are now?
04:32I think I never necessarily wanted to do a solo album
04:36when I was growing up.
04:37It wasn't like, oh, it's all about me.
04:39I just wanted to be in bands.
04:41And then this just kind of happened naturally,
04:43so yeah, I think I'd be surprised.
04:47I don't think I ever envisioned doing a solo album,
04:49but now I'm in it, I'm really enjoying it,
04:51and I feel like I've got loads of music left in me.
04:53And your family and mates must be so proud of you.
04:55Were you nervous showing them this and playing them the music as well?
04:58Yeah.
04:59It's usually, like, I'd have to be a bit drunk to play them stuff.
05:03Like, it'd be, like, around the kitchen table, like,
05:06late at night, and I'd just be like, oh, let me play this tune.
05:09Simpsons family, margaritas, midnight.
05:11Yeah, exactly, that's the vibe.
05:13So they like it, your sister likes it?
05:15Nat likes it, yeah, family loved it,
05:18and my mates were super supportive,
05:20which, yeah, it's really nice, you know,
05:23because I get nervous about putting it out in general,
05:26but playing it to people that you're close with,
05:28it's almost more nerve-wracking because they're so close to you.
05:31What were you so nervous about, top ten, mister?
05:33Ah, well, fingers crossed, I don't know if we know or we don't,
05:36fingers crossed.
05:37It's manifesting, I'm not panicking, there's no panic gears here with me.
05:40That's pretty cool.
05:42And the panic gear thing, have we put that behind?
05:44Are we still a sense of panic?
05:46Do you still get nervous and worried about stuff?
05:49I think, like, it comes in waves,
05:52but I think this feels like it was a lot of looking back,
05:55so I feel I'm in a much better place,
05:58and I think going into my 30s, this feels like a recap of my 20s,
06:01and it's a nice kind of end of that chapter,
06:04wrap it all up in an album and then kind of move past it.
06:07Very Adele of you, isn't it?
06:08Yeah, well, I don't know about that, but yeah, I'm trying.
06:12So who are you looking at for inspiration?
06:15Who would you love to emulate the success of?
06:17Because you have been in a boy band,
06:19the boy band's absolutely massive,
06:21it must be daunting to go out there on your own,
06:23but you look at Robbie, you look at all these different artists
06:25that have gone solo, all the 1D boys,
06:27like, is that what you want?
06:29Is that kind of where you want to be?
06:31I think I want to showcase a different side of me,
06:34and I kind of want to carve my own path
06:37and kind of lean into stuff that I've loved for so long,
06:41but I haven't had the chance to showcase.
06:43So I think for me, live shows are always a huge thing.
06:46I want to, like, keep playing venues and going up in venue size,
06:50that's my goal,
06:51because I want the shows to be as good as they can be.
06:53Can we practice a Hello Wembley together?
06:55Yeah, we can.
06:56Should we do a...
06:57Can we go together?
06:58Yeah.
06:59Hello Wembley!
07:01Again, I'm putting it out there.
07:03It doesn't matter if it's the arena,
07:05it doesn't matter if it's still in North London.
07:07Yes, it's fine.
07:08Even a public Wembley.
07:09We will say Hello Wembley, yeah.
07:11That would be a dream, wouldn't it?
07:12Yeah, it'd be unreal.
07:13Have you been to any gigs with other people
07:14and you've thought, that's incredible,
07:16I love this, I want to be up there?
07:18Anything stick in your mind?
07:21I always loved going to festivals.
07:24I watched, like, Foo Fighters at a festival when I was younger
07:26and Arctic Monkeys.
07:28And I got to play Redmond Leeds last year,
07:30which was the first time ever playing it.
07:32And I'd love to do some of those festival sets,
07:35like the main stage ones,
07:36so I think that's, like, manifesting that.
07:38Are you that guy that will jump in the crowd at the end?
07:42100%, yeah.
07:43Yeah?
07:44Yes.
07:45I've never crowd surfed, I'd love to crowd surf.
07:47Do you have to practice crowd surfing?
07:49Is there something you do on your sofa with your mates?
07:51I don't know how you'd go about it, yeah.
07:53Just get a few pals together and be like,
07:55right, you stand there.
07:57And I don't know if you go backwards or, yeah.
07:59Are there any YouTube tutorials out there, I wonder?
08:01I don't know, there's a gap in the market.
08:03There is.
08:04Because I think, I was at your gig the other week
08:06and it kicked off, it popped off.
08:08As soon as you came on the stage,
08:09everyone knew all the words.
08:11The album wasn't even out yet.
08:12I mean, I reckon you could have swan dived.
08:15Yeah, I feel like that was a good gig to do it at.
08:18Also, is it front or do you go back?
08:20I think it's, also, have you ever seen School of Rock?
08:23Yeah.
08:24You're so scared of doing the Jack Black,
08:26no one catches you and you just face plant, so.
08:29Just need to know, maybe I'll plant some people.
08:31The problem we've got is, if we organise it with the fans,
08:33it's going to look a bit too contrived.
08:35Exactly.
08:36You're cooler than that.
08:38It needs to be natural.
08:40Yeah, I wonder if you just get down there
08:42and mosh with them.
08:44Yeah, yeah, that could be fun.
08:45You've got your bodyguards around,
08:46the vibe will be epic.
08:48Sweaty, fun.
08:49And when you're singing live,
08:50have you got a favourite track from the album
08:52that you love to sing?
08:53Because I felt like a couple of tracks,
08:54you properly let your hair down,
08:55you had the long locks, fingers through it.
08:58It was brilliant.
08:59Anything you love performing, particularly?
09:03There's a song called Getting Clear on there,
09:05which I opened the set with,
09:06and I really like that one.
09:08Mainly because I haven't got my guitar on that,
09:10so I can be a bit more free.
09:12Are you a just tickety kind of guy?
09:13Yeah, yeah.
09:14Do you want to create some TikTok moves?
09:16Not particularly.
09:17No, I don't think that's mine.
09:19No one wants to see me trying to do that.
09:22But if other people want to, fine.
09:24Yeah, the Bamps never did dance, did they?
09:26No.
09:27There is a video of you online though,
09:28back in the day,
09:29where you were twerking with the boys,
09:32and then you did one of those Irish things
09:33where you jump over your own leg.
09:34Oh, the Irish leg jump?
09:35Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:36I haven't done that in a long time.
09:37That's still there for the world to see.
09:39Yeah, maybe that's my TikTok.
09:41So when you're performing on stage
09:42and you see those fans that have followed you
09:44the whole time,
09:45is it just bizarre seeing them grow up,
09:46probably bringing boyfriends, girlfriends
09:47along with them?
09:48Someone brought a baby the other day.
09:50Someone brought a baby?
09:51Yeah.
09:52And I recognised the fan
09:55because she's been a fan for so long.
09:58And then she turned up and she was like,
09:59oh, this is Dylan.
10:01And she brought her kids along
10:02and it's so cool to see
10:03because everyone has grown up together.
10:06She did miss a trick though
10:07because she could have called it Bradley,
10:09for goodness sake.
10:10Oh, no, I know.
10:11Brad, Brad, Brad, Brad.
10:13But yeah, it's really, really cool to see.
10:15And they said it a lot this week,
10:16I've been doing signings for the album
10:17and they're all like,
10:18literally we've grown up together
10:20and grown up with your music
10:21and now this album.
10:22So it's wholesome vibes.
10:24It's bonkers though
10:25that you've looked up to people
10:26and you would love to have lined up
10:27and got stuff signed
10:28and now people are doing it with you.
10:29That's pretty cool.
10:30Have you had emotional moments
10:31with fans saying,
10:32you changed my life,
10:33I danced to you at my wedding?
10:34Yeah, yeah.
10:36And you know that show
10:37that you were at,
10:38the Colours one?
10:39Someone got engaged,
10:41someone got proposed to at that show,
10:43in the back,
10:44and I didn't know until afterwards.
10:45I was in the back,
10:46I didn't see anything in the back.
10:48What song was it?
10:52Holy Grail, I think,
10:53or Carpet Burn.
10:54Carpet Burn.
10:55Yeah, Carpet Burn.
10:56What song did you get engaged to?
10:57Carpet Burn.
10:58Just the inspiration.
11:00Yeah, that's the one to do it to.
11:02That's incredible.
11:03Yeah, so it was really cool.
11:04I like those moments.
11:05That's unreal.
11:06I'll tell you what else is incredible.
11:07When you look at who you guys
11:08worked with coming up,
11:09you worked with Sabrina Carpenter
11:10way before she is now,
11:12you know,
11:13performing at the Brits,
11:14got these sold out shows
11:15all over the world.
11:16That's pretty cool, isn't it?
11:18Yeah, it's amazing.
11:19Like, she, I think,
11:21you could see it then
11:22that she was like
11:23an incredibly talented,
11:25hard-working artist,
11:26and it's like the success
11:27that she's getting now
11:30is thoroughly deserved.
11:31Like, she's worked so hard
11:32for so long,
11:33so it's really good to see.
11:34There's so many artists
11:35you've worked with like that,
11:36and I think it's really refreshing
11:37to see that, you know,
11:38she's been doing it for ages
11:39like you have.
11:40It's a real journey, isn't it?
11:41Yeah, yeah.
11:42Talking journeys,
11:43my friend,
11:44she loved your accent
11:45so much on First Dates.
11:47She went and married
11:48a guy from Brum.
11:50Did she?
11:51You totally inspired her.
11:52Representing Birmingham.
11:53She went, she said,
11:54I love his voice so much,
11:55I'm going to go and find a bloke
11:57from up there.
11:58And that is the story.
12:00That's amazing.
12:01How cool is that?
12:02Did she literally go
12:03and camp out in Birmingham?
12:04What happened?
12:05She went to the ball ring
12:06and just sat on a bench waiting.
12:08That's how it happens.
12:10She was inspired
12:11by your beautiful voice.
12:13You are representing Birmingham.
12:14When you go up there,
12:15is it really lovely to go home
12:16and do your mates go,
12:17your accent's slipping a bit,
12:18come back, come back?
12:19Yeah, sometimes it does go.
12:23But then if I have a few drinks
12:24or if I'm with my mates
12:25for more than like an hour,
12:26it starts to come back.
12:27You're splitting the G
12:28and it comes back.
12:29Exactly, yeah.
12:30Then I'm in.
12:31About halfway through,
12:32I'm like, okay, now I'm back.
12:33Can you teach us
12:34some Bradley-isms then
12:35from Birmingham?
12:36From Birmingham?
12:37I don't even know what to say.
12:38There's yam, yam.
12:39There's yam, isn't there?
12:40Yeah, yam all right.
12:41So yam is like a nice babe or something?
12:44Yeah, well you'd say like,
12:45we say bab a lot.
12:47All the way bab.
12:48So you're all the way bab
12:49and that'd be like you're okay.
12:50And then what else?
12:51We'd call like a bun a cob.
12:53Pardon?
12:54A cob instead of a bun.
12:55A bun, okay.
12:56Yeah, like a bread.
12:57Yeah.
12:58But then I'm trying to think,
12:59I grew up like,
13:00all my family's from Newcastle as well
13:01so I'm like,
13:02I've picked up Geordie-isms
13:04as well as the Birmingham stuff.
13:06But yeah, all right bab
13:07is probably the main one.
13:08Oh, I love it.
13:09It's a nice little,
13:10if you see someone from Birmingham
13:12just say all right bab.
13:13And do you hear from people from school?
13:15Do you get contact advice?
13:16You know, alumni,
13:17can you come back
13:18and have a chat with the kids?
13:19We went back actually
13:20for sport relief years ago
13:23to my secondary school
13:26and it was like the weirdest thing ever
13:27and I saw my headteacher again
13:28and it had been like
13:30ten years since I'd seen him
13:31and I was still like,
13:32hello sir.
13:33You know what I mean?
13:34You like revert back
13:35as soon as you see him.
13:36I'm never going to call him
13:37vice versa.
13:38And he was like,
13:39hello sir, back to you.
13:40Yeah, I know.
13:41He was like,
13:42late again,
13:43I see Simpson.
13:44But yeah,
13:45I'm still very close
13:46with all the lads
13:47that I grew up with
13:48and like I was in bands
13:49throughout school
13:50and one of the lads
13:51who I was in a band with
13:52I'm still like,
13:53best mates,
13:54live down the road from him.
13:55Is he not a bit of a fuming
13:56that you didn't take him
13:57to your own house?
13:58Oh no,
13:59he's doing all right.
14:00He's fine.
14:01And with these people from home,
14:02do you have contact
14:03about coming to your gigs?
14:04Like,
14:05how does that work?
14:06Do you bring them down
14:07on a mini bus?
14:08They need a mini bus,
14:09there's enough of them.
14:10Um,
14:11they kind of make
14:12their own way
14:13and then,
14:14we had a bar in Birmingham
14:15in my family
14:16for quite a while
14:17and then after every
14:18Brum gig we'd go back
14:19to the bar
14:20and do the after party.
14:21So it'd usually be like,
14:22they'd turn up for the gig
14:23and then we'd all
14:24pile into the bar
14:25and have like a lock-in
14:26afterwards.
14:27And that bar,
14:28you don't do that anymore?
14:29No,
14:30the bar's gone now
14:31and it was
14:32a very good time.
14:33That sounds like
14:34the golden years,
14:35let alone the panic years.
14:36Yeah,
14:37that was it, yeah.
14:38So let's get
14:39a bit more personal.
14:40What are you enjoying
14:41film-wise and stuff?
14:42What happens when you're
14:43not doing your music
14:44and do you go to cinema?
14:45Do you watch stuff on TV?
14:46Because there's so much
14:47out there.
14:48Yeah, there is.
14:49Are you a chilled guy?
14:50Curtains drawn,
14:51you know,
14:52candles,
14:53watching,
14:54binging?
14:55What am I binging
14:56at the minute?
14:57I really like Severance.
14:58I don't know if you've
14:59watched Severance.
15:00I've heard of it.
15:01I've heard of it,
15:02I've heard of it.
15:03You've heard how
15:04you've got a real life
15:05and how you need to
15:06separate life from work.
15:07A little bit.
15:08There's days where I'm
15:09like, I'd love to do that.
15:10But it's just really good,
15:11I think it's
15:12really, really interesting.
15:13Well,
15:14Sharp,
15:15Slow Horses.
15:16Yes.
15:17I binge Slow Horses
15:18in about,
15:19did the whole thing
15:20in like a month,
15:21it was amazing.
15:22I love that.
15:23Gary Oldman's amazing.
15:24Gary Oldman's a jit.
15:25I'd love to meet Gary Oldman.
15:26I've met him
15:27and it was exactly
15:28what you thought
15:29Do you kind of switch off to other people's music and or do you play your own stuff?
15:33Cuz Ed Sheeran admittedly drives around with his own stuff
15:36Yeah, he listens to his own stuff the whole time because you've got to love your own music
15:40Yeah, are you guilty of that a little bit sometimes?
15:42Yeah
15:42and then I'm really conscious of like if I've got it in my headphones where the people in the car can hear it like
15:47It on the tube. Yeah, so I'm conscious of where I listen to it postman
15:53Is that your own tunes you got faster?
15:55And no, but I think because I've had the album for so long
15:59I've kind of like switched off from it for a bit and then
16:02What else am I listening to? There's a lot of Leon Bridges is really good
16:07And then I've gone back into a lot of music that I grew up on so like Queens of Stone Age and Black Keys
16:13Must feel heartwarming and nice listening back to the ramp stuff as well. Yeah a big part that for a little bit
16:18no, I still dive back in like it definitely and
16:22And Trish got married the other day and
16:25We played at the wedding and we've like played a few tunes. I haven't played in a while
16:29so that was really fun and it's like
16:32There's so many memories like associated with all the songs as well
16:35And I hope it'll be the same for this album in like a few years
16:38You can look back and it reminds you of a period of time in your life. That's nice
16:42I do want to see you guys back together one day. Now. Everyone's asking me but the pop music at the moment
16:46We're just missing that little pop rock
16:48Yeah, I know well, I think because we did so many albums and such we did like five albums in quite quick succession and
16:56I'm sure we will come back at some point a hundred percent. But at the moment, I'm really enjoying kind of this new
17:04Exploring this kind of music. So I'm excited and what's the biggest lesson then just kind of going on your own
17:10You're on your own. You've done this. You're chatting on your own. You haven't got the boys sitting around. I know I need to
17:16It forces me to talk to people at parties because I can't
17:20Just palm it off to the other boys. So I'm hopefully learn to get better at that and be actual like a social human being
17:28Was it quite easy to hide behind?
17:31James loves to talk, you know, yeah, we're all yappers to be fair, but
17:37No, we just kind of be in our own bubble. Do you know I mean
17:40So we'd go to networking events and then end up just standing in the corner by herself, but no, I think
17:47The biggest thing is like I've learned. I feel like I've learned a lot more about
17:52The other side of stuff
17:53so like there's a
17:54even in terms of touring and like the more business side of stuff and as well as like
17:59Loosing an album by myself like all of those things have come with a bit more
18:02They're like I've needed to be across stuff a lot more and like everything
18:08But it's interesting I was I think young artists like you come into it and you don't know what there's no education in that
18:15Like you you're not made aware that you have so many
18:20different aspects of the industry in your career that you should be aware of
18:24So I think it's important to like any young artist to try and get your head around that stuff as early as possible
18:30Because the money's out of it as well. Yeah making money from gigs and how it works. You've got to pay. Yeah, it's important
18:36It's like it's not the text
18:38but it's like it's very important in your career if you want to have like a long lasting career and I think
18:44Young guys need to be made aware of that quite early on and what about any advice you've got for kids that are in their?
18:51Panic years that you know, they're getting a lot of solace from this music
18:55What do you have to say to people that don't we know where they're going and they're a bit worried about their future
18:59You're gonna be fine. That's it. That's the
19:03Resounding takeaway from this album is it's all gonna be fine
19:07and then you kind of go for ups and downs and you learn all these lessons, but
19:12It's always you will be fine. Just have faith. Everything's gonna be okay and try not to overthink
19:17You won't even remember what you're crying about. Exactly
19:22And just some in lines to help you at parties and I find that peanut butter crunch your smooth works quite well as a
19:29I like that. Yeah crunchy
19:33Yeah, bit nutty. Yes describes us a little bit in there. Yeah, I like that
19:37It also says a lot about a person doesn't it? Yeah. Yeah, I make notes of these
19:44And I often find that I can't trust people that are like football so you could ask straight away about their football team, okay
19:50There is your advice for thank you. I needed that
19:55Thank you so much. And what is the dream this time next year?
19:57We're gonna click our fingers. Where do you want to be? What would you have done in March 2026 ink?
20:04And I'd like to have more music out. That is the plan to kind of
20:08Get another batch of music out after this
20:11And then I'd love to do another tour next year a bigger tour next year. We're gonna go on a plane somewhere
20:17We're gonna go. Yeah, you're Europe. Let's go to Europe. I really want to do that
20:22some festivals
20:24Yeah, I think I just like getting get the music out there to as many people as possible manifest Glaston
20:31Thailand New Zealand South Africa America. Yes
20:35That's the world tour done

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