James Bay

“I love the intimate, single spotlight, troubadour-y quiet, delicate moments. But I also love Springsteen and screaming and shouting.”

“As a little kid, I was obsessed with Michael Jackson.”

“How I set myself apart is by creating the sort of real and honest music, which is who I'm also trying to be.”

“My family quite innocently don't understand the ins and outs of it all, but they see things like the Burberry show and the Live Lounge, so they understand the gravity of those things, but they're proud - it's cool.”

“Both Springsteen and Michael Jackson, who had these huge productions, could always scale them back down to just a song and a melody. All of that influences me. I also try to be a fictional writer, and sometimes I get close, but the things that resonate the most with me - and with everyone else - is what's real.”

“As a singer-songwriter, a solo artist with a guitar, I can only write so many weepie little bedroom songs.”

“I like drawing people in the airport or on the bus or in venues. I like catching people in the moment. It's a similar inspiration for me in terms of songwriting.”

“The Internet is the Wild West of the world, where anybody can throw anything down. Everything can be as relevant as the next thing; it doesn't matter who posts it. In that environment, the Critics' Choice is still very important.”

“There should be an element of mystique between the fans and the artist. That bit between the stage and the audience. I think that's necessary.”

“Up until the last minute, it was art and drawing for me. That was the first real and natural thing I thought I was good at and loved to do. But I developed a similar kind of love for music.”

“I like it when things crescendo to a huge moment like 'Hold Back the River.'”

“I spent two years playing open mic nights in Brighton, and I heard more and more people saying, 'You should give it a go in London.'”

“I do some solo, acoustic stuff, but I also like plugging in my electric guitar and playing loud with a band.”

“My songwriting process, and maybe loads of other people's, is just this sort of smashing together of emotions and stuff to make some music. It's kind of simple and really complex at the same time and, as you can see, incredibly hard to explain.”

“I'm very close in age to my older brother, and we had a field at the end of the road where we could run around, climb trees, play football.”