This is like the warm-up, it's so early in my career – I want to win a Grammy for a solo track one day, says Cian Ducrot

The Sun

a day ago

SEVEN years ago when Cian Ducrot was an unknown, he predicted that he would win a Grammy Award for his songwriting.
Back in February, that dream came true when the half-Irish, half-French singer-songwriter won his first Grammy for Saturn, a global hit he co-wrote with SZA, which scooped Best RnB Song.
4
4
'It's nuts isn't it?' he says. 'I'd written on my computer when I was just 20 that I would win one.
'I even said it would be the Grammy for Best RnB Song, which is crazy because I don't even make RnB music — and I said it would be in 2023, so I was only two years out.'
Now 27, Ducrot is hoping his next gong will be for a solo track.
'Hopefully, I'll get a Grammy for one of my own songs down the line ­— it's so early in my career.
'I've always wanted to be a songwriter, and winning a Grammy is the biggest musical recognition you can get.'
I'm meeting Ducrot in a central London hotel to chat about his success as he releases second album Little Dreaming, the follow-up to his chart-topping debut Victory.
Winning a Grammy kicked off the rising star's momentous year. In March he also sang the Irish and French national anthems at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, in front of more than 50,000 people when the two countries played each other in the Six Nations.
Little Dreaming is an album of self-discovery from an artist unafraid to dream big.
'I want to be like Bob Dylan or Elton John — and have 70 albums,' he says over a coffee.
'This is like the warm-up, which is just crazy. It's about the legacy.
'Life is so short, I can click my fingers and be 60 or 70 in no time. I want to look back and be like, 'Yes I did that — I went that extra mile and built the shows I wanted to and did the tours I wanted to do'. It's really important to me to be doing that.'
Former Royal Academy of Music student Ducrot says he takes inspiration from Bob Dylan as well as lots of other artists and musical styles.
'There are so many influences for me, whether it's classical, jazz, soul or folk.
'At the moment I listen to a lot of Dylan, and then there is Elton John, Michael Jackson and even Teddy Swims, who has inspired me so much.
'When I was on tour with him I just watched him in awe. He does whatever he wants and that's what I want to do.
'For a long time, Ed Sheeran was my biggest inspiration. He inspired me to be a songwriter and also write for other people.
'If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have a Grammy.'
Little Dreaming is a product of the 70s and 80s music Ducrot immersed himself in — with the album cover showing him aboard a vintage jet in a nod to rock 'n' roll's golden age of excess.
'I had playlists with Elton John, Fleetwood Mac and Queen on, and then I'd go down a rabbit hole for certain artists,' he explains.
One week I'm obsessed with jazz, the next it's folk. Then I want to make an album that's just me and my acoustic guitar, then I want a big band.
Cian Ducrot
'I came across this plane called The Starship, a customised Boeing 720B jet, which was just for artists to tour the world in.
'Led Zeppelin, Elton John, The Rolling Stones and John Lennon all used it.
'It had a bar, couches and a fake fireplace — it was the coolest thing ever.
'People used to get on after their show and party.
'There were even airlines in the 1970s that had dancefloors on their upper decks.
'I guess it was like a tour bus — only in America they needed tour planes.' Ducrot says he spent a lot of time ensuring Little Dreaming fully reflected his wide ranging influences and creative moods.
'You can really hear the music, musicality and instrumentation,' he says proudly.
'There are lots of different styles — there's everything.
'It's like being inside my ADHD brain!
'One week I'm obsessed with jazz, the next it's folk. Then I want to make an album that's just me and my acoustic guitar, then I want a big band.
'Another week I'm like, 'Hmm, I should do a full jazz EP, like Lady Gaga'.
'That's what I want my music to represent — all of my musicality, not just one part of it.'
The first single from the album, Who's Making You Feel It, is a confident sound for Ducrot.
He says: 'I wrote that song sat on my piano in my kitchen.
'Sometimes when you write, a song comes that has a very strong identity. And that's what that is — the opening chords are something else.'
The album begins with a bit of fun with the track It's Cian Bitch, which pokes fun at people who wrongly pronounce his name as 'Si-on', 'Ky-an' or 'Cien'.
Ducrot laughs: 'It happens a lot, which is nice as it means people know who I am — even though they can't pronounce my name.'
Standouts include Shalalala, one of the three tracks he worked on with Theo Hutchcraft of Hurts, and the rock anthem See It To Believe It, influenced by the operatic style of Queen and Freddie Mercury.
What About Love is another great track and a topic which Ducrot questioned following the success of his first album.
'I'm concentrating on being present'
He says: 'Little Dreaming has been a journey as there was a time when I was struggling mentally.
'I'd question what I was working so hard for, and I wanted more love.
'I also want to be able to love more, because I feel like I'm always folding in.
'I was missing my family — my brother has a son and I wasn't spending enough time with him. I was missing my grandparents, who had passed away, and friends. I wanted everyone around.
'With memories, you think of the good times with your friends — dinners together, nights having a laugh down the pub, or nights on the tour bus. Interactions.
'All my performances are really just a search for love.
'All artists want to be told they're good enough — and that's why they end up wanting more and more.'
My Best Friend on the new record is a moving track about the heartbreaking loss of Ducrot's friend Phil to suicide in 2019, and the overwhelming grief that followed.
He says: 'Philly was a friend I had in Cork,' he says. 'Losing him just hits at random times.
'The day I wrote that song, I was exhausted but it arrived line by line. It just poured out of me.
'It's an accurate representation of how sometimes it hits you and you get a feeling of wishing I could see him again.
'It's about feeling sad and missing my friend.
'But missing people as I'm working too hard has been a lesson.
'Now I'm concentrating on being present rather than what can I do next.
My first two EPs were self-produced, but now I oversee production — I'm always coming up with ideas, though.
Cian Ducrot
'Now I'm really focused on time with my friends, more with my family and making sure everyone is loved.'
Currently touring the US supporting last week's SFTW cover star Teddy Swims, Ducrot has been working hard preparing his own headline show, which will kick off in September.
'I am hands-on with all that I do and I want this to be the best show, the best tour I can do. I have found the right people, have a new musical director and it's my dream and my vision.
'I have put the work in finding the right people and musicians who speak the same language as me musically.
'I have a lot of musical ideas having spent so many years in orchestras.
'I love being involved musically and in the production of my music, too.
'My first two EPs were self-produced, but now I oversee production — I'm always coming up with ideas, though.
'I would like to be like Quincy Jones in that respect, he was a musical genius who I look up to.
'He studied at the Paris Conservatoire of Classical Music, where my mum also studied.'
That same admiration for artistry extends to his peers, too.
'Another artist I admire is Raye,' he says.
'Every time I watch her I cry and have goosebumps.
'There is something so special about her — she's on another level and gives so much to her live show. I've never met her but if I did, I'd be telling her how great she is.
'Her Glastonbury performance was blood, sweat and tears. She adds so much incredible detail, which is very important to me.
'She's one of the only people who is putting in effort at that level.'
That kind of passion and dedication is exactly what Ducrot aspires to in his own career.
'The dream would be to tour arenas all over the world and continue growing at this level.
'Another No1 album would be amazing, too.
'And to have big, massive successful songs and be one of the biggest songwriters and artists in the world.
'Oh, and another Grammy would be amazing.
'Every day is working towards that.'
The album Little Dreaming is out today.
CIAN DUCROT
Little Dreaming
★★★★☆
4