This year sees the 15th anniversary of Scott Alan’s debut album Dreaming Wide Awake, which he will mark with a concert on Sunday 10th November at Cadogan Hall (produced by Fourth Wall Live) with special guests Amber Davies, Amy Di Bartolomeo, Bradley Riches, Claudia Kariuki, Oliver Tompsett and Stuart Matthew Price, with rehearsals starting next week, and tickets currently on sale from Cadogan Hall website. During his years so far as a songwriter and pianist, Scott has released numerous albums including Lifeline, Cynthia Erivo and Oliver Tompsett Sing Scott Alan, and his latest album Nothing More (Special Edition), and he has performed his music live around the world. Scott holds masterclasses and private lessons internationally and at Scott Alan Studio in Florida, with an upcoming masterclass on the 16th and 17th November in Toronto, and he has recently signed a major contract for 2025, with no further details yet announced. We found out from Scott about his upcoming concert at Cadogan Hall on 10th November, what audiences can expect from the live show and releasing music over the years.

On Sunday 10th November, you will be holding your own concert at Cadogan Hall in London, how does it feel to be performing at Cadogan Hall for the first time and returning to London?

London always feels like my home away from home. Being back always inspires something beautiful in me. Being able to join a venue that has hosted some incredible artists and showcase my music there is really exciting.

How has it been having Fourth Wall Live produce the event and seeing the fan response to the concert announcement so far?

Darren Bell and I have known each other for almost 20 years so to be working together again, in a different context, is always exciting. I can’t wait to see him wearing the producer hat this time.

The concert marks the 15th anniversary of your debut album Dreaming Wide Awake, what has it been like organising the setlist for the show?

It’s been amazing because the setlist has been set primarily by the artists joining us. They’ve sent their requests and are singing songs that have had a meaningful history for them since the albums release. It’s going to be really special to hear their stories in their performances.

You have a number of special guest vocalists that will be joining you in November, including Amber Davies, Amy Di Bartolomeo, Bradley Riches, Claudia Kariuki, Oliver Tompsett and Stuart Matthew Price, what are you looking forward to for working with them?

I’m excited to work directly with them on helping them find the honesty and truth in the lyrics. Not my truth but there’s. That’s always the intention and the way that the audience feels more connected. But these are professionals and they hardly need my help.

What do you think they’ll each bring to the performance and how did you decide on the guest vocalist line-up?

Normally I’m producing my own nights so to have Fourth Wall Live produce, it’s been amazing to just sit back and watch who they’ve been able to invite to join the night.

What can the audience expect from the evening and who do you think will enjoy attending?

I always set up my concerts like a living room. I want the audience to feel close to us and to live the pain and the joy with us, so we’re united.

How have you been preparing for the concert and do you have a favourite aspect of performing live?

I will start rehearsing next week for the concert but I have gotten all the sheet music and tracks to the artists so they can prepare. Performing live gives me major anxiety but that’s so much a part of me and so in a way, I like that I can bring that to the stage. It makes me human.

Can you tell us about your most recent album Nothing More (Special Edition), which you re-released last year?

Nothing More is a collection of songs that I wrote for my daughter, Alex. It chronicles the road from pre-birth to five years later. The album features a host of Gay and Trans dads from all over the world and may be the proudest moment of my career thus far.

Over your career so far, you have worked with a wide variety of artists including Mark Feehily, Lea Salonga, Samantha Barks and Jeremy Jordan, released many albums including Lifeline and Cynthia Erivo and Oliver Tompsett Sing Scott Alan, and toured the world, what are some of your favourite highlights?

Travelling the world and meeting so many incredible people. Over here from Australia to Brazil to, obviously, London, I feel honoured that the work has taken me places I’ve never dreamt of. Recording those albums was great but performing them live and meeting the people it’s effected has been even greater.

How did you originally get into songwriting and piano, and was music something you always wanted to do professionally?

I always loved the theatre and was a theatre major in college. It was when my parents decided to get divorced when I was 18 that I sat down at the piano and wrote my first song, Kiss the Air. It was honestly just like that. Once I started writing I was never able to stop. It gave me a new way to release.

Do you have a songwriting process and how has it changed over the years?

My process has been the same since the start and that’s not to have a process. I write whatever I am feeling and if I’m not feeling like I need to write, I don’t. When I do, I set up my recorder and record the music that’s coming out of me. From there, I write down the lyrics. Shape them a bit. And then re-record. That’s usually the final print.

We understand you also teach masterclasses and private lessons both internationally and at the Scott Alan Studio in Florida, what do you enjoy most about running these?

Teaching and nurturing new talent is absolutely amazing. So often we think that singing and performing and writing is about showcasing our greatest strengths but to be good you need to show your weaknesses as well and so we dredge that up over and over until we find what we’re looking for.

What advice would you give someone wanting to start writing their own songs and aspiring for a career like yours?

The advice I always give is to be honest.  Forget about the structure. Forget about the rhyme. Just sit down and try to remove your walls and write. You can clean it all up later. But for now, just write. Honestly.

How do you like to spend your free time?

I’m either teaching, writing, performing or with my daughter and husband. I also am an avid reader and napper. I love a good nap.

Apart from your show at Cadogan Hall on Sunday 10th November, do you have any further performing and release plans coming up that you can tell us about?

I’ll be performing and teaching a masterclass in Toronto a few days after the London concert on November 16th and 17th. Outside of that, I have just signed a major contract for something that my fans have been waiting for many years to witness, so that’s coming 2025 and will take up most of my time.

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