He has graduated from Brit School and now Sutton’s Hayden Brenen is looking to the future as he records his debut album.
The 18-year-old singer-songwriter has been playing since he was eight, but says his time at the school, which counts the likes of Adele and Jessie J among its alumni, has encouraged him to focus on his songwriting.
Hayden, who was in four-piece Hip Hop and R&B act The Drill, said: "I write my own music and I mainly get my inspiration from ex-girlfriends... unfortunately, but I left the Brit School in the summer last year and they really encouraged you to write your own stuff there.
"I learnt a lot."
Brenen has been in bands for most of his life, but now similiar to Ed Sheeran, he is embarking on a solo career with the help of a backing band, who along with indie-pop band The 1975 he lists as his main musical inspiration.
Without naming names, Brenen predicted some of his former classmates would go very far with their careers, and feels he is on the path to join them as a future star.
He continued: "I’m working on an album at the moment but I’ve got some stuff on SoundCloud and if you search really hard you might even find some old, embarrassing YouTube videos."
"There is no timeline on the album at the moment because I’m still trying to get everything recorded and then I want to do some music videos for the singles.
"I don’t want to put a date on it because if you get rushed you could end up releasing something which you aren’t completely happy with."
Brenen has played gigs at a number of venues in London, including the O2 Academy Islington and Shoreditch’s Strongroom Bar, but he bemoaned the lack of venues available in Sutton which he said makes it more difficult for young musicians in the area.
He says: "I got a call the other day from a Conservative candidate asking me about it and it’s something I think needs to change.
"When we were younger we would play in Epsom or Carshalton but there was nowhere really to play in Sutton unless you are doing a pub gig in front of 10 people."
Hayden Brenen- Waiting on You (taster)
Hayden can next be seen live at The Good Ship in Kilburn on April 8 to soundcheck some new songs from his album, although this is yet to be confirmed.
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