When Lewis Capaldi calls he's in the middle of a bubble. Thanks to the monster success of his emotional, pop ballad Someone You Loved, each day seemingly brings Capaldi news of another record smashed, the biggest this and the best that.
"Yeah, we're in a weird spot at the minute. It's cool man. We're in a good spot, everything's going really well but I'm sure it will slow down at some point," the affable singer-songwriter says, in his thick Scottish brogue. "Every day seems to come with another surprise. It'll slow down soon and the wheel will probably come off a bit but right now I'm just enjoying it."
We're talking because he's playing Auckland's Town Hall on January 7. Hope you have tickets because it sold out almost immediately. It will be his first ever visit to New Zealand and he's, "buzzing for it".
"To hear that the show sold out as well it's mental," he grins.
It may be a gross generalisation but Scots aren't well known for their love of sunny, summer days, so I ask Capaldi if he's looking forward to getting out and enjoying some sunshine while he's here.
"I'm the opposite of a summer guy. I don't trust leaving the house in just a t-shirt. I hate it," he laughs. "But it'll be fine. F**k it! We'll be good when we get there. I'll have a couple of days and I'm looking forward to seeing it, man. I don't know much about New Zealand so it'll be good to get down and experience it for the first time. That's the thing I love, going to places I've never seen before.. I'm f***ing looking forward to it."
So while he's not a fan of the heat, there's no denying he's on a hot streak right now.
"Yeah, things have taken on this whole other level of madness," he agrees. "But its fun. It's what I've always dreamed of doing, so to be doing it now, especially with everything that's happening, is incredible. It's mental but I try not to take it too seriously and have a laugh with it. Because I want to look back on it in a few years when it's all over and think that I did enjoy myself. You always hear people say, 'I wish I'd enjoyed it more at the time,' and the way music works now I may not be doing this in five years. If I'm not doing this in five years time I'll know for a fact that I'll look back and know I've enjoyed it because I'm taking it all in and loving it."
Now is very much Capaldi's moment. Being right in the thick of it all, the chart success, the smashed records, the feud with Noel Gallagher... what has he learnt about himself through it all?
"I'm not as material as I thought I was. I thought if anything like this ever happened I'd find joy in very material objects but I was surprised at how quickly that time with people you love is a lot more valuable than having things," he says, after giving the question a some thought. "The moments you get at home, with your friends and your family, I care about that a lot more than I ever have. Which has been quite to have that realisation at 22."
If in five years the music thing doesn't work out Capaldi will still be able to fall back on his YouTube channel. Sitting on 1.62m subscribers there's the expected bunch of music videos and live performances but there's also some extremely funny video logs and general mucking about. In contrast to the standard slick PR of a chart topping pop star these instead show Capaldi fooling about, documenting the moment he found out he was number one, and doing silly things like lip syncing to his biggest hit in the toilet while wearing a barrage of novelty sunglasses.
"It's just who I am. For the most part I'm always taking the piss or having a laugh and it's the music where I kinda let the serious stuff go," he says.
So how many pairs of sunglasses do you have then?
"Oh, f***ing loads. A ridiculous amount. Suitcases full of them now. At customs or a border you can see them thinking, 'why the f**k does this guy have so many sunglasses?' but it's nothing suspicious," he laughs.
"I just enjoy wearing stupid sunglasses and acting like a dick for a laugh."
