X FACTOR WAS LAST RESORT, SAYS BEN MILLS
By Beth Hardie, Mirror.co.uk 08/03/2007
BEN Mills has admitted going on the X Factor was a last ditch attempt at breaking into the music industry.
The gravel-voiced rocker has clinched a deal with record giants Sony BMG since leaving the show but says it would have been “crazy” if he’d won the competition.
“Being a pop show, it was quite weird for me to have entered it all” laughs Ben. “But it was really a case of I didn’t have another avenue to go down.
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“I’d tried sending my demo off to record companies, showcasing myself, doing all that sort of thing, so it was kind of like the last straw.”
Casting aside his rock roots (and long hair) for a while certainly seems to have paid off for the 26-year-old from Whistable.
No longer playing the circuit of the local pubs, he’s currently on a national tour with the other X Factor contestants, making personal appearances on GMTV and has just returned from shooting his new video in South Africa.
But despite the experiences X Factor has brought him Ben, who was mentored by Sharon Osbourne, is keen to leave the reality TV experience and world of pop behind.
“As much as I owe everything I’ve got to the X Factor, in order to stay in the game I have to give something new to the music industry, which is going to be my own stuff.
“So in order to move on and stay successful I have to move away from the X Factor.”
However, fans of the ITV show are catered for with the release of his debut album, Picture of You. As well as tracks Ben wrote himself, he’s included classics such as Rod Stewart’s Maggie May and Queen’s Somebody to Love, both of which he performed on the programme.
While he’s reveling in his new lifestyle, the grounded musician wants to be taken seriously. He has his eye firmly on the future and doesn’t rule out an attempt to crack America, which he thinks is streets ahead of the UK when it comes to the world of rock.
“It would be great to go over the US, but I’d like to ease myself into this country first and build up a fan base outside of X Factor.
“Then I could think about going over to the States and just see what happens.”
To see some videos of Ben, see
Mirror
