Alfie Templeman launches debut album Mellow Moon with instore show at Southsea's Pie And Vinyl | Interview

But Templeman is already an experienced hand at this – he started self-releasing music at 14, scoring his deal with Chess Club Records while he was still at school.

His songs have racked up more than 140,000,000 streams, he’s been playlisted four times on Radio1, and featured on numerous ‘ones to watch’ lists.

When The Guide catches up with the 19-year-old he is at a hotel in London, about to take receipt of a load of vinyl copies of the album for him to sign. Only about 1,000 or so…

How’s he feeling now that the album is here?

‘It's so exciting, but it makes me so nervous at the same time it finally see this come out.

‘I started this two years ago, it feels like I've been sitting on it for such a long time. When that happens, you can't help but listen in to things, and think, have I grown on from this?

‘And I have in a lot of way, but it also shows a nice point in my life, that record.’

Much of the album was put together during the first lockdown. ‘About eight or nine of the songs were started in that period of time in 2020. It was a weird year for me – I was 17.

‘You grow up a lot around that age. In some respects I grew up too quickly, but too slowly at the same time because I was thinking so much in my head at that time, but I wasn't going anywhere. It was a really weird feeling.’

While many teens felt like they were missing out on their formative years being kept inside during the lockdowns, Alfie was a little different: ‘I wasn't really worried about catching up with going out or getting sloshed or anything,’ he laughs. ‘I wanted to catch up musically and go out and experiment a bit more – outside of my bedroom. That's where I felt I was lagging behind.’

Alfie’s love of music was nurtured at home – self-taught on guitar and bass, he also had drum lessons from seven.

‘My dad had a few guitars at home. He's a builder, but he likes to play guitar in his spare time, he had a lot of guitars and I used to try and play them, but he's left-handed, so I used to play them all upside down!

‘Then I wanted to be a drummer – I was watching a video of [prog legends] Rush, so I wanted to be Neil Peart – wow, that's really cool!’ Peart was infamous for his lengthy and complex drum solos. ‘I was just trying to impersonate Neil Peart on the drums, but it never worked out...’

But it’s not all been straightforward for Alfie – he’s had a long-term lung condition, and then during the pandemic he was diagnosed with anxiety and depression.

Of the former he says: ‘I got pretty bad and went to the hospital in 2019. Then I got out and thought: things are looking pretty good! Then obviously the pandemic hit.

‘I had a diagnosis of a bronchitis-type lung thing. It instantly made me really vulnerable, so I had to shield for a long time. I didn't want to make it worse – it was pretty scary. there was a period where I was absolutely scared.’

And then the anxiety? ‘That didn't help,’ he admits.

Did this all feed into the music he was making?

‘I think so, in a lot of different ways. I guess a lot of the songs are about that sort of feeling - anxiety in general.

‘That's been creeping in more and more.

‘For me writing and recording music is a flow state, and that stops me from feeling as anxious. It's quite nice just to let go a bit with it.’

Alfie’s music is often quite upbeat, with its mix of synths, hip-hop beats and indie guitars. But the lyrics can often be more introspective than they appear at first glance.

‘I've done that quite a lot with that record. That's me wanting to experiment more with pop. I'm at a weird point in my life where I'm probably quite pessimistic about some things, and that's where my lyrics come into play, but the music I want to make is different – it's upbeat. I think it's a cool mix.’

As well as his ‘main’ releases, the prolific artist also releases material as Ariel Daze.

‘I've been doing that for about four or five years now. It's a separate project, but it's me exploring psychedelic folk and stuff, and more existential lyrics – searching a bit more into those questions that everyone has. There's a lot of pondering in those songs...

‘I've put out two records as Ariel Daze and I'm really proud of both of them.

‘They're all just me messing around - and I do the artwork for those too. It's cool to do that.

‘The record label is cool with me doing it, as long as I don't release it the same week as an album I'm putting out as Alfie. That would be stupid...’ he laughs.

Alfie Templeman is performing an intimate instore show and signing at Pie & Vinyl from 1pm on June 2.

Go to pandvrecords.co.uk.

He is also playing on the Sunday at this year’s Victorious Festival. Go to victoriousfestival.co.uk.