-I'd assume you'll be starting to work with him on the follow-up?
Absolutely - we're actually seven songs into the second record. I can't give too much away yet, but both me and Terry are very excited about it.

-Is it hard balancing the work for the second record, whilst you're promoting the first?
You know what, it's definitely a balancing act, but it's a fun process at the same time. I never really consider any of the music aspect of my life to be work, really, because I enjoy it so much.

With concerns to writing the songs for the second album, it's a process that is very organic - specifically for myself, I can't speak for other writers, obviously. It's something that I can't necessarily time out - when inspiration comes, whether it's a certain chord progression, or a couple of lines in a song, I just completely get enveloped in that world and that song.

The second record started to almost come out in segments ever since the end of the summer, really. Whenever there's a couple of minutes where I can sit down, take that inspiration and turn it into something, I definitely do.

-How did you find it coming through in Canada then? Was it a case of a lot of open mic nights, acoustic shows, building your way up?
Basically, yes. The first gig I ever played was actually an event that a friend of mine was hosting. At the time, I wasn't really thinking about performing so much - hadn't done a lot of it, and he asked me as a favour.

I'll never forget the date - it was August 18th 2007. I got up for the first time, and he was able to bring out about 200 people to this event. I sang my first song, and when I was done, everyone in the audience stood up and started clapping. I was completely addicted at that point.

From there, it was a series of events - singer-songwriter nights, I played a lot of Open Mics. I really do enjoy that experience still. Don't get me wrong - being able to play at places like the South Orange Performing Arts Centre where I opened up for Max is a phenomenal experience.

I'll never forget that date too, for different reasons, but those intimate gigs, like you said before...there's no replacing that feeling.

-Does coming through that way make you appreciate where you are now, rather than if you'd gone through something like The X Factor? Has it been more beneficial to you?
You know, it's an interesting question. It was something that I never really considered fully, to be honest, for no other reason than the way that I perceived the music industry.

The way that I always heard my heroes went through the music industry was getting out there, playing those gigs - putting your teeth to the grindstone, doing your 10,000 hours that way. I'm a very firm believer that in order to do anything really well, you need to put in that time and effort to do it.

So, to be honest with you, it's a phenomenal experience for anyone who gets that opportunity, and has that ability to go up there week after week and perform in front of those judges.

It's a phenomenal experience, and I would definitely suggest it. It wasn't necessarily a route that I'd considered taking - I can't comment on it too much, about what that would've been like.

-Looking past these UK shows, what do you have planned looking ahead to 2012?
Well, I'm actually very excited to say that on top of doing a couple of gigs, and speaking with a couple of people from media and radio stations, we also came over to discuss some touring opportunities for the New Year.

I can't really, at this moment, say who - I'm not at liberty necessarily to say that, but we're talking to a couple of people that are doing some major tours in the New Year. I'm very excited, very grateful for those opportunities.

Female First - Alistair McGeorge (Follow me on Twitter @AlistairMcG)