Louis Tomlinson admits it was "difficult" going from being a "collective" in One Direction to carving out his own identity as a solo artist.
Louis Tomlinson
The 'Kill My Mind' hitmaker has opened up about the big change going from being one member in the biggest boy band in the world to being on his own, and how it took him a while to get used to being "a bit of a chav again".
In an interview with Glamour UK for their 'Glamour Unfiltered' series, he said: "It took me a second to understand that I was on my own now, and my identity for so long was part of a collective, and obviously you still have an individual identity within that, but you're upholding this collective identity.
"So, I think it took me a second to kind of understand that I can be a bit of a chav again!"
The 27-year-old star - who releases his debut solo album 'Walls' on January 31, 2020 - says that having his vocal coach and other "familiar faces" around him makes it a lot easier, as he admitted the 'History' group was a "well-working machine".
He added: "It was difficult.
"There are still people around me that were, like my vocal coach for example, that were around, and she plays a big role in my career.
"So, there is still enough familiar faces to not kind of feel like alienated and on my own, but it definitely took some getting used to.
"One Direction was such a well-working machine, so it definitely took some getting used to.
"But I think, as you spend time on your own you find new people that you really got on with and develop those relationships."
The 'Just Hold On' hitmaker added that he has "learnt to trust" his "gut" more since fronting his own career and he is now aware of who he is as an artist and songwriter, whilst he added that "what you see is what you get" with him.
He said: "I feel like I've learnt to trust my gut more and just own my decisions, because when there's a lot of people around you, there's always a lot of opinions.
"So, I feel like I understand myself more as an artist, I understand myself more as a songwriter.
"I've just been trusting my gut more I think as I've got older.
"To be honest, kind of what you see is what you get with me and I've always been that way. There's not really too much complexity to it - I'm lucky like that."
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