'Sometimes my dad comes up on stage': rising star Alfie Templeman on food, family and festivals

Alfie Templeman may only be 19 years old, but the singer-songwriter, has had more hits than many singers twice his age. And he's only just getting started.

The Bedford-born star, spoke to ITV Border, just before he opened Kendal Calling's 2022 festival at Lowther Castle.

"This is my first time here," says Templeman. "I don't think I've been to Kendal, or Cumbria in general before, so I'm quite excited."

He didn't realise until he was here that there were only a few acts opening the festival on the Main Stage on Thursday night.

"It's really cool! I didn't even realise that it was just a few bands playing, so. Quite a privilege to be playing on the main stage as well. A bit nervous!"

Templeman recorded and released his debut single and EP 'Orange Juice' in October 2018 to critical acclaim. After completing his GCSEs, he left school in 2019 at 16 to pursue a full time music career.

He featured on the prestigious BBC Sound of 2021 which aims to highlight the top new artists of that year.

Since then he's released more EPs and his debut album 'Mellow Moon' in May 2022, which reached 31 in the charts. Songs such as 'Happiness in a Liquid Form' and 'Obvious Guy' were big radio hits.

He says that often his dad comes up on stage when performing 'Happiness in a Liquid Form':

"It's like the last song we play. After I introduce the band, sometimes my dad comes up on stage and I slow dance, so it goes down really good.

"I kind of drag him on sometimes, but sometimes he does just happily to come on!"

And what was he going to do after his performance? Have a curry with his band in Penrith!

"We really want a curry, I don't know why. We're all in the same mentality today. Normally we're all in different food moods, but today we've agreed on curry.

"We're staying over at a Premier Inn, there's a curry house just down the road. Get stuck in, have a few Cobras...perfect Thursday night!"

And what of new music? He says he's got "like 100 songs that I start and then just never come back to.

"So I've got millions of logic files, and then I just I mess around with them for an hour or so, just one afternoon, evening or whatever, and then I just never come back to them.

"The only problem is that I get quite overwhelmed by it. So rather than going back to all those old ideas, I move on and I make even more stuff. But I guess, you know, once I once I go dry in a few years, I can come back to all of them and, you know, write a million more records from those older songs."

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