The group came third in this year's Britain's Got Talent (BGT), judged by Simon Cowell, who also has a business relationship with Sony.

The choir's music director Tim Rhys Evans said: "The phenomenal Only Boys Aloud journey continues with this record deal, and we are all so excited to see what the Boys can do in the studio.

"I'm incredibly proud of what the Boys have achieved to date and confident that the passionate support we received from fans across the country will make the album a big hit.

"These are exciting times for all involved in the Aloud family, and the success is all underpinned by a great deal of hard work that goes on constantly in the background.

"This album deal is the result of the generous support of our great sponsors and the unstinting commitment and talent of the Boys' mentors and my colleagues in Only Men Aloud."

Only Boys Aloud and Only Men Aloud will perform tonight (3 August) at the opening concert of the National Eisteddfod in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Only Boys Aloud launched as part of The Valleys Heart and Soul campaign, a three year campaign which aims to raise awareness of the region as a tourist destination and bring long-term economic benefit to the area.

Razorlight

Friday 31 August

Main stage:
Razorlight
Saves The Day
Futures

Second stage:
Dirty Goods
The People The Poet
The Lash
The Undivided

Skindred

Saturday 1 September

Main stage:
Skindred
Lower Than Atlantis
Yashin
Exit Ten
The Dirty Youth
Dopamine
Prosperina
The Dead Wretched

Second stage (Lostprophets takeover):
Pulled Apart By Horses
Save Your Breath
Neil Starr And Gavin Butler
Exit_International
Black And Reds
Bastions
Astroid Boys
The Dead Formats

Sunday 2 September

Main stage:
Kids In Glass Houses
Deaf Havana
We Are The Ocean
Future Of The Left
Don Broco
Straight Lines
The James Cleaver Quintet
Shadows Chasing Ghosts
Reaper In Sicily

Second stage (The Blackout takeover):
A (exclusive set)
Canterbury
Marmozets
Proxies
Page 44
Blowgoat
Verses
Buried In Alaska

In light of the new details, I talked to festival director Rhodri Jones to find out how he's looking at this year's event.

Lostprophets and The Blackout are each curating a stage, as Kids In Glass Houses did last year. How do you convince them to get on board?

"Luckily they didn't take much persuading! Both bands were really keen to get involved.

"Lostprophets have always been a band keen to support emerging Welsh talent and The Blackout have been big supporters of the festival since day one. It's turned out to be a great programme.

"Both bands put a lot of thought into their selections and have picked some amazing acts."

So who are you most looking forward to catching?

"It sounds like a cop out, but pretty much everything! We picked all the acts because they have that certain special something.

"The fact that A have reformed to play the festival [as part of The Blackout's stage takeover] is particuairly exciting though, and there isn't a better live band on the planet than Skindred right now."

Last year I praised the festival, and there was a great response generally, I think, so was there any pressure following up the success of 2011?

"It's incredible to see how passionate people are about an event that's only a year old! The pressure has definitely been there to replicate the quality and feel of the festival from last year, but it's good pressure because it shows that people loved the festival and feel like it belongs to them."

How has the festival reacted to any positive or negative feedback?

"We were overwhelmed by the amount of positive feedback we got from last year, which was great. Where people have suggested ways that things could be improved, we've done our best to accommodate them this year - things like improved camping, a seated chill-out area, increased publicity of our bus service back to Cardiff and other little site tweaks that will make the weekend even better this year."

What's the message to music fans across the country when it comes to Merthyr Rock?

"That an incredible weekend of music shouldn't have to cost a few hundred pounds, that 'boutique' festivals are more fun and get you closer to the bands you love, and that Wales is still a breeding ground for incredible talent."

To keep abreast of details, follow Merthyr Rock on Twitter or use the #mrock hashtag.

This time, he's been writing with sometime Storys member and solo artist Rosalie Deighton for a forthcoming album of "folk/country/Americana" songs.

Balsamo And Deighton

Balsamo And Deighton have their début single out this week (29 July) on his own Ghost Horse Records, with the album following in 2013.

"Rosalie and I met over 10 years ago at Swedish producer Martin Terefe's studio in Kensal Road in London," says Steve. "Martin went on to work with Jason Mraz and James Morrison and won a Grammy with Train. He co-produced Rosie's début album Truth Drug and co-produced my solo album All I Am.

"I loved her voice and she mine, and we said we'd make an album down the line. When The Storys were touring a lot, we asked Rosalie to come support us, and when Dai Smith decided to leave, we asked her to join the band.

"Dai is such a great player, writer and personality we thought a woman who is all those things would bring a different angle to the band. Rosalie joined us writing and recording Luck, The Storys' third album."

Rosalie's folk background took her into a career with her own family, aptly named The Deighton Family. They toured worldwide and, solo, had a deal with Independiente Records around a decade ago for Truth Drug. Her second set, 21 Days, came out in 2007.

She is also a member of Danny And The Champions Of The World.

How do Steve and Rosalie regard their duets project? "We're both very excited with the project! Our voices blend beautifully and we've been quietly writing for a couple of years.

"We started writing and making demos with Julian Wilson of Grand Drive and have started the album with John Reynolds (Sinead O'Connor, Indigo Girls, U2). We have a few co-writes with some tasty people, inculding Boo Hewedine, Andy Collins (ex-Storys) and hit songwriter Steve Booker who wrote Mercy with Duffy.

"We have a bunch of great songs that we're working through for the album and are both loving the results so far."

The pair's long careers have meant they can call on some respected musicians. For example, there's a guitarist working with them called Robbie McIntosh. "He's played with Paul McCartney, John Mayer and Norah Jones," says Steve. "He has played some stunning guitar... and Steve White - ex of Paul Weller's band - came played on the single. I met Steve while touring with the late, very great Jon Lord."

Steve believes Balsamo And Deighton's sound won't come as a surprise to fans of their previous work, and sees it as a development rather than a revolution:

"I think the sound is a lovely complement to The Storys' sound," he says. "We both adore country and folk and the 'West Coast' sound that we were making with The Storys. But this time we're (soul) mining and taking cues from Emmylou Harris, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' Raising Sand and other songwriters we love like Jackson Browne and Ron Sexsmith.

"We have, in fact, tried out a few covers by them that sound beautiful. It's similar territory to before but also looking at bluegrass dude Ricky Skaggs and the new bluegrass dudes on the block/prairie/porch The Punch Brothers.

"All of this, however, is through the filter of Barnsley and Swansea! I think there's an interesting story to tell of both these cities, both steeped in music albeit one rock and the other folk... but that's for later."

There is even talk of ex-Led Zeppelin man Robert Plant joining the duo on a track, plus his Band Of Joy partner Patty Griffin too.

I Don't Know Why, originally by Shawn Colvin, "has been haunting both of us for years" says Steve. "We've both encountered her and the tune on many occasions. The video - filmed by brilliant director/film writer Kamma Pastoll - has been in the works for 10 years and seemed that now was the time to realise it.

"It has turned out better that we all could have imagined and really has focused us to finish the album and get out and tour."

Watch the video here:

"Making a video first may seem like a backward way of doing things, but I really think these days songs/films have a life of their own online and we wanted to test if that theory is right.

"Social networking provides the modern artist with a way of getting to a large audience, as long as what you make is good!"

Concluding our chat, he says: "The album will, I think, be beautiful, sad (for the most part) with some reflective songs. We have been trying to write a little faster, but at the moment what's occurring is something between Emmylou's Wrecking Ball album, Plant/Krauss' Raising Sand with a little Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty thrown in. Big shoes then!"

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Held throughout the city from 4-20 October, the annual celebration of arts culture brings a range of genres and themes.

At Brangwyn Hall there are three high-profile events:

On 6 October you can catch BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Owain Arwel Hughes, with works by Vaughan Williams and Daniel Jones, with Elgar's Cello Concerto performed by Julian Lloyd Webber.

Julian Lloyd Webber

Celebrating their 80th anniversary this year, the London Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by Vassily Sinaisky with young violinist Chloe Hanslip in a programme of Prokofiev, Mendelssohn and Sibelius on 13 October.

Lastly, bringing an end to the festival on 20 October, the St Petersburg Symphony Orchestra with their conductor Vladimir Altschiler, and featuring much-admired pianist Freddy Kempf, will perform works by Stravinsky, Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky.

Chloe Hanslip

Brangwyn Hall is also the venue for the festival's four recitals:

Both a pianist and composer - and winner of eight Gramophone Awards - Stephen Hough is widely regarded as one of the most important and distinctive pianists of his generation. His recital on 9 October will include the world première of his own work Sonata No 2 (Notturno Luminoso), which is a commission from the Swansea Festival and Lakeside Arts Centre, University of Nottingham.

On 15 October the talented Wayne Marshall gives an organ recital. As well as being an internationally-admired organist Wayne has a multi-faceted career as a conductor and concert pianist and is recognised for his work in music-theatre and his gift of improvisation.

Bass-baritone Neal Davies, accompanied by pianist James Southall, will perform songs by John Ireland, Ibert, Finzi, Schumann and Wolf on 16 October. Past winner of the Cardiff Singer of the World Lieder Prize, Newport born Neal is much In demand on both the concert and opera stage where he excels in a wide-ranging repertoire. As well as the song recital on 16 October, Neal performs with Welsh National Opera (WNO) as Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte on 12 October.

On 19 October, the BBC Singers, with their conductor David Hill and organist Iain Farrington, perform Power and Glory: Music for the Royal Court, a compilation of choral music, written for key royal occasions throughout five centuries, which they present in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Formed in 1924, the BBC Singers perform all over the UK and abroad.

WNO perform three operas between 10 and 13 October:

Handel's Jephtha features Robert Murray in the title role of the distraught father caught in a terrible trap. Diana Montague is his wife Storge and Welsh soprano Fflur Wyn is their daughter Iphis. Fflur appeared at the opening ceremony of the National Eisteddfod last year before going to Mexico City Opera to sing the Governess in The Turn of the Screw, and then performing with Côrdydd at last year's festival.

Puccini's La Bohème is a new production by Annabel Arden which is set in the elegance of Edwardian Paris and features Giselle Allen as the tragic Mimi, Alex Vicens as her lover Rodolfo and popular Welsh baritone David Kempster as Marcello.

Mozart's Così Fan Tutte - a story of fickle young love - features Elizabeth Watts as Fiordiligi and Cora Burggraff as Dorabella, the two girls whose loyalty is tested by their sailor fiancées.

Jazz is provided by the Darius Brubeck Quartet in A Kind of Brubeck (14 October). Darius Brubeck is the eldest of jazz pianist Dave Brubeck's sons.

Festival organisers have announced that there will be no festival next year. "With Swansea's own jewel in the crown of the city - the Brangwyn Hall - undergoing extensive refurbishment and restoration during 2013, the main venue for the festival's orchestral and recital concerts will be unavailable," they say.

Queen

Beginning a series on recording studios, Morley starts at a farm that gave birth to some of rock music's finest recordings - everything from Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody to the Stone Roses' eponymous debut album, from Dr. Feelgood's Down By The Jetty to Oasis' (What's The Story) Morning Glory, and even Adam Ant's Kings Of The Wild Frontier.

Those trying to explain what part the studio played in creating such musical magic include performers (the veteran Dave Edmunds and the newcomers Iko), technicians (John Leckie and Sean Genockey) and the people who (in some cases, quite literally) built the studio and the business (father and daughter, Kingsley and Lisa Ward).

As the money flowing through the music industry continues to dry up - Paul also asks what future there may be for the historic recording studios that helped build the industry in the first place?

If you want to find out more about the history of Rockfield, I heartily recommend Jeff Collins' Rock Legends At Rockfield (UWP, 2007).

Quoted in the book, Queen's producer Roy Thomas Baker said of the recording in 1975: "I remember Freddie playing me Bohemian Rhapsody for the first time on his piano at his place in London. Then later at Rockfield, with the basics mapped out, he focused on pinning down what was right. He played me the beginning part and said, 'Right, now this is where the opera section comes in' and he'd leave a gap and I'd have to imagine this dramatic opera style segment.

"And it just kept changing all the time at Rockfield. It took three weeks to record on a 16-track tape machine and we used 180 overdubs, which was very, very unusual for back then."

While not much of the song was actually recorded at Rockfield, it was largely honed and polished there. And a lot of its parent album, A Night At The Opera, was put to tape at the Monmouthshire facility.

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Stereophonics with Javier Weyler (right)

Hi folks. We wanted to let you know Javier and the band will no longer be working together.

The band enjoyed playing with Javier over the last eight years and his company was enjoyed by everyone in the Stereophonics family.

We wish Javier every success going forward in his new creative endeavours and personal life. (Filling in temporarily for Javier on these next shows will be our friend Sam). We look forward to seeing you at the shows.

The Argentinian drummer took up the position following the departure in 2004 of Stuart Cable.

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A Called Called Ruth. Photo: Shaun James Cox

Sŵn, now in its sixth year, runs from 18 to 21 October 2012. The acts announced today are:

• A Girl Called Ruth
• Afro Cluster
• Al Lewis
• Among Brothers
• Arcane Roots
• Bo Ningen
• Brotherhood Of The Lake
• Chain Of Flowers
• Charlotte Church
• Clock Opera
• Death At Sea
• Denuo
• Django Django
• Draw Me Stories
• Dry The River
• Errors
• Eugene Francis Jnr
• Exit International
• Falls
• Faye
• Feed The Rhino
• Fire Season
• Fist Of The First Man
• Gallops!
• Gallows
• Glass Pear
• Golden Fable
• Greta Isaac
• Gulp
• Hey Sholay
• Hysterical Injury
• Irma Vep
• Islet
• Jemma Roper
• Jewellers
• Joanna Gruesome
• John Grant
• Katell Keineg
• Lanterns On The Lake
• Laura J Martin
• Liars
• Manhattan Coast
• Marc O'Reilly
• Micachu & The Shapes
• Milk Maid
• Mowbird
• Nebula
• No Ceremony
• No Thee No Ess
• Out Of The Woods
• Paper Aeroplanes
• Peace
• PINS
• Prosperina
• Quiet Marauder
• Rangda
• Rozi Plain
• Rusty Shackle
• Sam Airey
• Scritti Politti
• Sex Hands
• Shy And The Fight
• Sion Russell Jones
• The Adelines
• The Ash And The Oak
• The Bright Young People
• The Invisible
• The Knox
• The Lovely Eggs
• The School
• The Vestals
• This Many Boyfriends
• Tomos Lewis
• Torches
• Turbowolf
• Urban Development Vocal Collective (UDVC)
• Various Cruelties
• Verity Susman
• We're No Heroes
• Zervas & Pepper

South Wales has an underground rap and grime scene full of raw unsculpted talent, and for artists who want to get noticed at the next level, being in Newport this Saturday is compulsory.

Last year BBC Radio 1Xtra and Radio 1's Charlie Sloth went round the likes of Liverpool, Newcastle and Manchester to check out Northern undiscovered rap talent for a 1Xtra TV documentary called It's Grime Up North.

This weekend he'll make a programme all about Wales' grime and hip hop. There are no guarantees you'll get your face on TV, but if you 'spit', and you believe in yourself, you need to show yourself.

There's a live outdoor show in the afternoon, and the club aftershow in the night is a must too.

Since Charlie's last visit here, it's true to say that the Midlands have been encroaching on London's monopoly. Nottingham's Beatgeeks, with two Brum crews - Stay Fresh and Invasion - have released a near-unbroken sequence of beats, tracks and features. And Birmingham's Lady Leshurr shines ever brighter by the week, while continuing to maintain her grime credentials.

Lady Leshurr

I invited Leshurr and producer Z Dot to a recording session in Newport last year to work with some local artists, and she'll maintain the ongoing relationship with Wales by joining Charlie Sloth on stage at the Big Splash on Saturday.

The Urban Edge Stage outside by the Leisure Centre (but with wet weather contingency plans in place) will showcase Welsh talent, too, with live performances from Dee Shae, Antizzle and the rest of his Flow Dem crew, as well as Tiny Skitz and Eaton.

On the DJ front, the legendary taste maker and prize winning Radio Cardiff DJ Cluedo, will keep the afternoon's vibes edgy alongside DJs Matt Kirke and newcomer DJ Thirst.

Five as-yet-unannounced artists will hit the stage too as competition finalists with the eventual winner carrying off prizes including two full days in the Riverfront's Pentalk Lab recording studio.

The cities of south Wales have a disproportionately high number of homespun street poets. My own life and career were turned on their axes as a result of a big bag of their demos given to me by Newport DJ and producer Jamie Winchester.

My new-found enthusiasm for this mostly rough, highly rhythmic Welsh flavour set me on a path of waxing gobby to any national or pirate DJ (including a highly receptive and enthusiastic Adam Walton), any promoter, manager, or even established producer or artist who I managed to corner for five minutes.

Some healthy working relationships and artist talent swaps have come about, and continue to do so, through not only my rantings but Jamie Winchester's too. He's brought Charlie Sloth back to Newport this weekend to check out this year's crop of upcoming skills and bars.

Astroid Boys with Charlie Sloth (centre)

When Charlie was here a year ago, a showcase for local performers staged at the Riverfront in Newport catapulted the city's Tiny Skitz to London with Cardiff's Astroid Boys to deliver freestyles for Fire In The Booth, the highly sought-after exposure platform on the DJ's 1Xtra hip hop show.

Neither act has broken into the mainstream yet (although Astroid Boys seem to be getting ever closer) but continuing the agenda laid out in It's Grime Up North, the question remains: why, 10 full years after grime first emerged, do London rappers such as Wretch 32, Dizzee Rascal, Skepta, JME, Bashy, Giggs, Tinchy Stryder and so on still run the UK show?

With encouragement and practical support such as Urban Edge, as well as other regularly available sources, plus raw talent in scary amounts, if Wales hasn't produced a genuine breakthrough artist in the next couple of years, forget Charlie Sloth and his big questions - I'm going to want to know why!

The Rolling Stones

They first played at the Royal Lido Ballroom in Prestatyn, on 31 August 1963, with subsequent performances at Kings Hall in Aberystwyth, Capitol Theatre in Cardiff, Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, Cardiff Arms Park and the Millennium Stadium.

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Straight Lines

Held at two venues in Pontypridd - Clwb Y Bont and the YMCA - the free event boasts the town's Straight Lines, old-school punk scenesters Dopamine, Astroid Boys, Falling With Style and Continents.

Gavin Butler and Neil Starr

Also playing at Ponty's Big Weekend Fringe are Neil Starr and Gavin Butler, who bring their acoustic show to the event. Starr, of Attack! Attack!, and Butler, of The Blackout, released Ghosts And Echoes this spring and have been touring the release around the UK.

Tickets are available from the Muni Arts Centre.

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The Joy Formidable

Fresh from recording their second album in America and touring with Foo Fighters, the band were contacted by Paola Mendoza and Topaz Adizes, two filmmakers working as volunteers at the Kakuma Refugee Camp in northern Kenya, which mostly houses Sudanese refugees.

The filmmakers had used a previous single, A Heavy Abacus, as the soundtrack music for a short film made as part of FilmAid, the organisation Mendoza and Adizes work for, and World Refugee Day on 20 June.

It features young residents of the camp lip-synching to the music. Watch the FilmAid video here:

The Joy Formidable, after seeing the film and the work of FilmAid, have been spreading the word about the project.

"There are a whole lot of problems to tackle in the area where they're working, but I think the way they're approaching it, through the power of images and art as a way of connecting with people is great," singer Ritzy Bryan told MTV.

"We hope the video helps them reach a wider audience. It challenges people to think for a second about how other people are living. Ultimately the idea of the video is to encourage people to donate to what is a great charity."

Mendoza has written a short piece for globalgrind.com in which she says: "My time spent in Kakuma Refugee Camp was life-changing. I lived both ends of the emotional spectrum. I felt inspired as I met people that had overcome the impossible, but I also felt heartbreak as I heard the atrocities they had lived through.

"In the sea of these emotions, my partner Topaz Adizes and I decided to make a music video. We grabbed our camera; two bounce boards and my iPhone and went into the camp. As soon as we got to Juba (a Sudanese community where we shot the video) we were greeted with open arms and lots of smiles.

"I am so proud of this music video because the people shine with beauty, joy and dignity. It's magical because their light is bright and it envelops everyone that sees it.

"As soon as the band The Joy Formidable saw it, they fell in love with it. They said we had made them a gift. I hope you feel the same when you watch it."

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Ed Holden. Photo: Helen McAteer

Ed Holden, who has performed as part of Pep Le Pew and Genod Droog, recorded six tracks with children from around Blaenau Ffestiniog, telling the stories of Noah, Jesus and David and Goliath, among others.

"Before I began this project, I didn't have that much interest in the Bible," said Holden. "I always thought that it was something for true believers, until I created a rap version of Zacchaeus' story. After this my opinion changed completely.

Rapio'r Beibl

"It's a lot of fun to introduce these stories to the children and then re-vamping them in a modern and interesting way, especially for the new generation, because rap is a cool thing."

Rapio'r Beibl is available to download now from Sain Records.

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Bryn Terfel

Two years after cancelling the 2010 festival because of poor ticket sales, Terfel said to the North Wales Daily Post: "[I hope we can bring it back to] a special location between the Menai Strait and the mountains of Snowdonia.

"Over the nine years at the Faenol we've had wonderful performers and I want to see that again.

"I want to see the festival in Bangor again. All I can say is, watch this space."

Over the life of the Faenol Festival it attracted some top names to north west Wales: Jose Carreras, Andrea Bocelli, Shirley Bassey, Westlife and Hayley Westenra among them.

Brynfest runs from 4-7 July and features performances from Gruff Rhys, male voice choirs, Huw Warren and young Welsh vocal talent, plus workshops.

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Lostprophets

The sixpiece, touring their fifth album Weapons, played Can't Catch Tomorrow (Good Shoes Won't Save You This Time), Bring 'Em Down, A Town Called Hypocrisy, Sweet Child Of Mine, Where We Belong, Last Summer, Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast), Last Train Home, Earthquake (featuring Labrinth) and We Bring An Arsenal.

Watch their performance of We Bring An Arsenal:

And catch the full set here:

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Very occasionally, the music I encounter on those listens make me sit up and pay attention - sometimes it's passion, sometimes it's virtuoso musicianship and sometimes it's a sense that someone really, really should be putting this stuff out.

A Called Called Ruth. Photo: Shaun James Cox

A Girl Called Ruth was one such artist: listening to her Soundcloud tracks I was struck by the clarity of her production, the big melodic hooks and a kind-of Suzanne Vega-meets-Edie Brickell-meets-post-Gaga-pop sensibility.

As such, she's a far more straight-down-the-line pop proposition even than Marina And The Diamonds or Florence And The Machine.

It came as no surprise to learn, therefore, that Ruth's journey from her native Conwy to London came alongside a deal with a decent management set-up. She's looked after by Diane Wagg of Deluxxe Management and Jake McNeill of Kutt Management, who together also look after Scouting For Girls.

A Girl Called Ruth. Photo: Andy Willsher

Wagg's background includes management of the likes of Republica, Beth Orton and Mike Scott (The Waterboys), while she has another Welsh connection: she worked as director of record producer Tony Visconti's group of companies, and of course he was once Mr Mary Hopkin.

Ruth says of her first contact with McNeill: "He emailed me one morning telling me all about himself and his background and how himself and his business partner Diane were were looking for a new artist to manage and came across me on Star Now (a profile I set up to feel like I was trying to pursue my dream while doing an office job).

A Girl Called Ruth. Photo: Andy Willsher

"So we exchanged information and spoke on the phone that evening. Instantly I felt like someone really understood my passion for my music and what I'm about. He just instantly got me! He was so passionate and didn't want to change anything about my music or me which I loved.

"He understood that I had no idea about the industry and that I kept my talent hidden away as I lacked confidence. But that didn't make him doubt me at all. Once I got off the phone I knew this was the start of something massive."

It'll be interesting to see if, with this kind of representation, A Girl Called Ruth can follow in the footsteps of other recent solo singer-songwriters onto the airwaves and mp3 players of the nation. She certainly has more commercial potential than any new Welsh singer I've heard since the aforementioned Marina.

Here's the video for her forthcoming début single, You I See, out on 6 August:

"I'm currently booking and performing shows around London which is awesome fun," says Ruth. "As well as that I'm working the open mic circuit in London. It's great for confidence-building and improving your performance, which I needed as when I was starting out I spent most of my performance staring at the ground. You can check out my Twitter, Facebook or website for all information about upcoming shows and open mics I'll be doing. Come along and say hi!

"My album is due to be released next spring, following another two single releases. I can't believe it I'm finally releasing my single. If you told me a year ago that I'd be living in London, making a music video and releasing a single I'd have said 'pull the other one, now help me take this food to table nine'. I just thought it would always remain a dream. I can't believe that dream is actually coming true!"

In related news, an old friend of mine, Michael Shankleman - aka producer Young Favourite - has applied his beats magic to You I See. I asked him about A Girl Called Ruth.

"I get a kick from hearing a new artist before anyone else and I predict that very soon a hell of a lot more people are going to get a kick from A Girl Called Ruth," he said. "I don't think she knows quite how good she is, which is one of the best things you can say about a new artist.

"Pop music can be incredible. If you can write a song that connects with 10 million people then in my eyes you're a genius and I want to know your darkest pop secrets."

Mike, who's remixed for artists such as Rizzle Kicks, Don Broco, Pete Lawrie and Young Guns, explained: "The remix offers have started to come in, but I've been trying to concentrate on making my own little tunes. That was until I heard A Girl Called Ruth's music.

"I then made it my mission to get in touch with her and harangue her until she sent me the parts for her single. I don't think I did too much to the song in the end but it was a total pleasure to work on.

"Hopefully I'll have some of my own tunes out by the end of the summer, but knowing me that could quite easily turn into next summer. As they say, watch this space."

Listen to the Young Favourite remix here:

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