Love Island’s Wes Nelson reveals what’s on his ‘weird’ tour rider – saying show bosses are always ‘shocked’
LOVE Island legend Wes Nelson has revealed what’s on his tour rider – and it isn’t as lavish as you might think.
Having taken the world of reality TV by storm, Wes turned his attention to a music career five years ago and hasn’t looked back.
He’s had sold out tours, a top three record in debut track See Nobody, and has collaborated with his favourite artist, Craig David.
Despite that success, Wes is far from a diva when he’s on the road.
In an exclusive interview ahead of the release of new song Barcelona, which is out today, Wes said: “My rider is so chill. I probably need to revamp it a bit, but I’m just a simple bloke from Stoke.
“I don’t drink when I’m on tour, but some of the boys do, like my DJ and the guitarist and some of the band.
“They’ll have a couple because they don’t have to sing, so they’re all right. But yeah, I think it’s vodka, whiskey, some crisps, some nuts and some fruit. That’s it. It’s just a weirdly simple rider.
“And events say to us ‘this is such an easy rider’, I’m like, ‘do you want to make life difficult?’ I could be difficult, but I’m just a simple man and I don’t really have many needs. I just want my fruit and nuts.”
The ambitious musician is committed to putting in the hard yards domestically before conquering the world.
But he hopes his new record label, RCA, will help him grow into a global star.
He’s certainly got enough music in the vault to give his fans what they want to hear.
Wes claims he’s sitting on hundreds of tracks – many of which are commercial R&B – that are just waiting to see the light of day.
He said: “I can’t tell you how many hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of songs that are all in that lane that I’ve done.
“So we’re just waiting to transition into that sort of section. I’ve got a bunch of songs that I wouldn’t necessarily love to release as singles but really show my artistry in a completely new light where the lyricism’s at a higher standard or storytelling’s at a higher standard and the song structure’s a bit more wild and varied but quite creative.
“So I definitely want to get that body of work out because I feel like it’s one part of my music that people haven’t necessarily seen yet, and I forget that all of these songs are literally there and no one’s heard them.”
One person Wes would love to collaborate with on a smooth pop jam is Justin Bieber.
The pair exchanged numbers at Capital’s Jingle Bell Ball a few years ago but are yet to work together.
“One day that collab could land,” said Wes. “I think it will. I’m speaking it into existence.”
For now his focus is on Barcelona – a reworking of the early noughties track by D Kay, Epsilon & Stamina.
The move into drum n’ bass territory came when the track played on Wes’s tour bus.
Immediately, he knew he wanted to put his spin on it.
He said: “We were like ‘oh my God, this was such a banger’. It just gives me summer vibes every time I hear it. It gives you that feel good factor.”
When he couldn’t find it on any streaming platform, Wes decided he would give it a revamp and freshen it up for a new audience. He reached out to the song’s creators who were all for it, and Billen Ted quickly got on board.
“We were unsure how it was even gonna come out because it really isn’t my sort of sonic,” said Wes. “But I love testing myself, obviously like the garage stuff with Craig [David] and then we’ve done Afro Swing, Drive, which is completely opposite, almost like pop house, and so like this is another feather in the cap.
“I was just like well this has got to be the next one, a bit of drum and bass, pop drum and bass, so yeah really happy with how it’s come out and I’m glad I tested myself with it.”