Hollyoaks Music Show

DeRulo's a highly unusual surname. Not only have you got two capital letters in it, but you've got, what I believe is called an umlaut on the 'u'. I’m intrigued. Where does it come from?

It's actually French, but I changed the spelling so it's easier for English person to say it. It’s actually spelt Desrouleux.

Have you got any French blood in you?

My parents are actually from Haiti. They speak French and Creole.

You're a singer, a songwriter, a songwriter, a dancer, a choreographer, a vocal producer and an actor... and you're 20. How on earth have you managed to become all these things in such a short space of time, Jason?

Only because I've never done anything else. I've never been the kind of person who would just waste time and hang out. I was always inside working on my music and working on every aspect of performance. It's been my life, it's my passion and it's who I am. My life has been like boot camp since I was five years old.

Was this your decision to do all this at such a young age?

I was never forced to do music at all. No one in my family's musically inclined, no one's an actor or anything like that, it was just inside me. I've just always had an insatiable desire to share music with the world and entertain people.

At five years old you said you knew you'd "change the world". Do you think your music's that powerful?

I’'m the type of person who reaches for the stars. I think people may take me the wrong way when I say things like that, especially with me being such a new artist saying such bold statements, but it's ok to reach for the stars and I want people to know that. Don't think that I'm being cocky for saying I want to change the world with my music because I think kids out there should reach for the stars. I'm going to continue saying things like that, so they know it's ok to reach their dream.

I think we should remove the words "try" and "hope" from our vocabulary. The sky's the limit. If you're trying to be the best that's exactly what you're doing – you're trying – but if you say you're going to be the best then the best is going to happen.

You've been number one of the hot 100 billboard chart, but that wasn't instantaneous success...

I actually started at number 54. It's just promotion, promotion, promotion. I'm on two or three planes a day trying to reach out to every single fan. I haven't seen my mom for five months, but that's ok because I'm comforted by the fact that I'm reaching a lot of people. All the work has really paid off, which is really encouraging. Being number one is a dream come true, literally. It's like de ja vus – when I'm on stage I feel like I've been there before. Now I'm performing in front of thousands and thousands of people it's like a dream come true.

Your debut album has yet to be released, so how have you managed to write it when you've been constantly out on the road?

I started it before 'Whatcha Say' came out. 'Whatcha Say' is one of the many songs on the album. I recorded 300 plus songs for the album. 'Whatcha Say' is merely the appetiser for the main course. I can't wait for people to hear more. It's killing me inside! It's not about the money for me, I just want to share this music that I've worked so hard on.

What else lies in store for us? Will the album be a mix of genres?

That's my thing. I've written for so many different kinds of artists and so many different genres, it's really who I am – I'm a music lover. Me being a music lover, I put all kinds of different music together. On my album you'll get a rock flavour, you'll get European dance stuff, strong ballads – it's just a mixture. It's an album you can play and be surprised at every time. There are no water down versions of 'Whatcha Say'. I try and reinvent myself on each track.

You say writing songs for other people is like "giving away my babies". What babies have you given to what surrogate parents recently?

Yeah, I wrote 'Replay' for Iyaz. I don't know if that's here yet, but it's number two on the US ITunes chart and it's been number four in the Billboard chart.

Why do you give certain songs away and not keep them for yourself?

I really feel like I just have so many songs and I didn't write the Iyaz one for myself, I had him in mind when I wrote it. I'm glad 'Replay' is doing really well – I have two songs that are killing in the charts right now and that's really amazing.

The quite awesome Lady GaGa has invited you on her tour which embarks on 27th December. Is Christmas cancelled in the DeRulo household?

No Christmas plans. It's unfortunate, but it's a blessing at the same time. I don't know have a Thanks Giving either because I'm performing then. I didn't have a Halloween. I'm ok with it because it's my life and this is what I chose to do. There were a lot of sacrifices that had to be made throughout my life and there will continue to be sacrifices and I'm prepared for each one.

And finally, I was going to ask you if you've watched Hollyoaks, but I'm guessing you haven’t had time to watch any television since you were five years old...

You're right, I really don't watch much TV at all. When I'm in my hotel room my manager comes in and is like, "Why haven’t you got the TV on? It's so quiet in here!" I'm like, "I don't know!" I'm just dealing with myself and thinking about more songs.

You think you've got good winter gloves? They ain't a patch on Jason DeRulo's. Check them out in the Episode Seven Gallery!

Exclusive interview with this week's Hollyoaks mentor, Sonny Flood, available on the Matalan Hollyoaks Music Show microsite