Sitting casually in a hotel bar, Scott Helman still seemed somewhat in disbelief. The Toronto singer-songwriter had just 24 hours earlier been in Toronto to learn that he had been nominated for Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Pop Album of the Year in the Juno Awards. In addition to being part of Juno Fanfest April 2nd he will be at the awards April 3rd at the Saddledome.

"It was pretty crazy. You don’t really see yourself as that person until you are watching the announcements and it’s like "Justin Beiber! Shawn Mendez... Scott Helman!" It’s like Me? Are you fucking kidding me? Me It is a complete shock to me. I am honoured to be nominated and to be in the same category as these artists is pretty cool. I just hope my friends win, I have friends in both categories and I am rooting for them. I will be really self-conscious. I haven’t gotten used to it. Even when I was with Walk off the Earth on tour it was disbelief of where I was. I will try to have a good time and hang and have fun but it is going to be a trip for sure."

Helman has opened for the likes of Matt Good and Tegan and Sara, along with an international tour with Walk off the Earth.

"I toured with them in the States and it was a big family. We were in Salt Lake City and Gianni was just like you should come to Europe with us.’ So we figured it out and I went to Europe. It was a perfect combination of complete debauchery and partying and also wholesome fun. My parents are from England so I had been a bunch of times but it was insane to play there. I was playing the Roundhouse in England which is a really historic venue. It’s like why am I here? My Dad couldn’t be there but he had always wanted to see me perform in London so he was on Facetime on the side of the stage watching and a bunch of my family were in the audience. That was really cool."

Working with Walk Off The Earth gave Helman an additional exposure. The band is known for its creative cover videos in addition to original songs. Helman joined the band for a cover of The Weeknd’s Can’t Feel My Face that almost resulted in the newest band member joining them for the video.

"Literally 45 minutes of me being there Sarah went into labour. Some chick came to the house and said she was good for an hour and a half so we just did the video while she was in labour and then she went and had a person. It was pretty insane. It took 30 minutes to film and a couple of takes. By the end of it she was like This is the last take Gianni! I have to go have a baby! and he is like You’ve got 2 more in you! She is such a good sport and I was sitting across from her thinking you are a superhero. She was totally calm and collected. I think inside she was screaming but her face didn’t show it."

Opening spots on tour and the opportunity to play events like the Calgary Stampede, where Helman played in 2015 on the Coke Stage, are important to growing a career. While the chance to impress people and make new fans is there, it’s not Helman’s focus.

"It was awesome. It was super-hot that day but we had a good time. I try to give it my best every time. When I don’t do 100% on stage it’s not like awe shucks I didn’t get all the fans. People deserve a good show and that is what I want to give them. I know what it is like to go see an artist that I love and not be impressed and it sucks. I hate that feeling and I don’t want anybody to feel that. Sometimes when you get into the groove of the tour you fluctuate between 80% and 100% it’s not always perfect but I just want to give a good show. You can tell the difference between an artist trying to win you over and one who is just awesome and loves the music and don’t feel that it’s a buy my record thing. I don’t want people to feel like I am making them like anything I just give it my best."

Being on the road has its ups and downs. Helman has enjoyed getting to see parts of the country that many never experience and shared a few favourite memories.

"Playing cards with my band, we had a tour long game of gin rummy. I think we are still going and will see how high we can get the score next tour. We got stuck in Revelstoke and it sucked because we got snowed in and had to miss a show. The next day it was so scary. The first part of the drive there were cars flipped over on the side of the road. We were like ‘holy shit... we are going to be fine we won’t die!’ I don’t think the van even had snow tires. We totally could have died but we made it. We drove through Banff to Red Deer and the drive was so visceral. Seeing the mountains and that part of the country was such a trip. We stopped at a little gas station and got burgers and our tour manager was trying to hurry us up. For me it was such a cool thing to see that part of Canada. It stuck out for me. Being in those little towns is like a Jack Kerouac thing for me to skip town and be in some middle of nowhere place playing music."

Helman is in the initial phases of making his next album.

"I have been writing for a while and have a bunch of new songs. It is a process for me and I have to go through all the horrible shit to get to the record. You think you are getting it then realize you aren’t and have to dig deeper. There are parts of writing that suck but at the end of the day it’s the part I like the most. I have 5000 voice notes of ideas from the road and when I get home I put them all together. Unless I am not in a good mood or having a great day then I will go write. I will write a couple of songs each tour but the ones that I really like are from ideas."

At 20 years old the pop star remains incredibly grounded and humble. History has shown that artists achieving success at a young age can at times be challenging and those dealing with any level of fame can sometimes seem to go off the rails.

"My friends keep me grounded. I have got to make mistakes you know? You can be an artist that presents yourself as perfect or you can present yourself as you and imperfect. I am not at all perfect, I am going to make mistakes and I am ok with that. I don’t want to be an asshole but I also want to be able to live my life and not be so tight up against the wall. I think it is important to recognize that because you can’t be perfect. When you see artists go off the rails it’s because the whole world sees them as this angel and they are not and that has got to be stressful. My friends remind me that I am just a fucking normal person. You have a lot of people telling you are this or that, it is important to be able to just sit down with friends and have a beer. I haven’t had to deal with the whole ‘fame’ thing in the sense of a Justin Beiber or Alessia Cara. I just want to be recognized for what I do. I am pretty aware of being under a microscope it. I will be on my guard when people are filming, I won’t give away personal information I like to keep things private. But the positive outcome is I don’t think celebrities should be looked at as otherworldly creatures, it is not good for anybody. The value should be art all that other stuff is so superfluous. When I go online and go ‘wait a minute, Justin Beiber is a real guy because he just posted a really weird tweet.’ That is kind of good for the world."

Connecting with fans is a big part of being an artist, and being looked up to comes with the territory.

"I think there is an importance in being a role model and making good decisions when people are watching. You can ignore it for as long as you want but people are going to listen to you and be inspired by what you do. It is important for artists to realize that in order for people to do important things they have to do it on their own accord. I don’t really worry too much about being perfect or saying certain things that might be taboo because that is how I feel. It is important to show that you can be yourself too, you are your own person and I stand by that philosophy. I find that it has paid off because I see people tweeting me and say ‘it is so nice to know you feel the same way as me’ but also have had fans disagree with me on things and that it is nice to see my being myself. That is all I want from people. If people were just who they wanted to be instead of just looking at celebrities and wishing they were skinnier or taller or had wavier hair the world would be a better place."

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Contributor Jason Clevett |

Person Scott Helman |

Topic Celebrity Interview | Celebrity Video Interview |