Nathan Carter knocked down three quarters of his Enniskillen house and is currently rebuilding it

Nathan Carter has told how he “just knew music was going to be in my life” from a young age — and opened up about “the busiest year of my career so far”.

The country singer has released more than a dozen studio albums and six live albums since his 2007 debut, Starting Out, and has toured around the world.

But the Liverpudlian told Chic how he “always knew that I’d been doing music my whole life” and he “can’t see there ever being a time when music isn’t a part of my life.”

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He said, “I always knew that I’d be doing music my whole life, fingers crossed.

“I mean, I'm only 34, but I’d like to think that I’m still young enough to pursue it for the next 20 years or whatever.

“Who knows what’s around the corner, but I can’t see there ever being a time when music isn’t a part of my life.”

Nathan added that he knew music was going to be involved in his life from the age of four or five, and he “never wanted anything else” — apart from one other thing when he was younger.

He said, “Even since I was about 4 or 5, I just knew music was going to be my life. I played the piano and played the accordion; I sang in the choir.

“I was never interested in sports. I never really wanted to anything else — apart from if Jeremy Clarkson’s job ever came up in Top Gear. When I was younger, I wanted that.

“But apart from that, it was always music.”

Nathan added that he was drawn to country music as he was “surrounded by it when I was growing up”.

He continued, “I was a huge fan of Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton — all of the all-great country singers.

“When I was a kid in school, they were all listening to Oasis and Eminem and I was listening to Kenny Rogers and Johnny Cash.

“I’ve just always loved it, and I ended up listening to a lot of country stuff throughout the years.”

Nathan also shared some of the people who’ve inspired him throughout his career so far — and what he reckons is the “key to success”.

He said, “I suppose people like Rod Stewart, who’ve been in the business for 50 years for more and are still performing to this day.

“I think longevity is the key to success, you know? I never really wanted to get into the business to be there a few years, have a hit and then leave.

“I think, for me, people who’ve been in the business for that long — the Rolling Stones are still going. The likes of them guys are the epitome of success and a long career.”

And while he’s had many amazing moments throughout his career to date, Nathan told how there is one in particular that he will “treasure for a long time”.

He said, “I was asked to sing for Pope Francis II when he came to Dublin.

“He came to Ireland about five years ago, and I was asked to be a part of a concert in Croke Park.

“I’ll never forget going on stage after Andrea Bocelli, which was the most nerve-wracking thing I’ve ever done in my life.

"Being brought up in a Catholic Household, and my grandad goes to mass every day, it was — my family were just so proud.

“To see them see me performing in front of the Pope, it was a big moment.

"I was very honoured to have been asked, and it is something that I’ll treasure for a long time.”

Nathan encouraged anyone who is thinking about pursuing a career in music to “get out there and gig as much as possible”.
He said, “You never know who is watching you, whether it’s four people in a pub or a bar.
“That’s what I did when I left school, I gigged and gigged. It only gains you experience.

"I think it makes you appreciate it more if you’ve done the groundwork, starting off.

“If you do manage to get a bit of success, you appreciate it so much more when you’ve put in the groundwork to start off, playing the small gigs and venues.”

Nathan told how his dream musical collaboration would be with Dolly Parton — and opened up about the kind of project that he would like to take on one day.

He said, “I mentioned about Jeremy Clarkson’s Top Gear — I’d love to do something with cars, because I’m obsessed with cars.

“That would be something that, in the years to come, I’d love to get involved with. I’d like to be a part of a TV show regarding cars.

“Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of car shows on TV anymore. But who knows what’s around the corner.”

Nathan told how it’s been a busy year, with “about 120 gigs this year” — and more on the way in Ireland, England and Australia.

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He continued, “Between the gigging, I’ve been writing a new album with Guy Chambers in London. He was instrumental in writing Robbie Williams’ hits all those years ago. I’m coming up with a new album with him.

“The gigs, starting the clothing line, and I started a podcast recently with my brother Jake and his partner Karen — it’s called the Carter Couch, and so that’s taken up a bit of time — it’s honestly been the busiest year of my career so far.”

And that also includes a home renovation project.

He said, “I knocked down about three quarters of my house, and I’m rebuilding at the minute. As we speak, there’s builders there today, building the blocks.

“That’s another thing that’s going on in my world at the minute, which is taking up a lot of time.

“But I’m actually excited, though, just to be involved in the project to see how it turns out in the end.

"It’s good. But I’ve seen enough Grand Designs to know that nothing goes to plan, and runs on time, and stays on budget.

“I’m kind of prepared for that, knowing that things are going to be late arriving and there’ll be issues with getting people on site. It’s fun and games, put it that way.”

Late last month, Nathan celebrated the launch of Carter Clothing, his clothing brand which includes everything from knitwear to denim.

The singer told how he wanted to make a range that would be easy to wear — and wasn’t “just designed for one age group”.

He said, “To be honest, I’m someone who doesn’t really enjoy shopping that much. I wanted to create that men, especially, could go in and pick out an outfit.

“Especially on the website — if you pick an item like a pair of jeans, it’ll give you a jumper to match, a t-shirt to wear underneath. It’ll colour coordinate it all.
"I wanted to create a range that was really simple, where men could go online and spend 5 or 10 minutes and pick out an outfit, buy it and it will be with them the next day.

“Hopefully it’s something that’s for young lads up until men in their 60s and 70s, as well. It’s not just designed for one age group.”

Nathan told how the knit jumpers are some of his favourite pieces from the range — and they’re something which they are “very proud of”.

He said, “They’re actually made in Co Donegal. It’s nice to be giving back to an Irish manufacturer, to make the actual clothing.

“I suppose that knitwear, it’s kind of gotten a lot more in fashion in the last couple of years, I noticed.

“It was cool to be able to do oversized jumpers not only for men, but for women as well.

“All of my female friends are mad about them, especially the wacky — we’re doing them in pink, orange, green…they’re all in wacky colours, which seems to be going down well.”

Nathan added that the reaction to Carter Clothing has been “really good so far”.

He said, “The website only went live at the end of the October, and we had our launch at the Lough Erne resort in Fermanagh.

“But it’s been 18 months in the planning, to be honest with you — it’s been meeting manufacturers, coming up with designs, picking colours, getting the tests done on different products, and altering the sizes of stuff.

“It’s been 18 months in the planning, but I’m delighted to say that it’s finally here and the reaction’s been really good so far.”

As for what’s next for the company, Nathan told how the next range is already in the works.

He said, “We’re actually currently working on the second range already, would you believe. We’re going a bit more out there this time. We kept the first range as conventional as possible, just to get the brand up and established.

"Obviously, I’m involved in country music, so we’re going to give it a bit of a country flair on the next season of stuff.

“We’re going a bit more denim, with jackets — and obviously, the jeans are all denim anyways. But there’s going to be a bit more of a country flair to the range.”

For more information about Carter Clothing, visit carterclothing.ie or follow them on Instagram at @ carter_clothing.ie .

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