Matt began life living above his parents' independent record shop in Southampton, with a piano dominating the front room he started writing songs as a tiny tot.

BBC Southampton's Indy Almroth-Wright caught up with the singer/songwriter and all round musician...

With such an early introduction into music it seems almost inevitable that you would end up being a musician of some sort...
There was a brief period when it looked like perhaps being a stuntman would take over but that only lasted for about two years when I was about 12, and then I was back to music.

It's odd when people say 'isn't it amazing you've been doing it all this time, you must have felt you were always going to do it' - I never really chose to do it I just have always done it for as long as I can remember so it feels like a natural part of my life and it would be very strange indeed for me to not do it.

Are you still pinching yourself over the success of 'Strange And Beautiful'?
If I ever believed it, I probably would have to - it still feels completely unreal. The fact that it did so well, so much better than anyone expected, and then for the album to do so well, is very weird. It's kind of beautiful and brilliant but it's actually amazingly difficult to believe it.

What was it like being on TOTP's?
That was a very strange experience! It was scary actually because of all the singles to go in the Top 10 this year, 'Strange And Beautiful' must be the weirdest and the least pop. It felt so strange to be there with the shrieking girls and be playing this amazingly slow and quiet song.

How's the tour going?
Touring has been the first opportunity to see if something's actually happened for real, because obviously if it was just an elaborate joke then no-one would come and see us, but they have and it's been really great.

Me and my brother (Ben) have just done these little gigs, just the two of us playing in strange little venues like a church in Glasgow, a little theatre in Bristol and we played in a cinema to make it interesting for ourselves and the audience and that worked so well.

The next stage is to try it out with a full band - we've done one show like that in London. The one thing I like about this album is there was no pre-set way of how we would present it live. It can work with just me on my own, it can work with two of us and it can work with a big band or it could work with an orchestra and all that kind of rubbish. When we come to Portsmouth they'll be four of us and it'll be more of a rock experience.

I hear that you record your material at home...
Yeah, I record it here, where I'm sat right now... Over here is my piano - I'll play you something to prove it, I can only do it with one hand cos I'm holding the phone. This is the all important killer chord (plays opening chord of 'Strange And Beautiful')

I made the album at home without a record deal and to my own specifications, which is a great way to start and a great precedent to set. I'm now with a record label who trust me to do it myself and don't stick their oar in too much.

Where did you get the name Aqualung from?
It came quite late in the process. I'd just finished the album and it was one of those weird things where Jo Whiley rang up and said 'can we play your song?' and obviously I said 'yes' but then they said what are you going to call it and I had to think of something straight away. I knew already that I didn't want to call it Matt Hales, I wanted to have a name like a band name because I thought it would give me more flexibility about what I did and how I did it.

I listened to the album as a whole and thought what had I made? The one thing I kept thinking was that everything was in slow motion it was a bit like it was zero gravity or underwater and I went with the underwater thing and Aqualung popped up as a nice undersea word.

What's next on the agenda for you?
Well we're releasing our next single 'Good Times Gonna Come' and we're obviously on tour. Then next year I start my quiet world domination plan which is going to start in Europe. We'll be touring in January and February and then we'll release another single in March and then they'll be more touring in the UK and I'll try and make a new album in the summer.

How would your best friend describe you?
Unreliable, but worth it!