'I went from busking out my window to Glastonbury'

Singer Calum Bowie has gone from busking out his living room window to performing at Glastonbury in a "surreal" couple of years.

The 23-year-old from Banchory in Aberdeenshire has now added the Scottish Breakthrough Artist of the Year award to an already impressive 2024.

The award win follows summer festival slots at Worthy Farm and Belladrum, after a 2023 TRNSMT slot.

It had all started with viral videos on TikTok of him singing popular covers from his Edinburgh student flat window. Becoming the "window guy" led to 470,000 followers on the platform and likes totalling 11.7m.

Calum Bowie won the Scottish Breakthrough Artist of the Year award

Now a recording artist who sells out his own shows across Europe, he said some people still just know him from social media.

"It's funny when people bump into me in the street and they will sometimes say they love my music," the singer said.

"Other times they will be with a pal who doesn't know who I am but then say 'oh the guy who hangs out of his window', so it is nice people can associate me with that."

The window busking has led to song requests from his neighbours and even members of the public throwing money into the flat.

Playing to a quiet Edinburgh street is a far cry from Glastonbury, which Bowie described as a real "pinch me" moment.

He said: "I was just like 'that just looks funny on paper, Calum Bowie and Glastonbury next to each other'.

"I remember getting told that I was playing it and it just did not really sink in until after, it was pretty mindboggling.

"To go from playing out my window and busking on the street and doing smaller gigs to playing these huge festivals is pretty surreal."

The singer played TRNSMT in 2023

The former student will collect his Scottish Breakthrough Artist of the Year award at a ceremony at the Barrowlands in November.

Previous winners include Lewis Capaldi and The Snuts.

On the same night he collects his prize others collecting awards include Lulu and Travis.

"That is some serious boots to fill," he told BBC Scotland News.

"It is nice to even be in the same sentence as those guys, it is a total vote of confidence and if they have won it maybe my career is going to go in the right direction."

When asked about what is next after a series of singles which have reached more than a million streams on Spotify, the 23-year-old did not give too much away, but an album is likely to follow.

Calum played two sets at Glastonbury in 2024

The aptly named "through the window tour" will take the singer across Europe in December to cities like Paris and Berlin.

The UK leg in the new year will see big headline shows at Glasgow's SWG3 and The Garage in London.

Despite all the success, the window busking days are not quite behind Calum Bowie just yet.

"I still have not really stopped doing the window stuff but I'm travelling more and producing my own stuff," he said.

"I have no plans on stopping that anytime soon."