HE has enjoyed a string of singing successes, becoming one of the most-recognised faces and popular personalities on television.
But Gareth Malone admits he is driven by a secret fear of being out of work.
He believes that worry – and also his hardworking nature – has been passed down from his father, James, who grew up in the east end of Glasgow.
Since first coming to prominence in the BAFTA-winning BBC series, The Choir, in 2007, Gareth has barely stopped, finding it difficult to turn work down.
It locked him into an exhausting schedule that was becoming too much until he finally forced himself to take a break.
But now the 42-year-old musician is back, coming to Dundee and Edinburgh on tour this week as well as filming a new choir series for the BBC.
“Dad was from a relatively poor family and I don’t think you forget that,” said Gareth.
“He worked hard all his working life and is still the same in retirement – he sets the table for breakfast the night before, does the ironing, and so on. “He’s very task orientated and I think I’ve taken that from him.
“My mum’s family wasn’t particularly affluent when she was growing up either, and she has the same hard-working attitude. It’s always at the back of your head … what if I don’t have any work?”
Being self-employed in the arts only amplifies that feeling.
“Any freelance feels they have to keep working – we don’t like big holes in the diary,” he continued. “There’s not many people I’ve spoken to who have nailed the work-life balance because it’s hard to get right.
“It’s a nice problem to have, but when your job is also your hobby it becomes hard to stop and I’m obsessed with music.”
As such, it was never the music Gareth felt he needed a break from.
he said: “It was the travel involved when filming that got to me – one day in Glasgow, the next in Dover and then Manchester, all for maybe just an hour of recording each.
“When I started this in 2006 I didn’t have kids, so I had more spare time and back then filming was only a day or two a week. As the projects became bigger in scale, so did the filming schedule.”
Gareth, married to wife Becky, says children Esther and Gilbert are already showing an interest in music.
“There is loads of singing in our house,” he said. “I was brought up in a household where people sang.
“I get that from my dad, he would always do a turn at a party.
“My parents met through singing – they were doing an amateur dramatics production in the early 70s – so it’s appropriate that I got into this.”
In a career of highlights, Gareth mentions the Queen’s Jubilee and the Military Wives Choir as two standouts.
Gareth will reunite with a member of the Military Wives Choir, Samantha Stevenson, at her local show in Dundee this week to sing their No 1 hit, Wherever You Are.
“We haven’t done it together since 2011,” Gareth added. “It’s my first time in Dundee and she was coming with her family anyway, so I said she should come up and sing it.
“I’m doing the dates with The Swingles, who are one of the best close harmony groups in the world, and we’ll be joined by Got Soul Choir and Scot Soul in Edinburgh and Dundee.”
Gareth plays Usher Hall, Edinburgh and Caird Hall, Dundee, on Friday and Saturday
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