Criag Eddie revealed he still suffers from mental health issues – but winning The Voice UK has made him more confident and stopped him doubting his abilities.
In March, the 23-year-old, from Falkirk, became only the second Scots winner of the show.
It’s been a huge boost to the singer who has struggled with anxiety and depression since he left school at 16.
At one point, Craig was so anxious he couldn’t even go to the shops and experienced depersonalisation – meaning he felt wrong is his own body, felt detached from himself and lived on autopilot.
But being mentored by Anne-Marie – who has been vocal about her own mental health struggles – on the ITV singing competition and seeing his single become the best-performing, self-written song in the show’s history has helped the Scot enormously.
Today, he releases his major label debut, The Outside.
Craig said: “I still do have some ups and downs but nowhere near where I was.
“Even going to the shop was hard for me at a certain time.
“I was hiding away from everything. This led me to fading from reality and I became a little bit depersonalised. I’ve always had anxiety but when I left school at 16 I started to hide from the world a bit. Then the anxiety brought on depression and they fed off each other for a while.
“Then, when I turned 21/22 I started grasping at everything to try to get my life back on track again.”
Craig had, like his dad, wanted to be a musician and had been writing his own songs from the age of 12 – a year after his grandad Tom had given him a guitar.
Working in a variety of jobs, he kept grafting with little success, which knocked his already shaky confidence even more.
He said: “I remember about three years ago I had a phone interview planned a week advanced for a local radio station.
“For the full week, I was getting heart palpitations every time I thought about it and I was trembling and then I had to cancel it.”
How different he is as he speaks now – confident, self-effacing and a real credit to Scotland.
Craig added: “The Voice made me feel more confident and justified in what I’m doing.
“I’ve been making music for so long and nothing was happening which led me to doubt my own abilities. I had quite profound confidence issues. I never believed in myself.
“Even in person I never thought any of my words held any weight to them and now The Voice has enabled me to come into myself and find myself musically and as a person.”
His struggles have honed his skills and the song which launches his major label career – thanks to winning The Voice UK – is stunning. Craig said: “The song is about how depression, anxiety and depersonalisation make you feel almost alienated from everyone.
“It’s talking about hiding away in the room because you can’t deal with what is going on.
“I’ve had a lot of messages from people about their mental health struggles. The best thing winning The Voice will allow me to do is I’m now going to be an ambassador for a few mental health charities.
“I’ve been given this platform and want to use it”
Although Craig concedes winning The Voice at the start of the pandemic was frustrating because he couldn’t get out and tour, fame and some fortune have followed him home to Falkirk.
He said: “A few times, my mum has brought a picture of me back to the house and asked me to sign it to this name. There was one where they sent a video of this little girl getting the autograph and bursting out crying.
“It’s hard to wrap my head around the impact I can have on some people.”
His winner’s single, Come Waste My Time, reached the top of the iTunes chart and allowed him to buy studio equipment he’s been wanting for the past seven years.
Top of the list was a microphone and audio interface which set him back a cool £4000 but means he can now record his vocals to industry standard level in his bedroom – which he did for The Outside.
He added: “I never thought I’d get here. It’s weird because The Outside feels like my first proper release. I was releasing music before but never had an audience – now I have one waiting for my music.” Before The Voice, Craig said he’d be lucky if he got 100 listens to his songs. So far, the winner’s single has been listened to more than 363,828 times on Spotify.
He’s now looking forward to his King Tut’s debut gig at the legendary venue in Glasgow on November 13. And he is busy writing in the hope he’ll have a first album out next year.
Meanwhile, to anyone who might be thinking about trying for The Voice, Craig says “go for it”.
He added: “I doubted myself for so long I didn’t know I was as good as people are saying
I am.
“So go for it. Even if it scares you, don’t worry as it could take you to places you’d never thought you’d be.”
● Craig’s debut major label single, The Outside, is out now.
