Scouser achieved fame after ‘life-changing’ Canada trip

A Scouser achieved fame in America after a life-changing trip to Canada.

Michael Nelson, also known by his stage name as BANNERS, has become a major hit in North America and has performed live on Jimmy Kimmel’s famous chat show and American Idol. For the 37 year-old, from Aigburth, it’s a far cry from spending every day as a child performing in the choir at the Anglican Cathedral.

Speaking to the ECHO as part of our Meet The Musician series, Michael said: “It's pretty intense there really, because you do it after school, then also all day Saturday, all day Sunday. So when everyone was watching Back to the Future or Terminator 2, I was just wearing a dress and singing songs.

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“So I only watched those films relatively recently. I didn't really get to do that stuff when I was a kid.”

Music runs in the family. His dad Ken Nelson is a music producer who has worked with Coldplay.

But it was a trip with his dad, a few years ago, to Canada that changed the course of his own music career. He collaborated with Grammy-nominated producer Stephen Kozmeniuk, who worked with him on his singles and self-titled EP.

His first single, Ghosts, was released in 2015 and shot straight to number one on the alternative radio charts in Canada, garnering 10m Spotify streams. A year later, he signed with Island Records who were based in the US.

In the same year he performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live, a chat show that regularly attracts over 1m viewers in the United States. Despite a spectacular start to his music career, Michael struggled with the new found expectations placed on him and was startled to be given the opportunity so early on.

He said: “When you first start out