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Small town boy to Eurovision champion: An interview with Duncan Laurence

02 October 2020 at 17:00 CEST
Duncan Laurence backstage at Ahoy, Rotterdam EBU / Stijn Smulders
With his new single 'Last Night' released on 1 October, we caught up with Eurovision Song Contest 2019 winner Duncan Laurence to find out what he's been up to and reminisced on his victory for the Netherlands more than one year ago.

Duncan’s "small town boy" dream finally came true back in 2019 when he won the Contest with his song Arcade. Eurovision was the "kick start" to his career that he had hoped for and one that catapulted him towards immediate career success. After winning the Contest he played at major gigs all across the Netherlands, traveled throughout Europe on promotional tours and released his second single. His whirlwind adventure did not stop there; Duncan then crossed the ocean over to Los Angeles in the United States where he then signed a record deal with Capital Music.

The fast build up of successful experiences since his performance in Tel Aviv is perhaps a reflection of his 'never give up' attitude. Duncan has the letters DTD inked on his arm and is an acronym for "Dare to Dream". After receiving his award he dedicated his Eurovision trophy "to dreaming big. This is to music, first, always," he said.

The Dutch native has now set his sights on his latest dream of releasing his next album on 13 November. Duncan teased his fans on 14 September with some lyrics from his new single Last Night which has been released on 1 October. His new record is set to show a different side of him as an artist with a more uptempo sound.

Duncan's writing process included the help of his songwriter boyfriend he met while in Los Angeles. "We really got to know each other way better through writing music too because you share stories together in a whole different way and you go really deep into those stories and maybe sometimes you get to express emotions that you wouldn't normally express if it's not in writing a song."

Duncan will be more involved with the entire creative process this time around. A lot of the songs on his latest album are also produced by Duncan and despite his amazing singer, songwriter and piano playing skills, he will also flex his directing muscles in many of his upcoming music videos. By being involved in the process of both, he believes that he will be able to merge the two creative worlds together more seamlessly. "It is a good way to not only express yourself via music but also via visuals because they go so well with each other."

With plans to perform his new album for the first time in front of an audience at the Ziggo Dome in November, Duncan cannot contain his excitement to see his fans reactions to his latest material, and, if we're honest, we cannot contain our excitement to hear it either!

Duncan's new single Last Night is available now - go ahead and listen!