Sam Fender is about to have a cup of tea with Phil Mitchell when Music Week interrupts him at his studio.

The 23-year-old “toe rag” from North Shields laughs when we splutter in surprise. “Nah, not Phil Mitchell off Eastenders!” he explains. “It’s me godfather and his good friend Phil Mitchell, he’s a scouse lad, he’s cracking. Anyway, they’ve come in for a cuppa…”

We find Fender in the studio he’s built over the last year in his hometown, 10 ...