Rat Boy speaks ahead of Birmingham gig

He's on the road with his new album, Scum, giving fans the chance to catch his 90s mix of hip hop, electro-pop, punk and indie rock. He'll play Birmingham's O2 Institute on Tuesday while on his biggest tour to date.

Jordan's earned favourable comparisons with The Clash and The Streets as well as Jamie T and The Beastie Boys, though he describes himself as an avowed fan of Kasabian and Kendrick Lamar.

The youngest of four children is severely dyslexic but has been writing songs since the age of 11. "I can't write a paragraph, and when I try, it doesn't make sense to anyone except me."

Music provided his release and he immersed himself in Beastie Boys and Green Day initially, The Streets and Jamie T more recently. "I sent out hundreds of mixtapes," he says. "Every now and then, somebody would reply."

He'd studied at Chelmer Valley High, in Chelmsford, before going on to study art at Colchester Institute. His music circulated on SoundCloud under the name Rat Boy and eventually he was picked up by NME and played on BBC Radio 1, Radio X and BBC Radio 6.

Life as a 21 year old features heavily in his music. On Sign On he sings: 'I'm young, dumb and living off mum,' while on Wasteman, recorded in his bedroom, his father can be heard shouting: 'Will you turn that down?'

His name came from his appearance: "I looked like a rat," he says. He owes some of his success to Drew McConnell, bassist with Babyshambles, who heard one of his demos and became a friend. "He's a really lovely bloke, and very healthy – he rides his bike everywhere."

He recorded in Damon Albarn's west London studio but Jordan was struck dumb each time they saw one another. "I wanted to make conversation with him but I couldn't, not really. I was too shy. He offered me a cup of tea, and I thought that was pretty cool.

"I just love playing music, man, to the people.

"Most of the time I sleep on the floor. Record all day, sleep at night – that's what I do. It gets a bit weird at four in the morning there, or forgetting when the time is. I remember being in the studio for twenty-hour hours and as soon as I left, I felt ill – so I had to go back. There's so many different instruments to try out. I love it there."

He used social media to build his following, relentlessly messaging music to complete strangers. "Whoever liked a Mac DeMarco track on Soundcloud – I'd DM them all. I was just guessing what to do, sending it to loads of blogs, people my age who could write about it."

His music is authentic and real as that previously recorded by The Streets' Mike Skinner, who hails from Birmingham. The same working class stories populate his songs. "But you don't wanna go around saying 'I'm working class,' because I just want people to listen to my music." Even so, he was once accused online of having everything handed to him on a plate. "That really annoyed me. I don't know why people think that. It's not like the record deal was given to me for no reason. My brother went into meltdown when someone wrote that online. He was so angry. And he works proper hard, left home when he was sixteen."

Success hasn't changed him. He's still devoted to his music, but still hangs out with friends if he gets a little downtime.

His gigs are intense as fans seem to make each show as carefree and insane as they can. Their reaction thrills Jordan. "I've always wanted that, but I didn't expect it to happen."