Cian Ducrot’s plans for 2022 are modest enough – just growing a moustache, and world domination.

“Maybe see if I can dominate and have a moustache at the same time. Bring back that Freddie Mercury energy,” he laughs. If the world domination doesn’t work out, he’s happy to settle for things opening up enough to allow for some touring.

“Some touring in the US would be great,” Ducrot explains. “It’s really hard right now to plan anything, because everything, everything, is getting cancelled. It’s a very weird time for being an artist. Especially when I’ve just released an EP, so now that it’s 2022: am I going to release another body of work that I don’t get to tour, or what?”

The up-and-coming singer-songwriter, producer and TikTok sensation still managed a jam-packed 2021, despite the uncertainties of Covid. He’s released a number of singles along with an EP, Make Believe, just out in December. His first ever headline show took place at the Academy in early November, and two days later he also squeezed in an appearance on The Late Late Show, an invite that came at the 11th hour.

“I literally found out the day before – I was about to leave Dublin. My whole band had gone back to London and had to fly back in, it was crazy. 2021 was such an amazing year for so many great things happening when you weren’t expecting them. Hopefully I’ll have more exciting moments in 2022.”

Having spent the last few years travelling between the UK and Los Angeles, home for Cork native Cian is wherever he happens to find his laptop and guitar. During a turbulent youth, music was a welcome escape. After winning a full scholarship to study classical flute at the Royal Academy of Music, he chose to pursue a career in pop after a trip to California.

Despite having over 600,000 followers on TikTok with his relatable ‘living with girls’ antics and musical snippets, Ducrot doesn’t see himself as just another ‘TikTok artist’.

“Music was always at the forefront my whole life, and I love acting as well,” he enthuses. “I love being on stage, performance is everything. For me, TikTok was just a performance; like, taking the piss out of my flatmates. But it’s a big problem that as an artist today, you no longer are just an artist – you have to be a content creator, which is not really what the job is.

“I can’t imagine that Oasis or The Beatles would have ever bothered doing TikTok if they were told to. The music industry used to be full of tastemakers, and the great A&Rs and the great curators, who would handpick setlists for radio, all that kind of stuff. Now a lot of it is becoming algorithmic and data-driven.”

For 2022, Cian plans to focus on writing an album.

“I’ve got most of it written already,” he says. “It’s just figuring what I want it to sound like and what I want to say. Making better music is always my goal. I’m always challenging myself to write stuff that’s up to the level I’ve already done.

“Obviously we’d love to take that on tour. Performing is my favourite part of all, that’s where the magic feeling is. I got to do a lot of shows near the end of 2021, which was really amazing. When you get to play to 5,000 people, it’s like, ‘Holy shit, this is the best thing in the whole world.’

“It’s not just about going onstage and performing – it’s meeting the fans after the show, it’s being on a bus for seven hours with your band and your manager, and playing games and taking Covid tests every day. I’ve always enjoyed every single bit of the job, so hopefully that will happen this year.”

• Make Believe is out now.