Dylan John Thomas: "Growing up in foster care, there wasn't a lot of love in the house, so I found music"

It's been almost three years since Glasgow's Dylan John Thomas released his self-titled debut album. Now, with Nothing Here Worth Taking, released in September, he returns with another collection exploring love and regret, faith and fatalism, rejection and connection, realism and idealism. All delivered with his trademark wit and knack for storytelling.

In the intervening years, Thomas has spent plenty of time on the road, including a UK and Ireland headline tour. But he's also made room for a change of pace, taking his music to some unexpected places. "I'd gotten a wee banjo," he explains. "I went around Scotland playing a lot of the old golf courses."

Golf courses? "I've always been into golf since I was a wee guy. We had a lot of time to kick around after the tour. We tipped around writing a few songs on the banjo, so when it came time to record the new album, I had so many songs already written."

Thomas didn't grow up surrounded by music, but he found himself drawn to old blues records. Anything with a strong bass section and some fingerpicking caught his attention, setting him on the folky, rocky, bluesy path he continues to pave today.

Ska also played a significant role in shaping his musical tastes. The opening track of his latest album wouldn't sound out of place on a Madness record. "I grew up listening to The Specials," he says. "I would go to The Barrowlands to see them. When I heard their music for the first time, I was drawn to that."

Having gone from being a fan of the ska legends to sharing a stage with one of their members, Thomas experienced something of a "full circle moment" with guitarist Steve Cradock. The Specials musician - also a founding member of Ocean Colour Scene - came across Thomas' early work and invited him to support them at The Barrowlands, the very venue where his musical tastes had first taken shape.

"It was really funny, seeing The Specials so much as a kid and then going on to support Steve. I listened to a lot of ska growing up and those rhythms just found their way into the albums." Cradock gifted Thomas a guitar that had been used on several Ocean Colour Scene albums. It's at this point in our conversation that I start to discover just how technically minded Thomas is when it comes to his instruments.

"Steve gave us a twelve-string they used to record an album. A couple of things were written using that, but twelve-strings are hard to play. Fingerpicking with it is used more for rhythm - it's a lot easier to play in a rhythm sense."  

Instrumentation is clearly at the forefront of Thomas' creative process. That doesn't mean his lyrics are an afterthought, however. Rather, it's the musical side of songwriting that has always fascinated him most. "Whether it be friendships or relationships, I take things from what people are saying. There's a couple of songs about one of my mates going through a bit of a mad time. It's very easy to draw lyrics from."

The seemingly straightforward nature of his lyrical inspirations is interesting, particularly given his considerable curiosity about the mechanics of music itself. For Thomas, the explanation comes down to the way his mind works.

"I've never been too much into literature - I've always been obsessed with maths and physics. It's that side of things I gravitate towards. When it comes to lyrics, I've always seen it as more of a, 'how can I get this to make sense?' Almost like a puzzle,

"I'm arithmetic-based, and that's how I see music. It's the way the melody and chords work. I've never thought too much about where my lyrics come from - I probably should!" 

Thomas has previously spoken about playing piano, describing how it simply "makes sense" to him. Given his tendency to approach songwriting as something of a puzzle, I ask if the two are connected.

"Melody writing is a lot easier on piano. You can see it: left to right, low to high. Writing on a guitar? I've always found it a bit difficult. If you go up to the fifth fret on the E string, that's an A. If you go up one string, go all the way down to the first fret, that's a B flat, technically higher. On a piano you can see it. I know what an octave is, I know what the intervals are, and if I want to create a melody that goes higher, I just need to move right."

Although his love of music-making is clearly rooted in melody and instrumentation, that doesn't mean the lyrical content of his songs lacks depth. On 'Call It A Day', he sings: "She's been reading the Bible / Told me it might have something to say / I don't live that way / But maybe I should one day." 

There's something more personal at play here. "I've always been interested in religion; it's something I've wrestled with throughout my life," he says. "Growing up in foster care, there wasn't a lot of love in the house, so I found music. Naturally, there was a bit of searching for something else - something more."

Those childhood experiences continue to find their way into his music. Johnny Cash is frequently cited as an influence, with Thomas incorporating Cash-esque chugging baselines and acoustic fingerpicking into his own playing. As it turns out, his appreciation for the country legend began in rather unusual circumstances.

"In the foster home, there was one Playstation - and about ten boys. We were always elbowing each other out of the way to try and get a shot at it. When you weren't playing you were left listening to the soundtrack."

That soundtrack was Tony Hawk's Underground 2, which featured Cash's 'Ring of Fire'. "It would come on every ten minutes. We'd go around the room singing it. Johnny cash's were the first tunes I got into, those kinds of rhythms. The amalgamation of the fingerpicking melodies to then those rhythm sections were the foundations for both of my albums."

While his debut was recorded in Liverpool, Thomas took a different approach for Nothing Here Worth Taking, heading to Dundee's Magic Box Studios to work with Scotty Anderson, producer for the likes of The Snuts.

"The way that he records is very atmospheric," Thomas explains. "I would write a song, go in a few weeks later and record said song with just him. It took us the space of a few months, but I like that aspect. It was a wee bit different.

"Me and Scotty recorded this one instead of having the full band, and going to Liverpool. It was a very different dynamic." Having started out busking on the streets of Glasgow and uploading covers to YouTube - including Cash's 'Ring of Fire' - Thomas has developed a relationship with performing that continues to influence his recordings.

"We grew up busking, we grew up playing every single day - then touring. Naturally, when I'm recording, there's a feeling these are going to be played live, so i try to capture that energy within the recordings."

That instinct for bringing songs to life onstage should stand to him when he returns to Ireland this month. Thomas is set to play The Academy, Dublin on November 29, and it's clear Irish audiences hold a special place in his affections.

"Ireland's always class, man," he laughs. "We've been lucky to support a few people there. Anytime we pay those shows - you could be in Belfast or Dublin and you never feel too far from home."

• Tickets for Dylan John Thomas at The Academy on November 29 are available here.