The rising star from Chelmsford has come a long way since his first gig at The Bassment, making three appearances at Reading and Leeds festival, but he returned to the city he grew up in to perform for fans at the new Dr Martens store which has opened up on Bond Street.

21-year-old Rat Boy, or Jordan as his friends call him, has hit the big time with his debut album Scum, which was released last month, and has already won an NME award.

But Jordan Cardy and his band are not so new on the scene, they started up two-and-a-half years ago.

Despite having dyslexia, Cardy is a prolific songwriter, noting down lyrics wherever he goes.

The son of a local welder, Brett Cardy, and a former student at Chelmer Valley High School, Jordan writes a lot of social commentary, picking up on subjects like generation division and signing on the dole.

He said: “I just always write when I’m out. If I’m riding my bike into town or on a night out, I will write about things that come to mind.

“I used to carry my notepad around with me but then I started noting ideas down on my phone because my notes would go through the wash otherwise.

“I like to write about what I’ve been going through in my life, what my mates do and what we chat about and what winds us up.

“I like to write about what I’m thinking about at the time and I like to be direct. I basically like to write about what p***es me off.”

Citing the Streets, Beastie Boys and legendary punk band, The Clash, as his influences, and often changing the type of music he listens to – American Trap being his current favourite – Cardy has an eclectic taste in music, which he illustrates in his own songs.

But a unique selling point of Cardy’s is his cheeky demeanour and his fun-loving attitude to his work.

When asked the generic question “how did you get here?” he replied, “I caught the bus.”

He was also keen to play a video of the drummer in his group performing, and spectacularly failing, a stunt.

Speaking of his experiences on tour, he said: “There was this one time when Noah tried jumping over a load of tables and he slipped on the last bit and his neck swung back.

“We got it on film and it got about two million views online.

“It was pretty cool but he couldn’t pull himself out of bed for a week afterwards.

“We just like having fun, we don’t take ourselves too seriously.”

Chelmsford Weekly News:

At the gig, which took place on Wednesday September 20, Cardy performed in 15-minute spells to allow different crowds of people the opportunity to see him and the band play.

In his first performance, he managed to orchestrate three separate mosh-pits in a small shoe store.

An evidently popular artist, Rat Boy has said that he has already started compiling ideas for his next album.

He said: “I am working with a load of different people on it.

“We want to take the energy that we got and then try different stuff.

“We like combining genres of music. Like with the first records, we want to use Britpop and hip-hop but then take a punk-energy, put it through a process and hopefully come out with a new hip-hop sound.”