UP and coming grime artist Paul Dowman – who performs under the name Grim Sickers – says his new tracks focus on the importance of following your dreams.

Paul, 28, from Swindon, is speaking from experience. He left a secure job at Honda to pursue his own dream of music success — and the gamble has paid off.

He has signed a deal with Warner Brothers to record an album, and made a new video directed by Mike Skinner to celebrate the remix of his single Kane.

He was nominated for the title Best Grime Act at the Urban Music Awards, his tracks have been playing on BBC Radio 1 – and he has been invited to San Francisco for a week to play at The Bay.

Paul is only just coming to terms with how well the year has gone: “I still can’t believe it,” he says.

Born and raised in Swindon, former Greendown pupil Paul first fell in love with music as a child, listening to the sounds his parents played – such as Elvis Presley, Cyndi Lauper and plenty of Motown.

“That was the music I was born into, that my parents loved,” he said.

“I didn’t really realise how much I liked it, but it went into my subconscious.”

Later, as a 19-year-old in the Brunel Rooms, he began developing his own music.

“I worked with local producers. To start with, I was quite terrible, to be fair, but you could see I loved it.”

He had a few short-term jobs after leaving school, and finally settled into work at Honda on the assembly line at Car Plant One. Paul was torn between the security of a regular income and his dream of musical success.

It was his father Wayne who encouraged him to make the break.

“He could see I wasn’t happy,” Paul said. “He suggested I give the music a go – after all I could always go back if things didn’t work out. Honda would still be there!”

Paul committed himself to his music and released two major singles: Kane and Open the Till, gaining almost 175,000 plays on music streaming service Spotify.

“I’ve been one of the best MCs this year,” said Paul.

He describes Grime as inspired by garage and rap, with a distinctly British flavour.

“It’s quite a new genre, and it started in London. I was there from the start, since the beginning of it,” he says.

His style continues to develop, and Paul says he is exploring new themes.

“My new music is about encouraging people to choose their dreams and not give up – I’m quite a spiritual person.”

Paul is also a devoted dad to his eight-year-old son – who is naturally very proud of his father.

“He’s over the moon,” Paul said.

“I try not to make too big a deal of it, but my son and his friends see it on the internet.”

He divides his time between London and Swindon, but says he still has a strong attachment to the town of his birth – not least because this is where his son lives.

“Swindon’s great – people complain about it but there is so much going on here, and music-wise it’s a good place to start, because you have so many studios all around.

“It wasn’t till I moved away that I realised just what a good place Swindon is.”

When he is not making music, Paul enjoys working out at the gym and he is a keen cook – with a passion for Caribbean food, and a quest to make a good Beef Wellington.

And when he is not listening to Grime, he still has a penchant for Diana Ross and the Supremes.