Before he appeared on Britain’s X-Factor in 2009 and way before he snagged the coveted opening slot for One Direction‘s tour, Olly Murs was just like everyone else working 9 to 5 jobs. Recently, he spoke with Marcus D/San Francisco about his humble beginnings.

The 28-year-old Essex, England, native admitted that prior to the X-Factor he really hadn’t thought much about getting into the music business.

“I never sung in front of many people. I did a few pub gigs with my mates — joking around. A bit of karaoke here and there. I just thought the X-Factor was a chance. Give me a chance to change my life.”

And change his life it did. Prior to the X-Factor,Murs held a series of less than glamorous jobs.

“Basically I was getting people jobs. People would ring me up and say ‘Look Olly I need some help finding a job.’ I’d look around and try to find them a job.”

Murs continued, “Then I worked in a call center giving people advice on saving money on their energy bills.”

Even if music wasn’t on his mind he had realized that his “life wasn’t really going anywhere.” So he took a shot at reality TV as he didn’t have much to lose.

Since that auspicious audition Murs has had both critical and financial success in his native England and is now poised for success in the US.

- Bradford Hornsby, Alice@97.3, San Francisco