Meet YouTube sensation Greyson Chance

Everything about Greyson Chance seems too fast -- his career, the crowd he runs with, even the way he speaks.

The first concert he ever saw was Lady Gaga -- and he got to meet her backstage. His first airplane ride was to appear on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." And his first interview was with Ryan Seacrest.

Goodbye, Oklahoma -- hello, world.

Greyson, you may recall, is the 13-year-old schoolboy whose parents posted a YouTube video of him performing Gaga's "Paparazzi" on piano and vocals at an Oklahoma church talent show last April. Two weeks later, he appeared on "Ellen," she signed him to her new record label, and next week he's coming to Minneapolis on his first concert tour, opening for Nickelodeon darling Miranda Cosgrove of "iCarly" fame.

Whew!

He's been so busy recording his debut album in Los Angeles with Ron Fair -- producer of Christina Aguilera, the Pussycat Dolls and, oh, yes, Lady Gaga -- that he hadn't started tour rehearsals when he phoned from Los Angeles last week.

Born in Wichita Falls, Texas, and raised in Edmond, Okla., Greyson, the youngest of three children, is a capable pianist. On his three-song EP, his voice sounds like a cross between Miley Cyrus' and Justin Bieber's. A high school choir director might say he doesn't segue smoothly from his chest voice to his falsetto. But what Greyson has in abundance is confidence -- which was obvious during our chat, his words tumbling out in rapid-fire bursts.

A I'm not nervous at all. I'm very excited. I've never been nervous. I love performing.

Q How many songs are done for your new album project?

A We're just making the music and making the demos and mastering a lot of things. We have a lot of ideas. The style is pop music but it's more like a Snow Patrol-type vibe. It's pop but with rock influences.

Q How much writing have you been doing?

A Most of the record is actually written by me.

A Just keep the song fun and keep it very energetic. Be able to hear the message of the song. If it's supposed to be something very anger-driven or fearful, you need to make it ugly and blunt.

Q How do you think your songwriting has evolved?

A I wrote my first song about a year ago, "Broken Hearts." I kind of actually know what I'm doing now. When I first started, I had no clue.

Q Who are your chief songwriting influences?

A I love old rock 'n' roll. Journey. I'm into Kiss. I'm into Bowie. I really love Queen.

A I always listen to 20 songs before I go to bed. Journey, Mötley Crüe, Kiss, David Bowie, Semi-Precious Weapons [Gaga's foul-mouthed punk opening act].

Q So your parents let you listen to Semi-Precious Weapons?

A Oh, yeah. Most of the time they don't know.

Q You are growing up fast.

A I'm growing up very fast, but I don't think that's a bad thing at all.

A She's very involved in the music, the songwriting and the creative process.

Q What's the best advice she's given you?

A She's always about being true to yourself, always being yourself in the music and creative process, and don't let anybody change you.

Q What did you and Justin Bieber talk about at the MTV Video Music Awards?

A Me and Justin just chit-chatted for a little while. He was a very busy man that night. He's a cool guy.

A Yes. Just stay true to myself and just to keep your head on [straight] while you're in the music business.

Q Did he tell you to get rid of your hairdo and let him have it?

A [Giggles] He did not tell me that.

Q What's been the hardest thing about your new life?

A Nothing has been hard, no. There are a lot of long days, but I love staying busy. Maybe the hardest thing, you know, is I'm never at home, really. But you have to sacrifice.

A I do online school. I do about three or four hours a day. The tutor and I go over all the lessons online. I think I'm doing pretty good. I got straight A's last semester.

Q Where does your confidence come from?

A My family. My mother is very confident. It comes from a mind-set. I want to be confident and I want to be positive about everything.

Q On "Ellen," Gaga advised you to follow your dream, stay focused and stay away from the girls. So how many girlfriends have you had so far?

A Ha, ha. Oh, man, you're asking the hard questions today. I've had a few girlfriends, but not too many.

A Oh, yes, I've had a couple and particularly one ... You can be in love in certain ways, not in the ways of an adult but in the ways of a kid. I think kids can be fully on in love.

Q You're not doing puppy love or teenybop songs. You're making pop songs that appeal to all ages.

A That's always been the goal. Not to be someone artificial, to be someone very real so the moms and the kids and the dads and grandpas -- everybody -- can relate to my music and understand it.

Q You're 13. So what do you want to do when you grow up?

A I want to do this. I'm living the dream. So I want to do it forever.