It’s been a good year for Jake Bugg. He has supported his idol Noel Gallagher, toured America and saw his album top the charts. Not bad for an 18-year-old who was practically unknown until he released his first single 11 months ago.

Success has been swift to this lad from one of the tougher parts of Nottingham, whose tales of everyday life have struck such a chord.

“I just write stuff, put it on a record and if people enjoy it that’s great,” he says softly, in the kind of flat, matter-of-fact tones which suggest either glacial cool, or disarming modesty. He is clearly unfazed by fame. On the contrary, he seems totally unimpressed.

“It’s about being honest,” he says. “People connect with it. That’s the key.”

Last time we saw Jake was among the woods at Cornbury Park, playing last summer’s Wilderness Festival. Now he is on his way back, playing a sold-out show at the O2 Academy Oxford, as part of his biggest tour yet.

Much of Jake’s appeal is his lack of pretension. He is not one for small talk and saves his insight for his songs. Hailing from the vast Clifton council estate, his sharp, observant songs are about the things he sees around him. “You’ve got to write about what you feel at the present time,” he says.

“I love writing sings, sharing them with people and playing them around the world. I can’t ask for much more.”

One song from his eponymous album, the strident blues tune Lightning Bolt, was played just before the 100m final in the Olympic Stadium — just before Bolt won. Other songs such as Trouble Town, which tells of being stuck on benefits in “speed bump city”, or Two Fingers — with its references to domestic rows, smoking cannabis and drinking White Lightning, tap into a universal desire to escape. And, in a way, he has.

“I still get back to Nottingham when I can,” he says. “But at the moment I have a life on the road, and I enjoy it. It’s great. My life is changing and it’s going to keep on changing — but I love it.

“I still have my friends there, two or three close ones I’ve known for years. And they are important as they’ll be the first people to say ‘you’ve changed!”

So is he regarded as a local hero when he goes back to Clifton? “I lurk around in the shadows and keep myself to myself,” he laughs.

“Of course some people are proud and want to show it, and don’t always go about it in the best way. But it’s great they are supportive.

“Some people crave attention,” he adds. “But I keep myself to myself.”

Does he, I wonder, have a method for writing? Does inspiration come from travelling or closer to home. “Writing songs is my escape,” he says, “That and a bit of Xbox.

“It’s hard on the road, though, as I’m in a different head-space and in a different hotel every night. I write better in my comfort zone.”

The son of musician parents, Jake was immersed in quality music from an early age — his mother was a huge Donovan fan, his whimsical records making an impression on the young Bugg. He started playing the guitar at 12, taking as influences everything from Robert Johnson and The Beatles to Arctic Monkeys.

“I like to swing from genre to genre,” he says. “Country, indie, even a bit of reggae. I take influences from all over.

“People are calling my stuff rootsy, which is fine by me. It has quite a lot of punch and attitude to it, but then I’ve also got lots of softer, more intricate stuff too. Grit and rawness, mixed with quietness and delicacy, that’s how I’d put it.”

Such was Jake’s commitment to music, he left school with, he admits, no backup plan.

“Music was all I wanted to do,” he says. “I didn’t say to myself ‘I’m not going to have a safety net’; there just wasn’t one for me. I don’t know what else I could have done.”

The gamble has paid off, of course. As well as going on the road with Gallagher, he has supported the Stone Roses and Snow Patrol, and become a favourite on Radio 1 and 2. He is a festival hit and has just been added to the line-up at this year’s Reading and Leeds festivals.

So what has been the best moment so far? “The album going to number one,” he says. “It was totally unexpected and took me by surprise.

“If someone had told me before that that was going to happen, I’d have laughed. It’s a crazy thing to think.”

Though having the support of someone like Noel Gallagher, who he supported on the former Oasis star’s High Flying Birds tour of America, must have helped? “He’s just a nice chap who loves his football,” he says, still doing his best to sound unimpressed.

“He’s definitely been an influence, though, and having someone like him taking an interest is definitely inspiring. But at the end of the day we are all humans.”

There must, I suggest, have been some funny moments among the highlights. He laughs. “’When I was supporting Noel, there was a woman in Texas with a baby’s pushchair who wanted to have a photo of me with it, but instead of a baby there was a parrot in it. She said it was her own ‘high-flying bird’. She was there again in New York. That kind of thing only happens in America.”

Then there was what he describes as his own Spinal Tap moment. “I got out of a car to do something on radio and there were all these paparazzi taking photos. There were all these girls there, so I went over to sign some random autographs and pose for pictures — but they were really all there for Jessie Ware!”

So after a year in which he went from unknown to chart-topping star, where does he want to go next? Is he still ambitious? “I’m just going to do my thing,” he says.

“I’m willing to do what it takes to take chances, and get my music out there. I’ve already achieved more than I thought I would, but hopefully I’ll continue making music until I’m old and grey.”

  • Jake Bugg plays the O2 Academy, Oxford on Thursday (February 21) Tickets have sold out He plays Reading Festival, August 23-25. Tickets available at the discounted rate of £197.50 (+ booking fees + postage) until the end of February. Visit readingfestival.com