He was a superbikes champion before becoming a rock star, but James Toseland feels his music is finally being taken seriously.

The 36-year-old Yorkshireman will bring his band to King Tut’s on Monday to support the release of new single Bullet.

And while his early days might have seen scepticism towards his music career, James believes he’s put in the hard work to ensure he has some respect.

“I don’t think it’s easy to be quickly accepted at something when you’ve been a success at another thing,” he says.

“It has been a bridge to cross to get that support. But after five years of complete commitment, booking a van, touring and everything else, I think it has got around the industry how much I have done. Also, I didn’t just start playing the piano when I had to retire from bikes, I’d been playing for a long time, and having some talent with an instrument helped, because I wasn’t just trying to sing.”

James was a two time superbike world champion, and enjoyed a glittering career in motorsport until he was forced to retire due to a wrist injury. However he had been a long time music lover, and after leaving the world of bikes behind was eager to have a crack at life in a band.

That led to him forming hard rock quintet Toseland, who have now released two albums. It hasn’t always been an easy adjustment to make for the singer.

“Being away and getting to make music is fine, but I’ve just booked this tour in the UK and Europe and that’s going to be about £15,000 all in for it, from the travel to the merchandise,” he adds.

“You’re pre-paying that upfront, so it won’t be a case of doing that as you’re getting in money from the shows. So it is a big commitment to be in a band these days, and I know a couple of bands that have gone by the wayside because of it.

“If labels aren’t going to support you from an earlier stage, which they’re not doing these days, then we’re going to see more of this and it’s a difficult time. I’ve been fortunate enough that we’re at a stage where we just about break even each time now.”

James obviously has a few advantages, in that he has already enjoyed a successful career and has a wife, Katie Melua, who has been enormously successful in her own right. However arguably the most crucial factor was meeting Toby Jepson, of hard rock band Little Angels and the former frontman of Glasgow legends Gun.

He and James hit it off and have co-written most of the band’s output over the past few years.

“The guitar driven songs are very much from Toby’s ideas on songwriting, and the piano and key ones are from me,” says James.

“Then once we have a melody idea or structure we like, we sit down with the lyrics and just bounce ideas off each other until we improve each song. Musically the riffs comes from Toby or my guitarist Zurab [Melua], and lyrically it’s from me, and I really enjoy that side of things.”

And the singer finds that the more the band tour the more emotion he is able to get out of the songs.

“Every time you sing live you’re finding a different way of singing it, and the more that you’re doing it you start to get deeper into it emotionally,” he says.

“It’s like a pair of trainers or some old jeans because the more you use them the more comfortable you are getting.”

The band’s hard graft has meant that Toseland have earned support slots with the likes of Deep Purple and Status Quo. Getting to play with Quo a couple of years before their legendary frontman Rick Parfitt passed away has brought home to James how lucky he is to get to make music.

“Playing with Status Quo was a privilege, especially because of what’s since happened with Rick,” he concludes.

“It shows you that we are here for a very short time and that encourages me to carry on. Regardless of the pressure it causes, it’s still all about the music. It just reinforces my ambition to be a success when you see all these great legends who have passed away so early, because it reminds you that you’re fortunate to be doing something you love.”

Toseland, King Tut’s, Monday, £10, 8.30pm

JONATHAN GEDDES