Now a hugely successful opera singer with the group Blake, he talks to Martin Freeman about his love for his home city of Plymouth and his hopes of a big future for the group.
Plymouth has been waiting to spawn a rock star since the dawn of its live music scene. The city has its own famous comedienne, its famous swimmer and now a famous diver, its favourite famous dancer and a splattering of famous television personalities.
But it has never produced an A-list rock star who music lovers across the world would label as "that awesome musician who hailed from down Plymouth".
Well, maybe now the city has a little glimpse of hope for those wishing we had our own famous singer/rock star - and that hope rests on the shoulders of Dominic Tighe.
He may be an operatic singer and, in fact, lack some of the sex, drugs and outlandish behaviour of the traditional rock star but the talented vocalist is on his way to musical stardom.
And I reckon our city will hold on to him as 'our own buoy' as long as we can.
Dom is one of the four members of classical music sensations Blake, who formed last year on Facebook and have been making waves nationally ever since.
The 24-year-old baritone, with rugged features, wicked smile and a fun-loving sense of humour, has been an integral part of the classical band whose covers so far include the 2007 Rugby World Cup official anthem Swing Low.
The Blake lads brought Dom down with them to Plymouth last week to meet me - and also to sing the praises of their debut album, which has been nominated for a major industry award.
The quartet were the best-selling classical debut act of 2007 and are pretty much now on the verge of international stardom.
They have been nominated for a Classical Brit award and have been drumming up support from fans who can vote for the dashing lads to win.
And Dom Tighe wants people in Plymouth to back the band's awards bid so the city can at last boast a musical 'rock star' of its own.
He said: "We, I believe, have got what it takes to win the award as long as people vote for us.
"I will never forget my Plymouth roots, and I hope people in the city will support me.
"I am over the moon to have been nominated for this award. I feel I would like to win this award for Devon and Cornwall."
Dom was born at Freedom Fields Hospital in 1983 and for most of his early years, he lived and grew up in Devon.
His first home was Ivybridge - and his first school was Ermington Primary in the South Hams countryside. He later attended Newton Ferrers Primary School and went on to Buckfast Abbey School, where he first began singing.
Dom said: "I come from a naval family. My dad was in the Navy and he served down here.
"My brothers and I grew up with my dad being away at times. He served in the Falklands war and the first Gulf war.
"He was also based at HMS Cambridge, the gunnery school."
Dom said there were times in his youth when he had to up sticks and move to other places in the UK - and abroad - but he always returned to Devon.
He said he loved his life in Newton Ferrers and still has plenty of friends from the village who he keeps in touch with today.
The singer said he later joined the famous abbey choir when he moved on up to Buckfast. But he was just following in his elder brothers' footsteps by enrolling in the choir - and certainly had no ambition to sing as a young lad.
He said: "It was in the choir that I first discovered I could sing. The setting was beautiful at Buckfast and I started to enjoy singing.
"Looking back, I believe the singing training, as well as the discipline at the abbey boarding school, helped me immensely to get to where I am today.
"If I hadn't have had experiences at Buckfast, I would not be doing what I am doing now."
After his Buckfast days, Dom became an usher at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth. He was also at the Plymouth Pavilions 'helping out' for a while.
It was in these teenage years when he spent a lot of time in Plymouth and "fell in love" with the city.
He said: "I learnt how to drive in Plymouth. I passed first time despite having the chief examiner in the back seat and tackling Marsh Mills roundabout in rush hour."
During his teens, Dom lived near Home Park, in Stoke, and was also an actor in the Theatre Royal's Young Company, performing in a splattering of shows.
Towards the end of secondary school, he moved up to London and carried on singing in a school in the capital.
He also went to drama school and trained as a actor for three years at Central School of Speech and Drama - pausing only to pop back to Devon from time to time to see the folks and his friends.
He said: "While at drama school, I sang every day and always practised my vocals. Although I was acting, I concentrated on singing because I enjoyed it so much.
"I would always be back to Plymouth for Christmas and Easter to see my parents. I loved getting out of the capital city and seeing the green grass of home.
"I loved walking on Dartmoor or in the countryside - and I also always loved Plymouth Gin."
Dom got his big break last year after finishing drama school. He was doing a play at the Old Vic with Kevin Spacey and it was then that Jules Knight, from Sussex, saw Dom and sent him a message via Facebook.
Dom met the other two Blake members - Stephen Bowman, from Bath, and Oliver Baines, from Wiltshire - at the start of the summer and they instantly clicked.
They had mutual friends but had never met as a group. After discovering a shared background in classical music, they decided to put their own act together and find a manager.
Within two days of meeting the rugged ex-choristers signed a £1million, five-album deal with Universal.
English rose Keira Knightley introduced herself to the lads after hearing them sing the Beach Boys' God Only Knows while she was recording voiceovers in the same studio - and, from then on, Blake's popularity has been increasing in pitch.
The four insist they have more gravitas than previous classical crossover outfits such as G4 and Il Divo - and Dom reckons they will be around for a long time.
He said: "We were all incredibly lucky to find each other at the right time and to use Facebook to get our manager - and it has all snowballed from there pretty quickly.
"There are lots of good classical acts out there at the moment, but we have a great ambition as a group and hope we are well on the way to big success in such a competitive industry."
One of the big draws for Blake is how the lads handle their publicity. I have been chatting on the phone with Dom for months and could have done this Big Interview over the phone easily.
However, Dom and his trio of singing comrades were insistent they were to jump on a train from London and travel all the way down to The Herald offices to meet me.
That is how a band who wants to make the top level organises its publicity to the max.
The lads promote themselves and they do it as best they can to all tiers of the media.
Dominic said: "We like getting out there and meeting people, whether it be fans or the media or other performers.
"We are very proactive. We think that is important.
"It was important for me to come back home to Plymouth, show the others around and to get an interview with The Herald. It is a different industry now.
"In the old days there were scouts out there who would take on acts and then the music companies would do all the legwork.
"But it's a tough period for performers now. We can only maximise our potentials by doing as much promotion work as we can ourselves.
"We were lucky to be given the chance to do what we do - and we have to help ourselves to make it as far as we can."
Despite only leaving school a few years ago, Dom said the lads love going into schools because of the appreciation that children, as well as adults, have for the band's singing.
He said: "When we go into schools we find we are being wolf-whistled like we were Take That or something. That's quite a cool feeling.
"Most people have an image of us as a chilled out, relaxed group of singers - but we enjoy the popularity and are looking forward to whatever happens.
"We will carry on as long as people want us to. It's early days yet. We are releasing the album in Japan next month."
The group's success has seen them pick up celebrity fans such as the Oscar-nominated Miss Knightley and '60s singer and TV presenter Cilla Black.
They also sang at Dame Shirley Bassey's 70th birthday party, have hung out with Hollywood A-lister Will Smith and are set to embark on a tour with glamorous Welsh soprano Katherine Jenkins.
They will record their second album later this year, but - for now - the boys are eager to land the Classical BRIT Awards 2008 prize for their debut, which has now gone gold and features a mix of pop and classical standards.
Blake have been nominated for the Album of the Year award.
Voting for the award runs until Friday so get your votes in now to support Dom and his singing buddies.
Album of the Year is the only category to be open to the public. To support Blake, visit www.classicalbrits.co.uk and click on 'vote' to register.
Dom said: "I still keep in touch with a lot of people in Plymouth. I still see Plymouth and Devon as home.
"There has been a lot of positive response to what I am doing now in the city and I really appreciate that.
"I am flying the flag for the South West. If we can win the awards, then I will bring it home to Plymouth."
Voting has now closed for the ClassicalBrits.
Source: Thisisplymouth.co.uk
