Getting used to being recognised and mobbed by fans on a simple visit to his local shops has been one of 17-year-old Reece Mastin's biggest hurdles since winning Australia's X-Factor last year.

During his recent NZ tour and a whirlwind visit for media interviews to promote his album, Reece quickly learnt that the mobbing and recognition isn't just an Aussie thing!  

With his unique rocker style and infectious performances, Reece quickly became a firm favourite on The X-Factor Australia. The series proved hugely popular with New Zealand audiences, rating highly and generating over 30,000 ‘likes' on Reece's official Facebook page from Kiwi fans.

FAVOURITE MOVIE:

Pirates of the Caribbean  

FAVOURITE HOBBY:

I love collecting posters, mainly old bands like Guns ‘n Roses and ACDC.

FAVOURITE X-FACTOR AUSTRALIA EXPERIENCE: Performing Dream On by Aerosmith and being mentored by Alice Cooper. That was mind-blowing!

FAVOURITE X-FACTOR AUSTRALIA JUDGE:

Guy Sebastain, of corse. He was a true mentor and gave heaps of time to help me. He was always there with the best advice.

FAVOURITE MUSIC ARTIST OF ALL TIME:

Steve Tyler, without a doubt!

IF YOU COULD BE A SUPERHERO, WHICH ONE WOULD YOU BE?

Spider-Man (even though I'm afraid of spiders!)

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN THREE WORDS/SENTENCES:

“I can be annoying at times. I'm a bit lazy. I smell good.”

HOW REECE'S SISTER, LIV, DESCRIBES HIM IN THREE WORDS/SENTENCES:

“He's a hard worker. He's loyal and trustworthy.”

 In Australia, where the series screened late last year, Reece achieved enormous success. His album sold in excess of 250,000 copies, while lead single Good Night – a #1 single in Australia – amassed close to 4 x platinum sales to date.

Reece's self-titled debut album features 11 new recordings of songs that he performed on The X-Factor Australia, including Paradise City (Guns ‘n Roses), She Will Be Loved (Maroon 5), Joker And The Thief (Wolfmother) and I Kissed A Girl (Katy Perry), along with his lead single Good Night.

 Big Changes

When Upstart Magazine met Reece in Auckland, he was accompanied by his older sister, Liv. The pair had not slept much after arriving on an early morning flight from Australia and had to be up early for a round of media interviews.

“Yeah, I'm really tired,” Reece said. “But I'm enjoying the interviews and it's fun meeting new people.”

The Erin Simpson crew had just finished an interview.

“It's nice having my sister with me cos she helps to keep my feet on the ground. Yeah, we're pretty close aye.”

Liv admitted it's been pretty freaky watching her brother suddenly go from being an average high school kid to suddenly being mobbed in shopping malls.

"But we're all getting used to it. Things have definitely changed for us though!" Liv's talking about her mum, dad and sister. "We're just all really proud of him."

Heaps of fun

Reece said that his X-Factor experience feels like "it was a million years ago now!"

"So much has happened since then!" He said Johhny Ruffo became a really good friend throughout the show and was the other artist he bonded with the most.

"He's a really cool guy. We got on really well." Just the whole thing was fun, like hell fun!"

He said that they had a lot of say in their outfits for each performance and he even got to keep a few of the pieces. Not that it matters much now! With a $5 million recording contract under his belt, Reece can now shop for himself - that's if he can get through the mobs in the shopping malls! Good luck with that, Reece!

• He says he NEVER wants to go on Glee!

• King Boo is his favourite Mario Kart character.

• He has a 15-person entourage.

• He once Veeted his legs as a dare.

• He can play the guitar, the piano, drums and bass.

• He first auditioned for X-Factor because he wanted a day off school.

• He can do a backflip.

• The day his debut album was released (9 December 2011), he sold 1 copy every 2.7 secounds.