Anyone who knows John Otway might be reminded of his savvy marketing nous for a hit by young Scottish pop starlet Nina Nesbitt.

The self-deprecating singer, whose autobiography is called I Did It Otway: Rock And Roll’s Greatest Failure, once invited 900 fans to Abbey Road studios to sing on his version of House Of The Rising Sun, a B-side to 2002’s Bunsen Burner – The Hit Mix.

Otway credited every contributor on the sleeve and subsequently, when they all bought a copy (as did all their mums), he had his second hit single, 25 years after his first chart success.

Nesbitt is probably unaware of that story but for her new record, not due to be released until next year, she invited 5,000 school children to skip classes for the afternoon to sing on its final track.

The People started off as a piano loop with a few lyrics Nesbitt took into the studio to work on with her co-writer and producer Jake Gosling.

Her message to him was to make the sound bigger.

“I wanted to make an atmospheric song I could hear in a film which was cinematic and almost like a soundtrack,” says the fresh-faced 19-year-old, who played an impromptu acoustic set on Brighton beach in July for fans who wanted to hear her songs minus her band.

“I got everybody who was involved in making the record to sing the chant at the end and then we thought what would be a great way of getting more people to sing on it? We went round to schools all over the country and got kids to sing on it.”

The youngsters will all be named in a fold-out page on the album sleeve.

“It is a good way of getting my music out to more people and it’s cool for them to get out of classes for the day.”

Nesbitt, the only daughter of a Swede and a Scot, was raised in Edinburgh. She was happy without siblings but all the time alone led her to dream of being an author. That soon fell away when she started to learn guitar four years ago.

“I used to love short stories but I’m not into reading or writing stories anymore, because it has turned to music. That was just a way of playing with words and then when I picked up music it turned to songs. “ Her big break came when she introduced herself to Ed Sheeran at an Edinburgh radio station where her friend worked.

“I was chatting to him and asked for his advice for upcoming singer-songwriters. He asked me if I played guitar and then said to play him a song. I sang Standing On One Leg and then he invited me on tour.”

He told Nesbitt to do her own thing – “Don’t try to fit in a box,” he said. The pair played Glasgow and Shepherds Bush Empire together and a year later toured Europe.

More good luck came when grime-pop rapper Example spotted her cover version of Stay Awake on YouTube and booked her as support for a run of arena dates.

Another year on, with five EP releases under her belt, Nesbitt has a full band backing her autumn tour.

Still, the striking blond who was a teenage model and speaks with a thick Scottish accent, is fiercely independent.

“I could never be in a band. I am very independent. I like writing on my own.”

She’s a fan of Lily Allen. “She is brutally honest, has a hint of sarcasm in her lyrics and she’s cool. I like Jake Bugg’s recent stuff, The 1975’s album, and Alex Turner’s old lyrics really inspire me.”

On No Interest she laments the girls in Jack Wills and Abercrombie T-shirts who come up to her and ask her who she’s dating.

Stay Out runs, “He’s got a Rolling Stones tee, but he only knows one song. They think they’re from the Sixties, but they were born in 1991?”

He might not like it but Alex Turner would be charmed by the tribute.

And anyway, Nesbitt’s not all blood and thunder.

“They’re not judgements but observations from a night out that I thought would be funny to put in a song. To be honest I’ve got a Roxy Music T-shirt and I don’t know any of the songs.”