Childs won the second season of Channel 7's The X Factor in 2010 under the guidance of popstar Ronan Keating, and after a rocky start to his post-show career, he's now on the cusp of releasing his second studio album Born Before The Sun.

The Queanbeyan Age caught up with Childs ahead of his Queanbeyan concert (to be held on the Saturday night of the Show), and he said he was looking forward to getting out and performing again after nearly two years in the studio.

"I've been in studio mode for the last year, but I'm ready to start getting back out there and play some shows, and then early next year, release the album and start touring," he said.

"I was in a unique position to be able to pick from a catalogue of 400 to 500 songs I've accrued over the last 25 years. The process has been quite a pleasure in the studio, and after two years it's really close to being finished."

Childs was 35 and already an experienced rock singer when he took on the challenge of competing on The X Factor. A series of strong performances saw him take out top spot in the competition, and his self-titled album of 2010 reached number three on the ARIA chart and achieved platinum sales status.

However a tumultuous 2011 and 2012 - including several brushes with the law - saw Childs fall out with his record label, eventually splitting from Sony in 2012. But looking back, Childs says he has "nothing but love" for the reality TV process.

"I was 35 when my dad insisted that I audition. I wasn't really into that [reality TV] process of trying to break through, because once you make it through a machine of that kind you're pretty much being controlled from A to Z- you're signing contracts that you haven't read and you're getting thrown around left right and centre.

"All I really wanted out of that process was to make my dad proud and maybe pick up a few fans along the way. And it really was my resurrection," he said.