Olly Murs Thanks One Direction Fans For Their Support

might not be a household name yet, but the British singer is certainly taking all the right steps towards becoming one. After hitting the road with the One Direction guys on their sold-out U.S. tour earlier this summer, the onetime "X Factor" competitor is ready to break Stateside. And given how much love he received while out on the road with his pals in 1D, that seems very likely.

"It's brilliant. It wasn't hard. One Direction's fans, they literally found out I was supporting them, they went online, found out who I was, what songs I've done, my videos and then I walked out [at the] first gig in Detroit [and] everyone's just crazy," he told. "And I was like, 'This is insane. They don't even know who I am. How could they be doing this?' "

Murs realized that the more dates he played, the more the fandom over his pop'n'locked, doo-wop-influenced pop music grew. "As the weeks went on, it just got bigger and stronger. That's obviously all thanks to the boys for having me on the tour. And, of course, the One Direction fans in America for backing me," he said.

Murs will drop his U.S. debut, In Case You Didn't Know, in September. And despite that being the name of his sophomore LP, here in America it will serve as a hybrid of his first two album releases. He's already heating up radio with his track "Heart Skips a Beat," and he knows that with the right fans backing him, his U.S. crossover just might shape up the way he always planned it to.

"You know, I'm hoping to convert more Directioners in my corner," he said. "And if I can have One Direction fans quoting me as well, that would be amazing. They seem to really like what I was doing. So yeah, it's positive."

Murs is currently back in his native U.K. working on his proper next album. In addition to prepping for his U.S. debut and being this week's , he also just launched the Ollympics, his cheeky take on the 2012 Olympic Games.