Music maestro, producer whiz, song-writing sensation. Just a few ways to describe the charismatic Labrinth. His debut, solo single Let The Sunshine sits second in the UK charts behind Tinie Tempah’s Written In The Stars. Liam Tootill managed to have a quick catch-up with Labs about the race for the number one spot and life as a solo artist…

Hello Labrinth, how’s it going?

Last night I was in the studio with Oritse from JLS. We were just trying to find some tracks. We were just trying to vibe and find some tunes. We threw a few choruses down and we were just chilling. I’m pretty tired right now, because we were in the studio till like four in the morning.  I’m having a lot of fun though right now.

Talk me through the success of the past year…

It’s come up so far. Anyone would pinch themselves and ask ‘is this seriously happening?’ It’s just been tunes, one after the other. The pressure’s on, but I don’t look at the pressure as a bad thing, I think it’s really good. When you handle the pressure, you see more success. So for me to be able to bring out songs, like, I’ve been playing with Devlin and Tinchy when I’m bringing out a song like Sunshine, it shows that I’m just having fun with music. And that’s all I’m trying to show.

Let The Sunshine is out at the moment, you’re currently second in the UK charts behind Tinie (who let’s face it, you had a whole load of success with earlier in the year), how does it feel?

That’s the thing, it’s amazing. I pushed an artist and helped him become a giant of this country, and he really is. He’s just become the sickest giant in this country, as a rapper as well. And, you know, I just love it. I love it that I’m almost competing against myself in a certain way. Me and Tinie you know, it’s not really a competition. Like, I know I’ve said competing, but, it’s all love – his success is my success. I’ve got more than just Pass Out and Frisky on his album, and we’re gonna do more work later on. It just feels like no matter what position a UK artist comes in, when we’re all being successful together it’s bringing UK up, not just one person. This is not a one man game.

It’s received a whole lot of love from the airwaves, from the blog-spots and from the printed press…

I think as well the whole idea that I made Pass Out and Frisky and then the song that I release as my first single is not like anything like them at all. I think that says something. I’m trying to give a message to everybody, just to say, ‘We don’t have to be defined by styles. It’s music all day.’ I really wanna sell that message to people. Like, just make music, make good music, and you can be successful while doing that.

How was 1xtra Live at the weekend?

That was a whole lotta fun man. I was a bit nervous knowing that my voice was pretty much down to nothing. I had no voice at the start of the day, like, I had an interview with Vernon Kay and I couldn’t even speak. I just thought, you know what, you have to be professional, you’ve got something to say, like, Let The Sunshine. For me, when I perform I think of it like a preacher and you’ve got a message and that’s obviously the case for Let The Sunshine as it’s my song. No matter how bad my voice feels, I’ve got a message, and I’ve got to sell it to people and forget about the troubles. If I thought about my voice all the way through I probably wouldn’t of done it.

What were you up to last week at London Fashion Week?

Yeah I done a performance at the beginning of Fashion Week with my band. We rehearsed the week before and then did an acoustic set which was really, really fun, like, I really enjoyed that. That was my first performance as a solo artist and then straight after that I did Harvey Nicks. And that was the show that kinda messed with my voice a bit because we went all out on that show and it was a really cold day as well. So, I was singing in the cold which wasn’t very good. And then, straight after, 1xtra Live, so I’ve done three performances which are the only three performances I’ve done as a solo artist so far and I’m looking to do loads more. I’m going back into the studio to do a few rehearsals so that I can develop my set, because I want to have this kind of Ray Charles vs Dubstep thing going on. I wanna be able to go from old school music like The Beatles and David Bowie, to be able to come with stuff like Rusko you know what I mean? It’s gonna be crazy man, this performance. I really wanna make it sick, but of course, I’m growing, so I’m just working it out right now, but that’s where I’m looking to be.

Is it a bit soon to be asking about a follow-up single?

I don’t know exactly when. Like, when I spoke to the label about releasing singles, I said, ‘I don’t want to be a contrived artist’ in terms of having to have my second single and having to release an album. The way I see myself is if I feel, like you see Up In Flames, I made that tune for fun. My second single is gonna be made just for fun, just to release music. I’ve got my second single about five times over but it just depends if the inspiration hits me and I really wanna put out this second single and back it and make it happen. Because I don’t want anything to be fake, that’s the only thing. I don’t wanna have to put out a second single because of my first single, I wanna do it because I really wanna get this song out, or I have a vision. I feel like the first song, I really loved putting it out. But I don’t wanna rush my songs out as well.

And a final message to encourage people to go out and support the single?

Ok, well in simple terms. I stand for music. And you know, for me to have come up, as a producer of two chart-topping singles with Tinie Tempah and then to come out with my own thing having not really been known, just in the background and invisible and not have much of a following, but then to be currently sat at number two in the charts – it means a lot to me.

Thanks a lot man and good luck for Sunday.

Support Let The Sunshine. Buy it here.

Tags: Devlin, Dubstep, Grime, JLS, Labrinth, Pop, Rusko, Tinchy Stryder, Tinie Tempah