Your new single Remember Me (ft. Jessie J) recently hit number twenty-four in the UK Singles Chart – how does it feel?
It’s amazing – it’s really good to finally have the single out, and we’ve had no Radio 1 support at all so it’s kind of a miracle to be honest!
What’s Jessie like to work with?
She’s great! She’s a total pro. I think she’s got an amazing voice and she knows exactly what she likes – she basically heard the single, said ‘I want to be on it’ and we were in the studio the very next day, so it was a really painless and enjoyable experience.
You’ve also collaborated with Damon Albarn on a track for the Gorillaz – what was he like to write with?
Damon’s great; he’s a proper musician, he’s been around for a while and he really taught me a lot while I was in the early stages of my career. He taught me not to think too hard and to never second guess myself – he told me just to go with what feels good as an artist and I’ve found that to be great advice. It was really interesting just seeing how he works because I hadn’t worked with anybody like him before, so it was definitely really good for me personally.
You’ve supported Emeli Sande and tons of other artists on tours around the UK – what’s been your career highlight?
I think my favourite one was the tour I did supporting Maverick Sabre – I thought it was a really good match for us two to be together, as our audiences were quite similar and we just had an amazing time. I also did a one-off date supporting Jessie J last year at the Royal Albert Hall which was just incredible. It’s one of those venues I didn’t expect to play for a few years, but before I even released my first single I was there supporting Jessie J! It was simply surreal.
Your debut album is due out in Spring next year – what’s your favourite track on the album?
It’s weird, because I’ve got to the point where I love every single song on the album because I’ve been working on it for so long. I really like one called Love Somebody – it’s got a sound that people won’t expect from me, it’s quite a personal one it’s and the one that’ll hopefully take people by surprise.
Who’s your ultimate icon and how have they influenced you?
Prince. I just think he’s amazing – he’s been around for so long and covered so much ground musically, he’s really done something in every genre. He’s a musical genius – a great producer, musician and songwriter and he was the first artist who really made me realise what it sounds like to have complete creative control of what you’re doing.
What made you get into music?
I always liked music without really knowing that I liked it – I was never a musical prodigy or anything like that, I just liked what I liked musically. In my mid-teens I started to get a feel for soul music by artists like Mica Paris and a lot of UK soul vocalists, and from there I started to move on to a lot of American soul artists. There’s more to me than just soul though – I always say that I’m a soul artist but as great as he is I don’t really want people to think that I sound like Stevie Wonder! I always try to make music that’s modern but that has that soulful emotion that people can really connect to.
Describe yourself in three words?
That’s so hard! I can describe my music in three words? I like to describe it as Future Throwback Soul – it’s like the Future represents the modern sounds, the Throwback is an ode to all the things that people love from the classics, and the Soul is what’s at the core of all my songs.
Future Throwback Soul sounds like a great album title…
It’s possible! I’ve already got another album title in mind but to be honest I’m torn between the one I’ve got in my head and Future Throwback Soul… Only time will tell!