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28.11.14 Music Week 17
of being successful in it. It’s not about the music anymore, it’s never really been about the music, it’s been about status. I would love for it to be different, but I think you get the balance of both, you have people like Jungle and Adele and Mumford & Sons who have sold millions of albums but done great jobs... well, maybe not Jungle yet, but I do believe they will do really well.
And what are the things you like most about the music industry? When I grew up I was in the land of no opportunity and I found my way just by getting as good as I could at what I do. We literally are in a place where if you are sick at something people are going to sign you. I don’t think we have any excuses here in this country.
first album they’ve never given me a brief. I’m like a wild kid throwing paint at a canvas. They’re allowing me to do that and that’s the weirdest outfit to have, most artists are like, “You’re lucky, I wish I was in your position.” I’ve met artists who’ve been told by their label what to sing and how many tracks will be on their album. I really have got it good in terms of being creative.
What label would you like to be signed to if you weren’t with Syco? I would definitely go to XL, 100%. They are on point. What I love about XL is it doesn’t seem like they are hell-bent on trying to make their artists as massive as possible. They do it organically and all the artists are connecting in different ways – credibly and commercially. Even with Jungle the job they’ve done is sick. But I love Syco, it’s like a fresh team. We started
not knowing each other and now it’s at a place where its like, “Let’s do this together,” everyone is like “Lab, we want you to kill it”. They will all do anything to try and make sure my stuff works because they love what I’m doing. When you get that energy from people it’s like family support, your brother would go that far for you, that’s why I feel like I’ll stay at Syco.
What’s your role within your own label, Odd Child Recordings? My role is Simon Cowell. When I’m working with Odd Child I get hair on my chest and wear a white shirt and open it a little bit and go, “So what do you want to do in the next five years...?” No, seriously, I feel like my role is A&R. Because of all the experience I have I’m able to identify with some of the things the artists might feel. I can also look at it from a business aspect as well. I think that’s where my strengths are, going, “Okay, you might not understand this right now, but just do it, you can trust me, I’ve done it myself.” If I don’t feel an artist is going in the right direction, I will tell them. It’s so much easier to edit someone else than it is to edit yourself.
ABOVE
“Sometimes people come on the X Factor with a naive mentality and not knowing that they have to do work. It doesn’t happen overnight. You have to do the shit shows, you’ve got to perform in front of two people in a bar before can walk into a stadium with your chest up” LABRINTH
What are your future ambitions? My ultimate ambition is that I just want to make pop that people are like, “Where the hell did this music come from?” Stuff that says something and means something. I know there’s millions of artists doing that right now that I have mad respect for, but I want to make all different types of music and pop that has innovation in it. I want to have pop music on Classical FM one day. I want to make one record that people are like, “That is legendary, I will never forget that one.” That’s more exciting to me than going, “Okay, let’s put out ten million versions of the same song and I’ll be in a house in Beverley Hills soon.”
What would you change about the music industry and why? I would love for pop music to be about the music rather than about what clothes I wore, how many Twitter followers I have, who I’m laying in bed with, or which pop stars I hang out with. Sometimes your music has more power if you are popular from the things that you do outside of music. You can have hits just by having ten million Twitter followers instead of having a hit because it’s a good song. People are like, “Yeah, cool, that guitar solo was fun but was you hanging out with Rihanna last night?” I think people feel like they need more entertainment. I would rather the entertainment be about the music, but I know the belly of the beast and the fans get what they want. It’s the language of the beast, you work with it and find your way
Breaking barriers:
Labrinth started his career mentoring
disadvantaged youths at the Urban Development Vocal
Collective - an organisation founded by the singer/ songwriter and his sister
And it costs nothing to put your music online… Nothing, especially with social media, it’s insane how many kids are getting signed. That changes the whole scope of the business, anyone can be a celebrity, anyone can be a star overnight, if you do something on YouTube or Instagram or build it up long enough you can easily find your way to the entertainment industry. You could do it from sitting in your bedroom doing a dodgy funny face that gets a million views on YouTube and then you’re on Graham Norton. The way people look at Syco is the same as how fast it happens off of YouTube, I don’t know if it’s going to make great professionals but it offers people opportunities to make money and become something very quickly. Whether it’s substantial or whether it’s going to last is a different thing. I don’t always think that’s a good way though, fast is never a good way. There has to be some kind of shit in the middle, that’s how I see it.
How does that view sit with what Syco does with X Factor acts? It is a little bit dangerous. A lot of the main acts have failed but if you want to be a superstar then you get what you wish for. Syco is not the problem, the mindset is the problem. When you go to Syco and say, “I want to be a superstar,” then you’ll be a superstar. Look at One Direction, but if you don’t say, “I want to be a superstar making this type of music with integrity”... you’ve got to know what you want. Sometimes people come on the show with a
naive mentality and not knowing that they have to do work. It doesn’t happen overnight. You have to do the shit shows, you’ve got to be nervous before you go on stage and perform in front of two people in a bar before you do a stadium and you walk out there with your chest up and say, “Yes, my name is worthy of you people.” To me, Syco and the X Factor is just a
platform to get yourself to another level, just like YouTube is a platform. When it happens fast off YouTube these people don’t always know how to deal professionally with this business. It’s just a trampoline to another level, you’ve got to do your work, same as the producers, learn all the stuff you can learn because true professionals know how to maintain their position. People who don’t know their shit disappear in seconds and that’s why you have so many fads happening. My dream is not to become a fad, to maintain my position as a musician whatever way it goes, to maintain my dignity and the quality of music throughout my whole career.
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