Interview
Labrinth: The Musical Genius Behind Euphoria!
- Career Pivot and Realization: The artist signed with Simon Cowell's label primarily for a larger financial advance and perceived prioritization, but later realized he had allowed others to dictate his artistic direction, leading to a period of discomfort where he felt he was "accommodating" rather than expressing his true self.
- Mental Health Diagnosis: The artist was diagnosed with ADHD after recognizing that symptoms like "blackouts," inability to hold conversations, and memory gaps in business networking were preventing him from functioning, noting that the condition still impacts his life today but is now managed through awareness.
- Family and Upbringing Context: He was raised in a highly religious, multi-generational musical household in Hackney; his mother, who was disowned by her family for having children out of wedlock and lacking formal business education, actively nurtured their creativity while his father, a musician who left the family when the artist was young, remained largely absent until his death.
- The "Euphoria" Turning Point: The song "Euphoria" marked a critical breakthrough where he felt audiences finally heard the "rawest form" of his artistry, representing a shift from creating entertainment based on industry expectations to creating art based on internal soul expression.
- The Guitar Incident: A major turning point occurred during a performance where, suffering from severe social anxiety and a deteriorating relationship with his manager, he threw a guitar on stage and nearly struck a camerawoman, an event that served as a physical manifestation of his internal suppression and anger.
- Relationship with Authority Figures: The artist admits to viewing his manager as a father figure during his early career, creating a dependency that broke down when money flowed in, leading to panic attacks, hair loss (telogen effluvium), and a realization that his success was built on a "mask" rather than authenticity.
- Relocation to Los Angeles: At age 24, he moved to LA to escape the pressures and racial/sonic expectations of the UK industry; he found the move liberating because the lack of immediate recognition allowed him to "clean the window" of his soul and create without the burden of external validation or a defined "brand."
- Creative Philosophy: He views creativity as "articulate in your soul," rejecting the notion of mixing external trends to please crowds, and instead focuses on "calling your tears"—transmitting the frequency of his true self to listeners beyond the physical or financial persona.
- Future Goals: His primary career objective is to compose a "cosmic opera" featuring choirs and unique sonic landscapes that he has never seen done before, aiming to be a "kaleidoscope" that allows a pure source of light to shine through without obstruction.
- Current Mindset and Balance: The artist identifies as a "workaholic" and is actively working to balance his career with presence in his family life, noting that fulfillment comes from "desiring nothing and contributing everything" while maintaining the ability to remain present for his children's "magical" perspectives.
- Industry Reflections on Validation: He observes that the desire for a "pat on the back" drives many artists to lie and build lives around inauthenticity, noting that true freedom requires accepting that being "one's self" may result in lower initial views but leads to genuine connection.
- Advice to Past Self: He would not give different advice to his younger self upon signing with a major label, asserting that he needed to experience the pain of suppression and the "rock bottom" moments to learn the lessons required to become who he is today.
- Sponsorship and Context: The conversation included mentions of specific sponsors (BlueJeans, Crafted jewelry, Huel) and the host's request for subscriptions, which were interwoven with the deeper narrative of the artist's journey.