Soulé talks music, trouble-making and living the good life

Don’t ever let Soulé get away with telling you she’s boring. She may occasionally retreat to her home comforts in Balbriggan, but when you consider that the young R&B singer went from a Tourism, Law & French degree to pursuing a career in music, spent a year working in Disneyland Paris (yes, really), and danced her way through some of the freshest music videos that Ireland has to offer, you get the feeling that “boring” really isn’t the right word.

And this is all before mentioning that her first single, ‘Love No More’, bagged a Choice Prize nomination earlier this year.

“When I got the letter I kept asking myself, ‘What? Me?’ I couldn’t believe it,” she says. “I’d written that song when I was still doing my summer exams. Then a few months later it’s up against Niall Horan and James Vincent McMorrow – some of the biggest pop stars in the country – and it didn’t feel real.

“I remember at the ceremony itself, I was walking around and people were beginning to recognise me more and telling me how much they liked my track. It’s dope that people are listening and liking the music, but it still feels so weird to me. Even just being interviewed like this feels weird. I mean people back at home don’t call me Soulé – I’m Sammy to them. Sammy from Balbriggan (laughs).”

Soulé (alright, Sammy) released her second single ‘Good Life’ back in February, once again collaborating with a group of Dublin-based music innovators known as Diffusion Lab, the same people who have mastered and released tracks from the likes of Jafaris and Hare Squead.

“Diffusion Lab and I started around the same time, so we’ve basically grown together. They’ve now gone on to work with so many great artists and they’re leaving their stamp all over Irish music. I’m proud to be a part of that.”

Boasting some seriously high production values (as well as some great music videos), Soulé and Diffusion Lab’s output belies their modest set-up. So how did a small production group, which got by through word-of-mouth recommendations, end up working with one of Ireland’s finest young talents? For some illumination, we asked Ivan Klucka, the co-founder of Diffusion Lab and a man with over 15 years of business expertise, to let us in on the Lab’s working methods.

“The main idea in the beginning was simply to have a creative space where people could come and share ideas,” says Ivan. “All the musicians we work with have creative freedom – we just act as their guides.”

Originally serving in an advisory role, Ivan has gone on to manage both Soulé and Jafaris.

“I still remember when Soulé walked through the doors for the first time,” he recalls. “I saw this shy, humble girl. She wasn’t even booked in to do a session with us, but she came into the studio and sang a few songs anyway. She had this Erykah Badyu vibe, with an amazing voice and all this creative energy. We really connected after that.

“But there are a lot of talents artists out there,” he continues. “The problem is that most of them don’t necessarily have the backing that they need. As a result, a lot of artists do things in a naïve way. They release something, but then don’t think to push it or market it. So they might make a good song and then two weeks later, they’re scratching their head wondering why it hasn’t gotten them anywhere. Then they’ll turn to me or other marketing people and ask us for help, but by that time it’s too late. You need to plan these things out. All of the artists we work with have an understanding about what work we do, and they know that they have to invest their time to do things right.”

The clear and deliberate approach of Diffusion Lab is part of the reason why Soulé decided to make music her full-time career. But having thrown everything she has behind music since last summer, does Soulé have any doubts about her career choice?

Taking a moment to think, she replies: “When you’re doing something that you love, you’ll never find it to be a struggle. There will be some negatives but you’ll never look at them. It might be negative one day and then you’ll get over it cause you love what you do. I think that’s the important thing. It’s why people say, ‘Do things you’re passionate about’, because you’ll never get bored of it and you’ll always do your best work that way.”

Not many would argue with her choices (except for Soulé’s mother, who cajoled her into going to uni just so she’d have a Plan B.) Currently putting together her debut EP, Soulé has struck gold again with latest single ‘Troublemaker’ and says her short-term ambition is to make a mark on the festival circuit this year. Frankly, given the roll the singer is currently on, we reckon any festival would be lucky to have her…

Soulé’s new single ‘Troublemaker’ is out now. Listen to it here.