Labrinth on ‘Ends & Begins’, Performing With Billie Eilish and Zendaya – Billboard

Labrinth talks about his new album ‘Ends & Begins’, his experience performing with Billie Eilish and Zendaya at Coachella, how the performances came about, and more!

Jason Lipshutz 0:29
What’s up guys? It’s Jason Lipshutz. I’m here at Electric Lady with the one and only Labrinth. Lab, what’s going on, man?

Labrinth 0:34
I’m good, man. How are you?

Jason Lipshutz 0:36
I’m good. I am so excited about your new album ‘Ends & Begins’ congrats on it, how’s it been?

Labrinth 0:41
I think it’s always exciting to just put a piece of work out. And then I don’t even look at. I don’t check it. I’m just like, I kind of have a moment to listen back to it and just enjoy it. So I did that the other day. I was like, this album is actually good.

Jason Lipshutz 1:00
How long was the process for this one?

Labrinth 1:05
I actually wrote the record in like a year. And then there was just so many things behind the scenes that kind of prevented it from seeing the light of day. I think it was good that it happened though. At the time I was you know, like losing my sh–. And then once we kind of got up to Coachella, it felt like the best time for me to release this record, because it was like a celebration, you know, and that was the gift that came at the end of it

Jason Lipshutz 1:38
So I got to ask about Coachella.

Labrinth 1:40
Yeah.

Jason Lipshutz 1:41
Weekend one to bring out Billie with your set.

Labrinth 1:43
Yeah.

Jason Lipshutz 1:45
Weekend two you bring out Zendaya with your set. That’s like the biggest Coachella flex. Just like knowing this plan where you’re just like, I’m going to own Coachella. It’s gonna be mine, like how did that all come together?

Labrinth 1:57
I started putting the show together. And I was like, if I’m going to do a show, I just wanted to be the sickest thing that I think I’ve ever seen or haven’t seen. And so I just started kind of composing what my set would be me and Billie ended up doing the record, ‘Never Felt So Alone.’ And I was like, Do you want to maybe come to Coachella and perform it with me? And she was like, Yeah, and I was like, really? Okay. That’s why. And you know, me and Billie really loved the record that we did together. And it kind of felt like a natural progression into us performing it. And like actually ground testing this record and seeing how the fans really enjoyed it. And it was, wild,

Jason Lipshutz 2:36
their reaction, obviously, like, people went crazy at Coachella.

Labrinth 2:39
When I was putting that moment together. I was planning it in my head. I told my lighting guy, I was like, just keep the lights down. And nobody would see that. It’s Billie for like a long minute. And they’ll just see me and think, okay, he’s just gonna perform on his own. And then we just had Billie like, appear from nowhere, and the place erupted into chaos

Jason Lipshutz 3:05
next weekend, yeah, you bring out Zendaya.

Labrinth 3:09
Yeah. Yeah.

Jason Lipshutz 3:10
How did that one come together?

Labrinth 3:10
That is the same thing. Really. Like when I was like, Z, I’m gonna perform at Coachella, I would love to do our songs together. And she was like, I would love to I don’t have the time. I didn’t think she could make it. And then I think last minute something happened that made her have to pass through. And she was like, Lab, I want to do the show. And I was like, really, as soon as she said she wanted to do it. I was like, this is a moment. Like I just knew it straight away. But then when we actually performed it, it was oh, right. It was more thought it was gonna be like it was insane, we couldn’t hear ourselves. That’s how loud it was

Jason Lipshutz 3:53
What I loved about seeing both of you guys up there was like you guys are so multitalented where it’s like, you guys are working on the song. You’re sharing the stage. You’ve worked for years together on ‘Euphoria.’ She’s the star of ‘Euphoria’, when you talk to her about craft and creativity. Like what is what is that? Like? Because you guys are now working together on multiple different levels.

Labrinth 4:15
Yeah, I think we’re all fans of like kind of thinking forward, or trying to challenge ourselves. And I think that’s what I get from most of the artists I work with, like a lot of the people we always just pass stories and all of those stories evolve the way I’m thinking about writing myself or how I view my career, you know, so that’s kind of really like most of the stuff we end up talking about. It’s just like, ideas I’ll play her songs she’ll play me stuff and we kind of just keep being cheerleaders for each other you know,

Jason Lipshutz 4:45
You mentioned challenging yourselves and that’s exactly the the vibe I get from ‘Ends & Begins’ like I hear on every song. You pushing yourself you challenging yourself, did that feel like part of the foundation for this album was just like really pushing yourself to the limits of of your creativity,

Labrinth 5:03
I didn’t think on on ‘Ends & Begins,’ the most important thing when you’re creating or when you’re living life is that you do the most honest version of that. And that is a picture of where I was at the time, and how honest I wanted to be at the time. But I feel like there’s more like, I feel like this is like the tip of the iceberg in terms of what I want to create from for an album. But at the same time, I really appreciate this moment that I’ve created because I’ve really enjoyed it. And I wanted to share the joy.

Jason Lipshutz 5:32
What are things like now like in terms of when you’re thinking about new ideas? Are you thinking about like, oh, this could fit for TV? Or oh, this could fit for my album? Like, how does that delineation happen?

Labrinth 5:42
Yeah, I’ve learned a lot. And I share this quite often. Because I know there’s a lot of people that have this experience, or have had this experience where, like, I have ADHD, and I didn’t know I had it, even for season one. I didn’t know I had ADHD. And before discovering that it made it very difficult for me to finish anything. Even though I did a lot for the show. It was very intense and very, like grueling. I think I’ve learned the process of taking care of my brain and my mind and mental health so that I can make sure I can deliver the things I want to deliver. And also knowing my capacity as well, you know, so I think that’s been the process is kind of going, Okay, how do you achieve the thing you want to achieve? But also how do you make sure you don’t become a vegetable by the end of it, you know?

Jason Lipshutz 6:26
So what’s what’s next?

Labrinth 6:27
I’m working on more films, doing more TV shows, and writing more albums. But I do want to act as well, at some point. So you might see me doing a little something at some point. Okay.

Jason Lipshutz 6:39
All right. When did when did you start really considering that?

Labrinth 6:41
I’ve always wanted to act always. I really love it. And I think it’s an amazing craft. I’m so sorry. So all the actors out there that went to school for years on end, and then they see me in the film and they’re like, that’s trash. You know that’s the worst thing when a guy has done no work and just because he sang a few songs is like, I’ll show you an accent. So no, I’m excited about I have huge respect for it. So I’ll only do a little small thing but I really do want to like mess around in that area.

Jason Lipshutz 7:13
Lab always a pleasure, man.

Labrinth 7:16
Thank you so much.