Leroy Clampitt is making a splash and isn't afraid to keep going

Since departing Aotearoa for Los Angles over ten ago, Leroy Clampitt has become one of the iconic producers and songwriters in modern pop music. Justin Bieber, Madison Beer, Sabrina Carpenter and Lily Allen to name but a few... Leroy has worked with them all.

Now he's created an album of his own work - a solo record, released via his own independent label Sorry Susan Records. It seems there could be more to this than meets the eye (ear). Leroy answered our questions shedding some light on the risks of ambition, his approach to song craft and the motivations that underpin his work.

You've collaborated with many established names as a writer and producer. Why is now the right time to share your work as a solo artist?

Making this album was an extension of my career as a producer and songwriter for other people. After this last decade of working in the industry, I wanted to see what it would sound like to just be put in a cabin somewhere with all of my favourite gear. I just did it as more of a creative experiment to see what happened, and then the result I really liked. 

Your debut album is released via Sorry Susan Records - your own independent label. Tell us about your reasons for taking this road…

I work with record labels - both big majors and smaller indies - on a regular basis with the artists I work with. I had been chatting to a few people about putting out the record, but it just felt like a really good opportunity for me to take a leap. It felt like I'd just be giving away if I went through a label at this point. 

Also on the other hand, I just thought it’d be a really nice thing to be able to help people put their music out. I’ve seen and know a lot of artists who make great music that aren't signed. When they make something great, quite often they end up having to spend like 6 months trying to find someone to help put it out, and end up taking another year to actually be released. It'd be really great to have a nice established label to do that. So that's what I'm going to be working on a lot in the next few years. I thought having this record be the first album on the label would be a good opportunity, because it's truly who I am, and starts the record label in a very non-confusing way about what it’s going to be. 

What did the creation process look like for your album and is this different compared to when you're working with another artist?

A lot of the time when you're making music for other people, you might be bouncing between a few different artists in a week working with completely different sound palettes and processes.
But even if you're working with one artist for a long period, the kind of artists I work with are very ambitious and want to do a lot of different unique and cutting-edge things. 

My dream for my album was to go somewhere out of Los Angeles where I could be isolated from my other work, get my favourite things in a circle around me and have them all plugged in and ready to go. I wanted the creation of my album to be very meat and potatoes, simple and just for myself to really enjoy. I know what kind of drums I like to play. I know what synths I like. I know what pianos I like, you know? I just wanted the production to be nice and vibey and easy to make and easy to listen to. 

Last time I interviewed you, it was on the verge of your departure to Los Angeles in 2014. You were heading out to tour the US with Strange Babes supporting the Naked and Famous. Looking back at everything that has happened since then, what advice would you give to your younger self?

Oh man, I honestly think I could learn a lot more from my younger self than he could learn from me in a weird way because I was just so blindly ambitious. 

It’s that thing where the more I know, the less I know, and also the more you know, the more you question everything because you know all the possibilities about what could and couldn't happen. You're a bit less eager to take massive life-defining jumps as time goes on. I'm basically trying more and more to channel the mentality of my younger self but with the skill set of my current self. 

Of all the projects you've worked on, is there one that stands out and why?

Honestly every project that I work on in a deep way, whether it’s a whole album or just a few songs with someone, is special to me because I put such a big part of myself into them. They require so much life force and energy. 

One of the more recent ones, working on Lily Allen’s album, West End Girl enlightened me so much. It was one of the most joyous album making experiences I've ever had. It introduced me to a new crew of people I felt at home with in a way that I haven’t for a long time. As well it was so cool to be a part of something that was so culturally impactful. I will be able to say I was a part of that for the rest of my life, which I'm really grateful for. 

In your own words, what makes a great song?

I know how to make a good song, I can make good songs for days but truly great songs are rare birds and quite often there's very little difference between the two. This might be a bit of a cop out, but it’s just a feeling you get. There’s just magic in a great song where you can't describe it. Something about it makes you feel more than what another song does, sometimes you might be able to point to why but most times it's just something indefinable and I search for it every day.