Summer dance hit on the cards for Lurgan's Conleth

Conleth released his debut single - a cover of the Joni Mitchell track River as his debut single last year and that went down a storm, giving the 31-year old who is based in London a taste for more.

As Giving It Up receives airplay on all the major radio stations and in clubs in London and Ibiza, Conleth explained how it all came about.

“I released a Christmas single River and it did so well on all the local radio stations. When I came back to London in January I thought ‘I’m going to give this another go and aim for the summer and do an Ibiza style dance track.’

“It has really taken off in all the major clubs and the BBC have called it a ‘summer anthem’.

“It’s been great for me because I actually wrote the song and I did it in 15 minutes. It was a very quick turnaround and it all happened by chance.

“ I was on a night out in London and I met a manager by chance and we got chatting. I told him I had released a Christmas single which had done really well in Northern Ireland but what I wanted to do was a dance single.

“He then said I manage dance producers and next thing I was on a train up to Sheffield and he teamed me up with these house producers called Deep Matter who are really up and coming on the dance scene.

“I wrote the track and they produced it before giving it to a massive remixer called Maff Boothroyd and he gave the track the Ibiza dance vibe.”

That chance encounter started doors opening for Conleth.

“I then went back to Sheffield to write another track called Take Me Higher which was produced by Damon Hess,” continued Conleth.

“The next day I got a call from Damon saying I’m sitting here with Sonique and I’ve played her the song you wrote yesterday. She wants to know can you and her do this as a duet. I thought ‘Is this for real!’ I used to go to Woolworths in Lurgan to buy her CDs, plus she has two Brit awards and she has sold 4 million albums and now she wants to record what is only the second song I have ever written.

“There is a version alreadybut I have to go back to the studio in Sheffield to re-record the chorus because apparently when they put our vocals together you can hear I have a really strong Northern Ireland accent.

“I thought she was just going to ask could she have the song for herself which I would have been more than happy with, but the fact she wanted me to do a verse and for her to do a verse before coming together on the chorus.

“When I was at school, I remember saying to my music teacher at St. Paul’s and St. Michael’s I want to be a singer, I want to be an actor, I want to be on TV - I wanted to do it all and now I’m so lucky to have the opportunities I have.

“Whenever I go home to Lurgan, everyone is so nice. I’m always stopped by my old teachers and neighbours who are full of pride and compliments for me. I’ve only ever had love and support from everyone and Lurgan has been more than good to me.

“I have done so many things from reality TV to BBC dramas to theatre and I like working across all different platforms. “I’m a creative soul and very chuffed about the way it’s all going.”

Giving It Up is now available to pre-order on itunes and it will be released on July 4.