The Badger Herald sat down with Lucas DiPasquale to discuss how an Ontario singer-songwriter like himself ended up collaborating with a Jamaican artist, as well as the origin of his success — YouTube. And from what he told us, the future is looking pretty bright.

Badger Herald: What have you been working on as of late?

Lucas DiPasquale: I am writing an album — a full feature album — and I’m hoping to release it around September or October. I’ve had a lot of that music for over a year-and-a-half, and I’m just writing the rest of the album. We’re looking forward to the release of a new single so I’ll be releasing a new single soon, and just writing the album and that’s pretty much it.

BH: To what do you owe your success?

LD: I guess I started doing covers while I was in high school and it really made me practice the guitar a lot. Me and my friend Kelly used to make covers on YouTube, and when I wanted to make a cover I would just practice over and over again. I didn’t really want to practice for any other reason. I really liked playing guitar and I learned to love it more, but it was all just because I wanted to make covers. I owe a lot of my success to YouTube because, first of all, it got me inspired, and then second of all, I got discovered on YouTube by the people who signed me at Universal and who now manage me — they all found me on YouTube as well. It was a really big part of my career, I guess. And I guess practice, too. I have to get better than other people at some point, so practice, practice, practice.

BH: From acoustic covers to mashups to working with reggae artists, where do you get your inspiration? 

LD: I just kind of play what I like. Whatever kind of music I’m listening to, it really, really drives me. I draw a lot from it. I get competitive, so I really respect these artists and want to make music like them, but I want to make it as well as them so I can impress some of these people. So whether it’s trying to make a good rap song or trying to collaborate with Popcaan was a goal of mine after I made the mashup. I think we made a good song. It worked out, so I guess just wanting to be part of the conversation and wanting to be in the music industry and be relevant — I want to make good music and I want to work with good artists.

BH: How would you describe your genre?

LD: Honestly, I don’t know. I listen to a lot of hip-hop music, which I think a lot of my music is hip-hop influenced, but it’s also indie-rock-ish, and a little pop-ish at times, too. A lot of the stuff I’ve made recently has been very dancehall and pop-ish. There’s so many genres that I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint one. I don’t know, hopefully I can think of a good one soon.

BH: How does an up-and-coming musician from Ontario become a collaborator with Jamaican dancehall artist Popcaan?

LD: I started listening to dancehall in high school and I covered [Popcaan’s] song because I was listening to him at the time. I just discovered his music from some of my friends. So I decided to cover it because I do that a lot and people saw it in Jamaica, and that just kind of led me down this path of working in Jamaica and working with Jamaican artists — and I ended up working with Popcaan.

BH: What does the future hold for you?

LD: Well, I’m really focused on making a good album and looking back at it and being like, ‘Awesome, I have music on there that I like to listen to, that I’m proud of.’ I want to keep doing that. I want to make as many albums as I can. I have a record deal that allows me to do that and if I keep performing well, then I can. I’m really excited about that. In terms of anything else, I don’t really have any other plans, I just plan on making music and performing it. If people come, then they come. I’m really excited about it and I think it’s going to go well.