What was your inspiration behind this new album?
I just wanted to create a record that was reflective of where I was at that time. I was twenty five years old and I was going out to clubs and buying records, I wanted to make this record current and fresh, I wanted it to be a pro-active record. Otherwise I felt like I would be making a record for numbers as apposed to the record I wanted to make. That was important to me. I spoke to the record company to express that they should trust me on this, to forward me that respect.
How would you say this record differs from you previous work?
To honest, I think I had the same control I had on the first record. With this one, there was no phone calls coming in every minute, the label wanting to listen to songs and asking how things are going. It was just like ‘do what you want to do’, and that’s where I think I got the best out of myself. When I did the first record I didn’t have a record company, it was all about me being me, so you couldn’t help but be self- consciously influenced on the second and third album. People are using hits as a basis of where to start a new record. It’s like ‘can you write another ‘Seven Days’ or another ‘Rise & Fall’ and you’re like ‘well, I can write another song, but it’s not necessarily going to be the same as those songs.’

Did you feel you had to live up to huge expectations?
There’s part of you that thinks you have set a standard and you have to be consistent. I always try and write the best stuff I possibly can, but at the same time you never know, until you release that album, how it’s going to be perceived. As long as you feel that you’re comfortable, that this record represents you when you come out of the studio. The worst thing is to have a record that you’re not feeling, and then it doesn’t get good reviews, and then you’re thinking it was destined for this.  I would rather wait a period of time to get something right than churning something out because there’s momentum going on.

"You could sell twenty million records and the public will be like ‘just give us another hot track, that’s all we care about right now’..."

From the recording of ‘Rewind’ in 2000, through to your current single ‘6 of 1 Thing’, how do you feel you have changed as an artist?
I think I learned to channel my energies to the correct parts rather than running around like a headless chicken sometimes. When you’re new to the game you are naive about certain things. When you get a bit more of an understanding in can be a disadvantage in some ways because you’re more cautious about the things you do and the things you say. To be honest as long as you are able to maintain your integrity as an artist and never lose it, sometimes artists can get caught up in the business and think ‘Oh, this is a good thing, how can I just sell records...’. Creatively I would like to be around for ten, twenty, thirty years time and consistently putting records out. Some will do better than others, you just have to roll with the punches.

What advice would you give to a new artist in that respect?
More so than ever now, the artist has to be ready. There are so many artists that are one-hit-wonders, they will come with a record, get some plays in the clubs, DJ’s will rave about it, but then there’s no body of work to follow. Record companies now are very apprehensive about signing new artists unless they feel it’s a real no-brainer. The industry is down, the way people receive music is so much easier now. The days of artist development and time to nurture the artist are long gone. You want to be making a record that when your first single goes out, you know there’s a second and third that are as good, if not better, to build that body of work. There are so many artists that come with that first song and it’s amazing and you think ‘come on, one more song, and this will drive you through.. .’ but it doesn’t come...

What do think it is about the U.K garage scene in particular that is still proving so appealing to British youth culture today?
I think it’s because it’s coming from the streets to the DJ’s and it’s their perception of dance music and of R&B music...That’s what’s made it properly British in the sense that it’s a mash up of two different genres of music, and lyrically it’s what’s going on in the streets in lots of different extremes. I think people can relate to what is being said. There’s a real movement, and your mate has a pirate radio station at the end of the street, or your a friend of a friend that knows a friend that is in a group that doing some garage. It’s that kind of scene where there’s that arms length thing going on and you can easily be a part of it. That’s why it blew up in 2000 and the next thing it went into hibernation for a little while, morphing into the grime scene and then it had to find its way back via more smooth melodic based songs. That’s what the garage thing was always all about.

You have proved a huge success in the U.S, how would compare the U.S urban scene in comparison with that of the U.K?
We have a great thing going on in the U.K. Some problem’s we have within certain genres, especially Hip Hop and R&B,  is to try and emulate what America does, and then to try and export that back to them. They don’t really want what they already have. So the key is to find what it is that inspired you about American music, but come back with a style that allows you to be you, something that‘s British and represents where you’re from. That doesn’t mean you have to go around singing with a cockney accent, but find a style where you don’t have to necessarily emulate say what Timbaland does with a producer not as good as Timbaland. This where it all goes wrong. Over the years now this country has spawned artists like Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, KT Tunstall, James Morrison and you know Mika, artists that just do their thing, and you think these artists could be from anywhere.

Who or what would you say has been the greatest influence on your career to date and why?
I think Terence Trent D’arby was the one I was really listening to when I was growing up. The way his career was based around this massive first album. He had everything in his sights. He could sing, he could really dance and he had this incredible presence which would morph into this superstar. For whatever reason, be self-indulgence or possibly losing his path, he got caught up in making decisions musically that later didn’t result in strong records. When you start producing, writing and trying to do all these things yourself and you don’t hear anybody else, there’s a slippery road that is created. This was a source for me to tap into and recognise how quickly success can be taken away from you. It made me realise that you have to be consistent in this game. You have been given this opportunity to live out your dreams and perform and make money along the way, doing something that you love. When you become jaded by the industry you start to  think ‘it’s this person’s fault’ or’ it’s everyone else’s fault but my own.’ The next thing is you don’t want to do promotion, not wanting to do anything because you think the world owes you something, when it doesn’t owe you anything. You could sell Twenty million albums and the public will be like ‘just give us another hot track, that’s all we care about right now’.

You recently worked with Sting, David Bowie and then Kano on his ‘This Is The Girl’ record. Are there any other artists you would like to work with and why?
Yeah, there’s been some talks with Usher recently, Neyo, a young artist called Ryan Leslie who’s the producer of a lot of big American acts like Cassie and Beyonce. I’ve been working with him on some remixes but I’d like do some more stuff with him, he is really talented. Yeah, there are some good things in the pipeline for this year so I’m looking forward to that.

What is next for Craig David? Are there any career aspirations you still want to fulfil?
To be honest I just want to write my music and do my touring. I’m starting this world tour at the end of May. So, to keep doing what I do, touring and writing my records, the whole ethic of it. Apart from that I’ll keep buying properties, keep on the property ladder! The songs are my pension so I’ll just keep doing what I do. I don’t really want to venture out and try and act or bring out my own fragrance, this is all exterior to me. I’ll just focus on the music and I’ll be cool.

Craig David’s album Trust Me is out now