An Interview With: Letterbox Kid

Letterbox Kid is the artistic project of 23-year-old Irish singer-songwriter, producer, and rapper, Isaac O’Sullivan. The Letterbox Kid manages to blend a wide array of genres such as progressive Hip-Hop, Soul & Avant Garde Beats to create an astoundingly unique sound. Drawing influences from the likes of Frank Ocean, Tyler, The Creator & JPEGMAFIA, Isaac has learned to hone his musical craft under renowned musical minds such as former Van Morrison guitarist Johnny Scott, and illustrious Irish music producer 1000 Beasts.

In 2022 the Letterbox Kid has performed on the grand stage of Cyprus Avenue on numerous occasions, working with artists such as Houseplants & Arthur Valentine. Leaning on his energetic, intense & spell-binding live performances in 2023, as well as a plethora of releases including ‘BUGATTI’ which has garnished Spotify Editor inclusion in ‘A Breath Of Fresh Éire’, the Letterbox Kid is set to have a hell of a year.

The Letterbox Kid released Summer bop ‘Baby’ on April 28th leading up to the release of brand new project ‘SUMMER-TIMES TAPES’.

Peter: How has growing up in and around the Cork/Warerford area shaped your music? 

LBK: Earlier in my career, I played a lot of folk inspired music. I grew up in the countryside on the Cork/Waterford border, this type of music seems to be indicative of that setting and I suppose I wasn’t immune to it. I was surrounded by music from a young age, again a lot of it being folk music, some Irish, most American actually. Artists like Joni Mitchell, Damien Dempsey & The Be Good Tanyas. I was heavily influenced by what my Dad listened to and played himself, as that was the background to my childhood, and although I probably started to rebel against it as I grew up, I’m sure it still plays a strong role in the music I make today. I’m quite sure I’ll return to it too, once I get this current style out of my system. A little later, moving to Cork City and attending Cork School of Music definitely had and still has a huge say in the music I make. I met people that made all sorts of music and that is what ultimately got me into producing (I had nearly always been a songwriter). I learned an awful lot of tricks from some great Cork feens and I’m very lucky to call a lot of them my friends. I think surrounding yourself with people doing music for the right reasons is really helpful. I think there’s a lot of people in Cork especially making music for the right reasons. It’s a small scene and everybody just does their own thing. Very few people are trying to make something because they think it will be popular and I think that’s great. Being surrounded by all of that definitely allowed me to express myself freely and in the right way.

Peter: Your music traverses a number of genre and styles - hip-hop, electronic, soul (sometimes a blend of all three and many more). Do you go into making a song with a specific sound/genre in mind, or is it more of a what comes up, comes out kind of ordeal?

LBK: Up until recently I have nearly always written my songs on guitar before starting the production, this gives me a vague idea of what the finished song will then sound like based on the theme and feel of the song. For example if it’s a love song I might predict that I’ll use some softer sounds and if it’s a grimier type tune I might use something a little harsher. I really do enjoy seeing what happens in the moment when I’m producing though, choosing a synth sound for example or a drum sample can be quite tedious and boring, I often have some type of sound in mind before I go into it but I like to listen to what I have and just intuit what sound would be best. This turns boring and tedious tasks in production into creative endeavours and in my opinion adds to the end product. In a lot of my songs, some released and some unreleased, I’ve felt completely out of my head during the making of it, only really starting to make decisions on what to leave in and what to take out when the song is nearly completely finished. That’s where I like to be to be honest. So yes and no to that question I think!

Peter: Having been making songs for quite some time at this point, how has your process evolved in the time between starting out and now?

LBK: As I’ve said, I’ve nearly always written my songs on guitar up until recently. I’d either come up with a chord progression and then write lyrics to it or just write lyrics on a walk or while hanging out somewhere with no music attached and then write a chord progression and melody to the lyrics once I got hold of a guitar. When I went to produce those songs, I’d then just map out the chords and add more melodic elements and sounds. Some which I’ve preconceived and some which I’ve come up with in the moment. More recently I’ve learned a couple new ways of writing and making songs. My new single Baby was produced by my friend Automatic Blue, he produced the beat and I wrote the lyrics to it. We did this with our song BUGATTI too. I’ve also started making beats from scratch myself. I have a b-side type project which is just some short little weird beats which I’ve made using. They sound completely different to anything I have out at the moment and anything coming out for the next while. They are nearly entirely sample based and I’ve never really done this before. I think I’ll always try to find new ways to make music, if you want to keep pushing yourself and progressing I think it’s important to find new ways to make your art. I don’t want all of my music to sound the same so I’m going to make my music in different ways.

Peter: What is your go-to album? What makes it your go-to album?

LBK: My go to album at the moment would have to be In Rainbows by Radiohead. It’s just a masterpiece and it’s so beautiful. The third track nude just makes me feel like everything is going to be okay no matter what happens. I think the album finds all of the beauty in all of the pain; as Radiohead are so good at doing. Some other albums that I will always love are Atrocity Exhibition by Danny Brown, one of the greatest Hip-Hop albums ever in my opinion. I love all of Tyler, The Creators new albums too and I love Blond by Frank Ocean. Those are albums I will always come back to but at the moment and for the last year or so I’ve been coming back to In Rainbows by Radiohead again and again. It’s an album that grounds me no matter what’s going on. Another album that has a similar effect on me is Blue Horse by The Be Good Tanyas. It was playing all throughout my childhood and then I completely forgot about it up until a couple years ago. When I found it again and listened to it I knew every song off by heart, it’s very nostalgic to me. 

Peter: Is there a part of the song making process that you find the most joy in? Why do you think this is?

LBK: I think there are two parts in the song making process which I enjoy the most. One could be construed as a bit narcissistic so I’ll talk about the other one first! I mentioned earlier that at times when I write or produce music I become completely removed from my own head and when I “come to” the song is nearly completely finished. I find this part of making music the most joyful when I can get there. I think most people call it the flow state. When I can get to this flow state nothing else really exists in my mind and I’m not thinking about anything. I could write six pages of lyrics or produce an entire song or write a story and I won’t really know what I’m doing or what’s it all about until I’m out of that state. Of course it usually ends up conveying a lot of my emotions or expressing something that’s bothering me or inspiring me during that period of time but while I’m writing or producing I won’t be thinking about any of that. I think It’s really important to get out of your head one way or another and getting to that flow state is an amazing feeling. The high afterwards and during is quite incredible. This brings me onto my second favourite thing about the music making process; listening to my songs. Listening to my songs and hearing what I’ve made makes me feel great. It makes me feel like all the hard work I’ve put into music so far has been worth it. It makes me proud of the art I’ve made and forget about any financial worries I might have about the industry. I’ll sometimes listen to my songs over and over again, usually unreleased songs and it will make it all feel worthwhile. Having said that a lot of the time I’ll listen to my songs and I’ll think they’re absolutely terrible but that’s a different story.

Peter: What hobbies/interests do you have outside of music?

LBK: Outside of music I love watching movies and reading books. Sometimes I write short stories and monologues. I’m planning to write a little book too although I think it might just be for me and my friends to read. I like to exercise, I try to run and workout everyday. I’ve always played soccer fairly competitively growing up. I watch it and play it a little less now but I still like to play 5-a-side with friends whenever I can. I enjoy all art really and most sports, I like going to museums and the cinema. I go on hikes and sea swims with my friends pretty often. I go out to the pub on weekends too. I hang out with friends as much as I can and I love travelling. I go explore new places whenever I have the time and can afford to.

Peter: What have you been taking inspiration from to fuel your creative process for your recent works? 

LBK: I try to take inspiration in as much as I can but I’m not always fully aware of what’s inspiring me to make the music I’m making until further down the line when I can look back at it. I’ve been listening to a lot of Tyler, The Creator and JPEGMafia over the past couple years and I think they’ve definitely influenced how I make my music. At the moment though I’m really taking inspiration from a lot of my friends who are in the business. They are all making wonderful music in their own way and they are trying to figure out how to make it all work in industry similarly to me. Seeing them create and work hard at what they’re doing pushes me to do the same. Artists/people like Actual Acid, Darian June, Automatic Blue, Red Sun Alert, Arthur Valentine, Mossy; they are all making really great music and they’re all good friends of mine. I think it’s important to have a good group of fellow musicians around you. I listen to some of their music and it pushes me to try and make better music myself. They are all very encouraging too which helps a lot. I was lucky enough to have some really great lecturers in the past too which still inspire me today. I can always keep progressing and growing which is inspiring in itself, everybody I’ve mentioned and many more prove that.

Peter: Can you tell us about anything that you have in the works for future releases, or anything particular things that you're looking forward to?

LBK: I am really looking forward to this next couple years of releasing. I have so much music made. Baby is my brand new single. That just came out so it should be available everywhere at the moment. I had a lot of fun making that tune with Automatic Blue. It’s good vibes. We have a collaborative EP on the way too with Baby and BUGATTI being the singles. That will be out mid-summer. Straight after that I have a string of weather themed singles which will make up another EP. I’ve been working on these weather songs for ages and I really cannot wait to get them out. If you've seen me perform live you might have heard some of them. They are some of my favourite songs I’ve made to date and really encapsulate the Letterbox Kid project up until now I think. They are very pretty and catchy and whacky. I’ve got that b-side project I mentioned earlier, I have whole bunch of other singles too. I have enough music to be releasing very often for the couple years which is very exciting so expect to hear from me for the next while. I’ll be working on the album in the meantime. You can follow me on Instagram @letterboxkid. Spotify and all the streaming sites the same! My teams email address is therealletterbox@gmail.com if anyone wants to book me or get in touch. Peace.

Peter: Cheers for the chat x