When Harpenden-born singer Luke Pickett speculatively sent his new track Somebody Else to record labels around the world, little did he know what was to come of it.

But he didn’t have to wait long to find out, as the 27-year-old was called by Roc Nation – the record label founded by multi-million record-selling rapper Jay Z – and invited to New York to meet the team.

“It was pretty surreal,” says Luke, who self-funded his first EP in 2005 through a job at Tesco in his home town.

“I got a call the day before and the next thing I knew I was in New York and was picked up by his driver,” remembers the former Sir John Lawes School student.

Although Luke didn’t get to meet the superstar in person, he says: “He’s got my stuff on his iPod which is pretty surreal.”

And it’s just a taste of the success the up-and-coming songwriter is enjoying at the moment, with recent Radio 1 Extra airplay under his belt too.

This year, Luke hopes to release his new EP – Dealing with Dreams – and has two tours lined up during September and December.

It’s not bad for a singer who, as a teenager, was once ushered off stage with his band, Fallacy, for playing the same song twice.

“I was in a band when I was about 14, we were not good and we only knew two songs,” laughs Luke.

“The first song went well and we got a good reaction so we thought we would play it again. But the organiser came on stage and took the mic off me and said: ‘I think that’s enough from Fallacy’.”

First picking up a guitar aged 12, Luke quickly realised it was his passion and he played in bands during his school years.

He has performed at a range of venues around St Albans, including the Pioneer Club.

Citing the Police and Michael Jackson as two major influences on his music, the guitarist describes his sound as a mixture of R’n’B and soul, topped off with pop.

He explains: “My parents listened to a lot of music when I was younger, so I always had music surrounding me. It is amazing, I’m just really privileged, not many get to indulge their passion full time.”

Somebody Else was released on Monday, July 6 and is available to download on iTunes.