W hen Lloyd Garrett was 17, Eric Clapton asked if he could perform with him on stage. The event was the culmination of years of performing with gospel choirs, which began aged nine at the Stratford Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Lloyd, now 28, recalls: “The biggest thing for me was when I went to Italy to perform at the Pavarotti & friends for War Child concert with the East London Gospel Choir.

“It was the first time I was doing a solo with the whole choir backing me and Eric Clapton asked my choir director if he could play behind me while I was singing. That’s my claim to fame so far.”

While the Eric Clapton episode might be up there with Lloyd’s career highlights thus far (they also include working with Sting on his album Mercury Falling, singing with All Saints at the BRITs, and performing with the Brand New Heavies on Top of the Pops), he certainly seems on track to be notching up a few more over the next couple of years.

Now operating under his own record label IMC (In My Corner), Lloyd is set to release Feel, his second single with producer friend Lee Travis under the name Opposite Worlds. And, when we meet in an East End café, is proudly clasping a well-thumbed copy of Music Week, which charts the song in the top 20.

“The single is about wanting to be with someone, but because of the distance or circumstances you can’t be with them. It’s a song about loneliness but it’s done in an upbeat way so you don’t feel too depressed,” Lloyd laughs.

“It’s very clubby, dancey, it’s got that Ibiza feel to it. It’s just uplifting and energetic.”

Lloyd, stage name J.Junior, also enthuses that last time he checked the song was number two in the pre-release charts on play.com and excitedly recalls how the duo recently joined the likes of Kelly Rowland and Pete Doherty on the bill for the Love Music Hate Racism concert in Stoke in Trent.

Opposite Worlds met while working with the now disbanded Essex group Nexx-us and released their first track, Love Thing, three years ago, before taking a step back to work on the album First.

Describing the partnership, Lloyd tells me: “The name came about because I am from East London and Lee is from Surrey. We are from two totally different walks of life, but somehow music brings us together.”

While music is quite clearly Lloyd’s passion in life, things could have turned out vastly different.

“I was offered the opportunity to play semi-professional football with Brimsdown Rovers when I was 18, but because of mum’s religious beliefs I wasn’t allowed, so I channelled all my energy into music.”

Three years later the decision paid off and Lloyd was offered a contract with Sony, but again, turned it down, saying he “didn’t know enough about the business”.

“If I’m going to do something I might as well do it on my own label,” he asserts, “So that’s what I did, and I haven’t looked back since.”

Feel is available to download from June 27 from play.com, itunes and oppositeworlds.com