Australian singer-songwriter and producer William Singe took both routes most of today’s up-and-coming stars go—joining a reality talent show and self-promotion on social media.
It seems the ex-boyband member and YouTube sensation has finally made it; having struck a major record deal and releasing his debut single a few months ago.
To the delight of his Filipino fans, William recently headlined this year’s Manila X Festival. He was last seen in the country last year, sharing a stage with The Vamps, Before You Exit and The Tide for a concert.
In an interview with InterAksyon, he admitted being both surprised and grateful to have been invited to return to the Philippines to headline Manila X.
“I love what I do. To be able to come out here to a bunch of people that support me so much, it’s just a blessing,” he said.
William, whose covers of hits like Drake’s “Hotline Bling” and Zayn’s “Pillowtalk”—two of his favorite covers— have garnered him millions of views on YouTube, credits a bulk of his success to social media.
“A lot of this, I owe to social media. Without it, how else would I get my stuff out? If I was relying on radio or on labels to sign me, it’s kind of far-fetched. So I was lucky to build a career off social media and continue it, and grow it,” he explained.
Nevertheless, signing up a label did happen, and he was able to release “Rush,” his first original single, in February. The song samples Jennifer Page’s “Crush,” but with a more laid back, R&B groove. William admits being deep into R&B even when he was much younger.
There are different things that could inspire him to write—from beautiful poetry to everyday situations. After all, songwriting for him is very personal, as it allows him to dig deep within and flesh out sentiments that he wouldn’t normally share in a normal conversation.
The 24-year-old singer-songwriter was heavily influenced by his father, who was also a musician and songwriter who helped William record and produce his first song when he was only 5 or 6 years old. Of course, there are other songwriters that William looks up to. Ed Sheeran, Drake, PartyNextDoor and Sean Garrett—who used to write a lot of songs for Chris Brown—are some of them.
As much as he enjoys writing songs and producing music, however, performing gives him a different kind of fulfilment altogether.
He compares the two, saying, “I guess it’s just two totally different feelings. With performing you know straight away whether it was a good or bad vibe.
“With creating or producing, I’ve written songs for years, sat on songs for years. And it’s like, every step of the way, you accept it and you live with it, and you figure out how you’re gonna make it better.
“It’s just instantaneous performing, how you feel; whereas creating music, like it happens over time.”
If given the opportunity, William would love to collaborate with artists that he looks up to, including Drake, Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake and Usher.
When asked if he would be open to collaborating Filipino artists, his answer was in the affirmative.
“I would love to! That would be cool. I need to get in the know who’s the hot artist here at the moment though; I’m sure there’s a lot of them,” he said.
William admitted not being too familiar with Filipino artists and mentioned Maine Mendoza and Alden Richards as two of the few local celebrities he was acquainted with and hoped would attend the Manila X Festival, of which he was the only international performer.