When did your passion for music start? And from that moment, how long did it take until you decided to begin your career?

I remember a friend sending me Vampire Weekend’s song ‘Oxford Comma’ on MSN messenger when I was 11. It was the first song/artist that I really loved that wasn’t introduced to me by my brother or dad. That led me down a path of discovering more and more indie music and eventually started playing guitar. I used to jam with friends at high school on our lunch break, those first little performances definitely got me hooked on the idea of pursuing music.

How would you describe your music style? Would you put it in a genre? What are your influences beyond music, who did you admire growing up?

I would say I write mostly pop music, it’s just the kind of pop I wanna hear. If I were to break down my influences - singer-songwriters like Neil Young, Lou Reed for their storytelling and lyrical simplicity, Darwin Deez, Benny Sings and Zack Villere for their production choices, Nintendo soundtracks and old jazz songs for chord voicings, and the flirty confidence you mostly hear in rap records. I’m always getting inspired by new sounds to be honest. When I was 14 I watched the Blur documentary ‘No Distance Left To Run’ and that definitely had a big impact on me. It romanticised a life in music perfectly for me at that age.

You have a particular aesthetic, always evolving, from clothing, hair, music videos to album covers. Did those artists influence your fashion style as well?

I think I used to just get bored! The moustache look I have now is currently holding the record for longest lasting aesthetic for me. Robert Pattinson is my fashion icon.

Your music went viral on TikTok overnight, twice if I am not wrong. How did that feel? Was it difficult to handle all the following?

It was definitely a trip! The app is built for these crazy surges of virality and it can be quite overwhelming. You have to accept that you have no control over and just have to laugh and enjoy your music reaching that many people at once.

You have this world you created, it almost feels like your universe and you let people in through music, but inside it, every song has its own thing. For example, 4am and kisses are visually very different. So, what’s the process to make a song? Do you think about the whole theme around it while writ-ing, or once you have a song made then you think how it’s going to sound like?

On this album it was very much music first and then writing the video ideas months later. The theme uniting all the videos is this blend of 20th century music video and movie references, all through a modern lens. I’ve made all the videos of this roll out with my friend director Bertie Gilbert, he really gets me so every idea feels very natural and not over thought.

What is a day in your life like?

Right now I’m on tour in Europe so it’s sweaty exciting performances punctuated by long drives and me losing things. If I’m at home I love cooking so my days revolve around food haha.

You streamed live your UK tour on Twitch. How did that come about?

My fanbase is super international despite me being a UK artist. I thought it would be cool to find ways of involving everyone on the live shows despite only physically playing in the UK for that tour. Twitch seemed like the perfect platform for it.

It feels like this year you have been on tour non-stop, do you have a favorite moment performing or one that was unforgettable?

Playing the Royal Albert Hall in London was definitely unforgettable. It’s this huge, imperial coliseum-esque building that towers around the stage. Usually it’s home to more prestigious events, not indie rock shows, so it was very cool to have the opportunity to play my songs there.

Will Joseph Cook for French Fries Magazine issue 5

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