Twenty years old and ready for stardom
The talented Capetonian singersongwriter is getting a crash course in fame in LA, while he rides the wave of his hit debut, writes Declan Gibbon
Twenty-year-old Will Linley blew up on TikTok last year and has been riding the wave ever since. In fact, his debut single Miss Me (when you’re gone) was the theme song of the summer and has accumulated 5.5-million listens on Spotify alone, and his TikTok profile has 1.5-million likes.
I spoke to Linley, who’s in Los Angeles right now, over Zoom, and his enthusiasm, passion and humility were palpable.
How did you get into music?
I didn’t know what I wanted to do in life but I’ve always loved music, and when Covid hit and we went into that hectic first 30day lockdown I got into writing again, producing music and testing my abilities. I put out a song on SoundCloud and a mutual friend put me in touch with a guy called David [Balshaw], a Cape Town-based producer.
His producing partner was a guy called Bubele Booi, who was in New York at the time. Our relationship grew from strength to strength and we started writing together. I enjoyed the music we were making and couldn’t wait to put the songs out into the world. David said, “Let’s chill, let’s take it easy and do this properly.” It’s been a rollercoaster, I still don’t know why or how I’m here. What I do know is that I’m going to continue to make music that people enjoy and have fun along the way.
You went viral on TikTok teasing your debut single. How’s that journey been?
David urged me to get on TikTok. I was against going onto that app but I committed to 30 days and within a week we started to see some change and engagement. It suddenly snowballed, the speed at which things were moving was surreal. Miss Me was written in October 2020 and I did the TikTok teaser in December of that year. The song only came out in November a year later, so we had time to build a catalogue of songs to be released off the first single.
How do you approach songs?
I’ve always wanted my songwriting to be a real experience. I look at my friends and go, oh, this is what so-and-so is going through, let me put myself in their shoes and write a song from their perspective. For the most part, I really only know what’s happening to me and my emotions. Miss Me was one of those songs that dropped into my lap. It fell into place organically as a result of the thousands of songs I’ve been writing in my bedroom. I’d previously felt that my music and writing was immature and Miss Me came out of nowhere and was the first time I really enjoyed a song I’d written.
I don’t really dig social media but I do see the value in the commercialisation of it. TikTok changed my life and now I’m doing something I never thought was possible. Social media is levelling the playing field: anyone can do music now, anyone can put music out.
With TikTok and Instagram, you can blow up overnight and suddenly people are singing your song — 60,000 songs are uploaded daily onto Spotify — and to try to break that noise is near impossible. From that perspective, rather than cringing or feeling silly, I’d suggest to anyone wanting to make music to not think about it too much, set up your phone and dance, sing your music, have fun and either people enjoy it or they don’t.
Miss Me ’s popularity was because it reflected a real and universal experience. I wrote it about someone who made me feel incredible and happy. I loved the person I was when I was around her. She then left university and we could no longer be as close friends as we were before, and I miss who I was when I was around her.
South African and international fans are eagerly awaiting your follow-up single. Tell me more.
I’ve got a new song coming out on March 23 called Wrong Time. I’ve been loving building up my music. I could never have predicted that I’d be here, it’s been such an incredible journey. I’ve felt so much love and support from SA following my dream. The public have taken me under their wing, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.