TD 1
WORDS Finghín Little PHOTO Colette Slater Barrass
and simplicity that makes for effortlessly and fortuitously poignant music. That’s offset a little by the bizarre milieu it finds itself in. ‘Who is the real artist that sang this?’ asks one commenter on the SoundCloud page, while another confides in a majuscule cry that ‘this bop just made me eat corn.’ What’s more, the song found itself sampled by Polish superstar rapper Mata in 100 dni do matary, which is on the one hand a testament to the unpredictability of Williams’ reach and on the other, with over forty million Spotify streams, perhaps the track which has brought their voice to the widest audience. It’s an unusual position to find yourself in, and in spite of the banality of viral media proliferation, it’s one that Williams still finds a bit bewildering. ‘‘It’s interesting, because I have quite a disconnect from the numbers on a screen. For some reason, it never really makes sense – my brain can’t comprehend it.’’ They muse on the surrealism of this kind of engagement. ‘‘It’s almost like a video game, and it doesn’t feel like it has anything to do with me… I feel like if I was in a room with everyone listening to my music, I’d be able to say, ‘Oh shit, that’s a lot of people!’ But I’m very bad with numbers, and I forget how far the reach can be. It’s cool, but it doesn’t feel real.’’ That sense of mystification or detachment when confronted with their online presence contrasts with the excitement, intimacy and encouragement they encounter playing concerts as a young, rising act. ‘‘Most of the times I’ve done concerts people haven’t been there specifically for me, because I’m opening or playing festivals. I quite like playing for crowds of people that don’t know who I am. But there have been a few times where I have been playing at a gig or festival, people sing along and come up afterwards to tell me that they like my music, and I like those interactions.’’ Williams’ attitude to their music – that they write about themselves, for themselves; that their music is just one piece of their identity – goes hand-in-hand with their unpretentious, haphazard attitude towards promotion and being an artist. There’s no need to be ambitious if all you’re yearning for is self-expression: ‘‘I’m not actively looking for more right now,’’ they insist. Whatever about their desire to take things slow, it’s heartening to hear that they find themselves content and fortunate to feel supported to grow in Ireland, mentioning their selection for 2FM’s Rising list in 2022. ‘‘I think my problem is that a lot of the time I forget to even promote myself, or that it’s something I’m supposed to do. Sometimes I forget that I make music for weeks on end, or that it’s something I do. I’m very much all over the place all the time, and I have so many things that are just as important to me as music that Ireland in particular is good for – I’m in a college that I really like, and I’m doing quite well there... I love the Irish music scene.’’ Ezra Williams plays The Workmans Club on Saturday, March 25, €12 via singularartists.ie ezrawilliamsmusic.com 43