Scottish singer Nathan Evans has started a sea shanty phenomenon worldwide with his rendition of the New Zealand whaling ballad ‘Wellerman’ on Tik Tok. The video has over 10 million views on the social networking platform and the remix of the song with 220 KID & Billen Ted is now steadily climbing up the UK charts.
I sat down with Nathan to discuss the beginning of the sea shanty frenzy, his incredible passion for music and to find out more about what we can expect from the young musician in the future.
TP: Your Tik Tok video of ‘The Wellerman’ has over 10 million views and your single is number 2 on the UK charts. Congratulations on your success! Why do you think this particular song became so big and did you ever expect that?
NE: I think it became so big because everybody is kind of in need of a smile and some togetherness and some friendship. So, I think that’s kind of brought everybody and I did not expect it, not one bit.
TP: So how did it all start? What made you pick this particular song and upload it on Tik Tok?
NE: It basically started back in July when somebody left a comment on one of my videos. And they had said: ‘I think you’d be really good at this song. It’s a sea shanty and it’s called ‘Leave her, Johnny’, do you think you could do it?’ So, I went away and did some research and I came back and when I uploaded it, everybody loved it. It just kinda went from there. There were then other comments saying ‘Could you do ‘The Drunken Sailor’?, ‘Could you do ‘The Scotsman’?, ‘Could you do ‘The Wellerman?’ and that was it.
TP: Do you think the music industry needs more of this kind of music at the moment?
NE: Definitely, I think it needs it. In this time that we’re in just now, in the pandemic and stuff, it just needs a good lift.
TP: Of course! What do you think about the various covers of your version and do you have a favourite?
NE: I definitely really enjoyed it when Andrew Lloyd Weber dueted me. That was definitely up there with the best.
TP: What made you get on Tik Tok to begin with?
NE: So, it was last January that I started and it was my niece and nephew that were actually getting on at me like: ‘Uncle Nathan, you need to try this new app, it’s amazing, I think you’d really enjoy it, it’s really good’. And I was like, I don’t know if I should be taking advice from 7 and 10-year-olds. I don’t know if that’s a good idea. But thankfully, I listened to them and they were right.
TP: Sometimes the young ones know better than us.
NE: That’s it. Exactly.
TP: Is music something that you have always wanted to do?
NE: Yes, so I’ve been singing since I was 6 and I’ve been playing guitar since I was 8, so it’s always been a dream of mine.
TP: Did you have any musical lessons? You said that you started singing when you were really young, so was it something in the family or did you go to a particular school for it?
NE: No, it was just something I was born with. I never went to any lessons, I never got taught how to do it. With guitar, I had one year of guitar lessons when I was 8 until I was 9 and then I realised I was learning more in the house than I was at the lessons. So I just stuck to playing guitar in the house and then that was it. I just kind of practiced every day.
TP: Do you remember what was the first thing that you learned how to play on the guitar?
NE: It was ‘Smoke on the water’. That was the very first thing.
TP: It’s always a classic. Everybody wants that one.
NE: I know. That’s it.
TP: You have previously posted covers of big artists such as Ed Sheeran and Machine Gun Kelly. Who are your biggest inspirations musically?
NE: Ed Sheeran, Lewis Capaldi, Dermot Kennedy, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, they are all the main ones.
TP: You have recently managed to sign a record deal with Polydor Records. Congratulations on that! How did that happen? Did they reach out to you? What was the process?
NE: At the time that ‘The Wellerman’ was blowing up I was getting emails from management, from different lawyers, from everybody that you can think of in the industry. Everybody wanted to speak to me and see how I was doing. So Polydor was one of them and one of the guys actually called when I was walking around doing my postal job. I had my uniform on, had my bag on, I was walking about posting mail and my phone rang so I answered and he’s like: ‘Hello, I’m just phoning, it’s Polydor Records here’ and I was like: ‘Wait, did you say Polydor Records?’ I spoke to the guy for the first time while I was posting mail and it just went from there.
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TP: That’s amazing! Did you enjoy being a postman? I know that you’re not a postman anymore.
NE: I’m not a postman anymore but I really enjoyed it. I think if this didn’t happen and I couldn’t now pursue this as a career and do this as my job, I could definitely see myself doing that for the rest of my life because it was so good. I enjoyed it, it kept you fit as well and I could do a bit of exercise, so it was amazing.
TP: That’s good. How did the coronavirus pandemic affect you as a postman and in your personal life? How was your experience with it overall?
NE: I’m kinda grateful that I could do what I was doing as a postman and be out and about, be in the fresh air every day. And then I could also see people around, so it just kept things going, so it was good.
TP: Where’s the first place you’re going to go after the pandemic? Where’s your dream place to go?
NE: I don’t know. I can’t wait for the opportunity to go to America somewhere because I’ve always loved to go there. It would be good to go there.
TP: Are you working on new music at the moment?
NE: Yep, I’m always working on new music. I’m always writing, I’m always singing. I’m always making a new song for Tik Tok or YouTube, so I’m always making new music.
TP: What can we expect genre-wise – is it going to be more sea shanties, are we going to something more slow or poppy from yourself?
NE: A bit of everything you just said there. I like to try and keep everything open and keep a wide range of things going. So, you’ll probably see sea shanties, you will see fast songs, slow songs, happy songs, sad songs, a whole lot of everything in there.
TP: Are we expecting an album soon?
NE: By the end of the year, hopefully.
TP: That’s incredible. Are you excited to perform live one day? I know it’s currently not possible but one day?
NE: Definitely, I cannot wait for the day the pandemic lifts and life will start to go ahead. Not even performing, just to go and watch them myself because being at gigs is amazing, so definitely, I can’t wait.
TP: I’m happy you say that. Who are you excited to see live next?
NE: Not too sure, I’d love to see Lewis Capaldi live. That would be fantastic, so he would be good.
TP: Where is the first place that you want to perform? Is there a particular venue or city that you really want to perform live?
NE: I don’t know venue-wise but just somewhere in Glasgow as the first big gig would be good. Barrowlands, or King Tuts would be really good. Something like that would be amazing.
TP: That’s amazing and we’ll come watch.
NE: That’s it. Exactly.
TP: What do your friends and family think of your success?
NE: They love it. Everyday I’m getting a phone call or text message to say: ‘Oh what TV show are you on?, What radio show are you on?, What newspaper do I need to buy?’ and I’m like: ‘You are mental’. But, yeah, they love it, they love it. They are all so excited for me.
TP: I think that you said that you recently got married. Is that right?
NE: Yup, so I’ve been married now for a year and seven months.
TP: How’s that going? How’s the married life?
NE: Aye, it’s great and she’s so excited for me and so supportive. She’s loving it, she’s amazing.
TP: What do you guys like doing in your free time apart from doing music?
NE: Watching TV, that’s probably the number one thing at the moment because there’s not much else. I like to get out and about, go walking, we used to do the Munros in Scotland. We used to climb the hills but now you can’t really do much. So, Netflix is probably as exciting as it gets.
TP: What are your favourite shows? Do you have any recommendations for us?
NE: ‘Money Heist’ if you haven’t seen it, amazing. ‘Power’’s good and ‘Top Boy’.
TP: Who’s your dream collaborator? Who’s the one person dead or alive that you’d really want to have a song with?
NE: Ed Sheeran, definitely.
TP: What’s your favourite song of his?
NE: I think it depends what kind of mood you’re in. But I really like ‘Thinking out loud’ and I think that that will just stay an absolute tune forever.
TP: Related to that, have you ever written a romantic song for your wife?
NE: Aye, definitely.
TP: Did she like it?
NE: I hope so, she told me she liked it, so I hope so.
TP: What are your personal and career goals for the future? What do you want to achieve within a few years?
NE: I always would have loved to get a number 1 and we had a number 1 on the Global Top 40 last week, so that came and I was like: ‘I need to think of different goals, it’s only January, it’s not even February yet’. So, I’d love to have an album that everybody loved and hopefully, we might get it to number 1. That would also be amazing. Even in the top 5, but you’ve got to aim high, so number 1. And that’s pretty much it.
TP: You’ve touched a lot of hearts and everyone absolutely loves what you do. Your story is so inspiring for a lot of people who can see that someone from a small town can just blow up.
NE: I know. It could have happened to anyone, I’m just so grateful that it happened to me. It just goes to show that it can happen to anyone at any time.
TP: Do you have some words for anyone out other who wants to achieve something the way you did?
NE: Just stay consistent and get your name out there as much as possible. The main thing is to just do what you are doing consistently.
Listen to Nathan Evans’s single ‘Wellerman’ with 220 KID & Billen Ted below.
