In conversation with Tom Wills: “I couldn’t even come out to be a singer”

Last week, I had the pleasure of talking to Mancunian, upcoming sensation, Tom Wills, about all things identity, mental health, and new single, ‘Mid-Night Moves’. He opened up unadulteratedly, pulling back the curtain on the life of a real artist: he’s just one man with dreams, willing to work as hard as he can to bring them to fruition.  

One thing that stuck out from talking with him was his total acceptance of the world as it is. He isn’t forcing himself into the industry and idly waiting for someone to give him a shot; rather, he is doing everything he can to maximise his chances of fulfilling his aspirations. Clearly, his varied life experiences have given him a strong foothold in the music world. Wills told me that “you can’t just put your music out there and expect it to do well, and for people to find it”, foregrounding his ethos: “nobody is going to work as hard as you”. 

Raised in and around Wigan, a town in Greater Manchester, Wills didn’t find it at all easy to be himself growing up, not fitting in in terms of his desired career or just as a young man in the first place. “There was nobody I knew who was a singer; there was nobody I knew who was doing what I wanted to do. But I knew that I wanted to do it and I just kept going.” It’s clear that he found it isolating, growing up in such a blue-collar, hands-on area, yet, from what he told me, it’s evident that this has only served him in the long run, only making him chase his dreams harder, wanting to step outside of the box that he felt the world was creating for him.  

Talking on his inspirations, Wills smiled, nervously, revealing “it – probably for a long time – wouldn’t have been something [ he’d ] have admitted to following”, reminiscing on his adoration of Motown and soul classics, as well as how his parents introduced him to their eclectic tastes, his dad “big on The Drifters and Rod Stewart”, his mum a fan of 80s hits (or as Wills puts it, “the oldies stuff”). Despite his peers listening exclusively to Clubland and Eminem, his broad exposure to diverse genres meant he found himself “obsessed with people that are a bit more out there”, citing Diana Ross and Bette Middler as some of his top idols. His fascination with “big personalities and stage presences” is clear, his latest single, ‘Mid-Night Moves’, wholeheartedly indicative of the trajectory he’s on. 

It’s clear that Wills himself does lots of the hard work too, the relationship between the two Northerners a true collaboration of brilliant minds

On the new track, Wills told me that he’s tried to both pick a niche, as “people don’t like too much variety … they don’t like when you give them too much”, but also try to maintain a sense of sonic diversity, working with Preston-based producer Sholzy to “mix so much into it and bring [ sounds ] modern again, putting in a new beat and changing where everything is.” Sholzy’s talents don’t stop at music production, though, Wills revealing that it was he who actually put the single’s music video together too: “he’s such a talented guy”. Saying that, though, it’s clear that Wills himself does lots of the hard work too, the relationship between the two Northerners a true collaboration of brilliant minds, him developing the entire concept of the video, “want[ ing ] to do it like [ he ] was on pills in Ibiza”. 

Speaking a little more broadly, Wills explained that he has “two different sides” to his job. He is in the process of launching his own music career, wanting to become an Ibiza staple, performing alongside the likes of David Guetta and Joel Corry. Simultaneously, his main source of income currently is cabaret gigs, starting in small, local venues around his hometown, where “there’d be a 90-year-old playing the organ in the corner”, recently working alongside cruise and hotel companies. He recalled telling someone at university who was adamant they wanted to start a band, but only wanted to do their own music, that he’d “rather sing [ covers ] for 45 minutes than be forced to do a 9 to 5.” This choice gave him the freedom to work on his own music more often, whilst also allowing him to “get [ his ] music into new crowds” and practice the art of live performance.  

Another passion project which Wills has recently found a love for is scriptwriting. He always did musical theatre when he was younger, and has recently joined an acting school, which gave him the courage to begin writing, a project which was his “main focus” until the release of ‘Mid-Night Moves’. He told me that while it’s a sitcom based on his life growing up in the north, “it’s really exaggerated for comedy, because if it was real, I don’t think half of my family would speak to me again.”  

Despite having a clear goal and working tirelessly to get there, life hasn’t always been easy for Wills – “I openly talk about my depression and anxiety … Some days I’d wake up on top of the world, and some days I just wouldn’t want to do anything at all.” Having struggled more seriously since the COVID-19 pandemic, he’s definitely been on a healing journey, trying medication (“which didn’t work for me”) and therapy (which he still does “on and off”). The real key to feeling more optimistic about life, though, for Wills, has been realising “it’s something from within”, offering the advice to fans that you must “do a little bit every day to work on [ your ]self”. It was evident when talking to Wills that he is undeniably resilient; his varied experiences only contributing to making him the confident, ambitious, hilarious rising star that he is today.  

Collaborating is fun: it opens you up to new experiences and other people’s processes

 Tom Wills

We concluded the interview talking about plans for the future, Wills being surprisingly unenthusiastic about the prospect of an album. At first, I was a little taken aback, as surely it’s every artist’s dream to release an LP of their own work, but he sensibly told me that he “want[ s ] to do what [ he ] thinks will be better career-wise … building [ him ] as a person and a brand” before making the jump to an album. In terms of collaborators, Wills is aiming big, naming the likes of Mark Ronson, but also wanting to work with some upcoming artists, where he thinks there’s a lot of talent, and often “more drive”. He told me, “collaborating is fun: it opens you up to new experiences and other people’s processes” – they are, more than anything, an opportunity to learn (“if Celine Dion still has singing lessons, that means we can all learn from something”). 

It was truly inspiring to talk to Tom Wills last week: he certainly knows where he’s headed and how to get there. He’s faced a multitude of struggles, be that a lack of acceptance for who he is, or his mental health and ADHD holding him back, but with ambitions and talent in such abundance, I have no doubt he will achieve everything and more.