STORIES OF people becoming an overnight sensation is a mainstay of social media. A random post from an act of boredom or curiosity can suddenly go viral and boom, a new star is born!
However, the reality is that these break-out performers often have put in years of training and hard work, looking to score that big goal.
Aussie hitmaker Keenan Te took singing and piano lessons for nine years, and developed his guitar skills after attending classes for three years. He even appeared on the Australian version of The Voice.
Fame came suddenly after he posted a couple of singing videos on his TikTok account, which he had idly created to stave off boredom from being stuck at home.
His rendition of popular tunes unexpectedly made him an instant star on the video platform.
“I remember waking up in the middle of the night. My phone was going crazy from the notifications. So fast that I could not unlock my phone. Like it had frozen my phone!” said the content creator who gained over a million followers the past year.
Keenan has been religiously posting on the platform since his meteoric rise – from informative music clips to videos of him singing. The overnight fame has also helped him realise his ambitions of pursuing a solo music career, releasing three solo tracks to date.
“Music has always been something I wanted to do as a career. So, to be able to release my own music is such a dream come true.”
How has the transition been, going from singing covers to releasing your original songs?
It has been really rewarding! I feel like when you sing your own songs for people and they are responding to it really well, it is like an extra reward for me because it is my songs. And it is cool to see people now doing covers of my songs. It is kind of like a whole full-circle moment for me.
What was the inspiration behind your latest single, Dependent?
I wrote it around August last year. It is so crazy because I feel like all my best song ideas come to me really late at night. In fact, I wrote the song at three in the morning in 20 minutes. The song is about a relationship that you cannot seem to move on from.
I feel like so many people have been in the same situation where there is that one person that no matter what you guys have gone through, you always find yourself going back to them. And you do not know why. Like you wish that you could just move on. But you find yourself being so dependent on them. It was a situation that I had personally gone through.
Is this a lead single to an upcoming project or a solo work?
Nope, this is not a lead single of an album just yet. I do have plans for that in the future, but now I have a few more songs that I want to release as singles. I feel like this is just the beginning. This is only the third song that I have put out and I feel like this is the first one that really shows who I am as an artiste, and what I have been wanting to show to my fans for the longest time.
I am grateful that people have been responding to it so well. I am so excited for them to hear my new music. I have been working so hard at it.
Do you think The Voice gave you the exposure you needed?
I feel like most of my exposure came from TikTok and my songs on streaming platforms. I feel that is where people found out about me and my music. Having said that, my time with The Voice has helped me in my journey. In fact, not going through on The Voice was actually kind of like a blessing in disguise. Like I was definitely upset at the time.
But looking back now, I feel like that setback made me work 10 times harder. It also confirmed that singing was really what I wanted to do as a career. So yeah, it has helped me in the sense that I just worked so much harder.
Who are some of your musical heroes?
I have always looked up to artistes like Lewis Capaldi, Clinton Kane and Ed Sheeran. I just love their music. Recently, I have been listening to Olivia Rodrigo’s new album, some of her slower songs. I really like it. Another person would be Guy Sebastian, whom I met on The Voice. That was really cool because I remember watching him on Australian Idol when I was younger.
Do you have plans to perform in Malaysia once Covid is over?
A hundred per cent. I definitely cannot wait to be able to come over to Malaysia. I have never been there. So, I am really excited to be able to kind of explore what Malaysia is like. And I love Malaysian food. So, I am excited to experience everything.
