Tom Jay Williams

Australian Entertainer
Williams at Australian Fashion Week in 2023
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • model
Instrument(s)Vocals, Guitar, Piano, DrumsYears active2008-presentFormerly ofAt Sunset, Darling Brando
Musical artist

Tom Jay Williams (born 14 May 1992) is an Australian pop singer and songwriter who was the youngest finalist on the Australian Idol series[1] placing 10th on Season 6 in 2008 at 16 years old.[2][3] He subsequently signed to Sony Music Australia and released his debut single LOL in March 2010. His 2017 single 'Closure' led to a partnership with YouTube and reached number 2 on Japanese music charts.

2014–2016: At Sunset

In March 2014, Williams joined the band At Sunset[4] who were signed to Warner Music Australia the following year. At Sunset were best known as the winners of the Nova FM Fresh Discovery[5][6] and MTV (Australia and New Zealand) Brand New[7] competitions, catching the attention of Zendaya[8] and singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran who personally mentored the band in 2015.[9] During his time with At Sunset, Williams co-wrote the bands successful 2015 single 'Every Little Thing' with Nash Overstreet from American pop rock band Hot Chelle Rae,[10] the band were also interviewed by Ryan Seacrest[11] and were selected by KIIS Sydney to support Miley Cyrus on the iHeart Music festival prior to its cancellation.[12][13][14][15]

Williams and At Sunset also toured with Nickelodeon Slimefest alongside Boyce Avenue and The Veronicas[16] in September 2015, were the support act for American artists R5 and Jack & Jack in January 2016,[17][18] supported UK band The Vamps on the Wake Up World Tour at Allphones Arena in Sydney in January 2016[19] and were invited by Boyce Avenue to support them again at their arena show at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in The Philippines in February 2016.[20]

Williams and At Sunset were ambassadors for the Australian Football League team Port Adelaide Football Club[21]

2016–2018: "Closure" & "Figure It Out"

On 30 June 2016, At Sunset announced on their social media accounts that they were disbanding and Williams pursued a successful solo career with the release of his debut single 'Closure' in March 2017.[22] Written by Fredrik Häggstam, who co-wrote the song 'Paris' by American electronic music duo The Chainsmokers[23] and Gavin Jones who wrote for Little Mix on their 'DNA' album.[24] 'Closure' reached number 1 on the New Zealand and number 2 on the Japan streaming charts and was playlisted on the BBC.[25][26] Williams released his second single 'Figure It Out' in November 2017. He debuted the single live at the Music Matters Festival in Singapore in 2017[27][28][25] and was invited by YouTube's Global Head of Music, Lyor Cohen to join him onstage in a live mentoring session where a world first partnership between YouTube and Williams was announced.[29][30][31] Williams also performed with William Singe and Wesley Stromberg on the 'Cool For Summer' Festival in April 2017[32] with Pnau drummer Commandeur[33] and was selected as a brand ambassador alongside Kelly Rowland for the launch of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar in Australia in June 2017.[34][35]

2018–2021: Darling Brando

Williams is a founding member of Australian boyband Darling Brando, formed in 2018.[36] Darling Brando made their worldwide debut at the Music Matters Festival in Singapore in 2018[37] and signed to Sony Music Australia in August 2019.[38][39] They released their debut single 'Beat Up Guitar' in March 2019,[40][41] co-written by Swedish songwriter and producer Johan Gustafsson (The Pussycat Dolls, Icona Pop) alongside Joleen Belle (Kelly Clarkson, Selena Gomez)[42] and Sebastian Lundberg (Lupe Fiasco, Dami Im, Samantha Jade).[43] 'Beat Up Guitar' debuted at number 2 on the Shazam discovery charts and peaked at number 36 on the Spotify Australia Viral 50 chart.[44] Darling Brando were attempting a new world record of performing 100 shows in 30 days in early 2020[45][39] which earned them the title of 'Australia's Hardest Working Boy Band',[46] however had to cancel their attempt after only 80 shows left[47] as Australia was locked down during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Darling Brando released their second single 'Nightlights' in August 2020, co-written by Jimmy Robbins (Day + Shay, Florida Georgia Line, Keith Urban) as well as Nash Overstreet and Ryan Follese from American pop-rock band Hot Chelle Rae whom Williams has collaborated with throughout his music career. Darling Brando released their third single 'Wild Eyes' in October 2020 which was co-written by Norwegian singer Ruben and Swedish songwriter David Björk (Armin van Buuren, HRVY).[48] Williams departed Darling Brando in February 2021.[49]

Concert tours

Headlining

  • At Sunset 'Kiss Me' Tour Australia (2016) [50]
  • At Sunset 'Kiss Me' Tour Philippines (2016) [51]

Supporting (With At Sunset)

  • Jack & Jack and R5 (band) co-headlining Australia Tour (2016) [52][53]
  • The Vamps (British band) 'Wake Up' Tour (2016)
  • Boyce Avenue 'Be Somebody' Tour (2016)

Supporting (solo career)

Joining

  • Nickelodeon 'SlimeFest' (2015)
  • Amplify Live Australian Tour (2017)

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominee Result
2015 Nova FM Fresh Discovery Fresh Discovery At Sunset Won
2015 MTV Australia & New Zealand Brand New Brand New At Sunset Won
2016 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards Favourite Pop Sensation AU/NZ At Sunset Nominated

References

  1. ^ Singh, Surej (16 November 2017). ""Music Matters 2017 artists Reese Lansangan, Tom Jay Williams, Ben&Ben share their stories with us"". Band Wagon. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  2. ^ Knox, David (15 August 2008). "Show Watch Australian Idol 2008". TV Tonight. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  3. ^ Knox, David (15 August 2008). "Show Watch: Australian Idol 2008". TV Tonight. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  4. ^ Perri, Sophie (19 June 2015). "Hop on a tram with the boys from At Sunset, the Adelaide band that's almost reached a million Facebook fans". Adelaide Now. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  5. ^ "At Sunset crowned Nova's Fresh Discovery winner". The Music Network. 27 October 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  6. ^ "NOVA'S FRESH DISCOVERY ANNOUNCES WINNER". Nova Entertainment. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  7. ^ "MTV Brand New Artist Spotlight: At Sunset". The Music Network. 27 October 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Australian Band Rises to Fame in the US". WPRI-TV. 19 May 2014. Archived from the original on 19 March 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  9. ^ Antimo, Iannella (2 April 2015). "Ed Sheeran gives Adelaide boy band At Sunset the thumbs-up". Adelaide Now. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  10. ^ Parker, Libby (17 May 2015). "AT SUNSET ARE SHINING BRIGHT FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA". The Upside News. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  11. ^ "At Sunset win Nova's Fresh Discovery". Radio Today. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  12. ^ Jones, Nicholas (28 August 2014). "Who's Going To Kyle Sandilands' Music Festival? Yeah, That's Right". Tone Deaf. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  13. ^ Baroni, Nastassia (11 September 2014). "Miley-Headlined iHeartRadio Australia Music Festival Cancelled". Music Feeds. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  14. ^ Martin, Chris (28 August 2014). "Miley Cyrus To Headline New Sydney Music Festival". The Brag. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  15. ^ Decent, Tom (11 September 2014). "Australian iHeartRadio festival, to star Miley Cyrus, cancelled". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  16. ^ "Foxtel Insider Nickelodeon Slimefest 2015". Foxtel. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  17. ^ Stickler, Jon (22 October 2015). "R5 And Jack & Jack Announce January Australian And New Zealand Co-Headline Tour". Stereoboard. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  18. ^ "Aussie trio, At Sunset announce new single, Kiss Me alongside National R5 & The Vamps Tour". Amnplify. 19 January 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  19. ^ Kelly, Nic. "The Vamps, Little Sea, Tyde Levi & more will play a Sydney arena show for $20 in January". Project U. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  20. ^ Lo, Ricky (29 January 2016). "On the street where Boyce Avenue lives". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  21. ^ "Ambassador profile: At Sunset". Port Adelaide FC. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  22. ^ "Closure by Tom Jay Williams". Amazon Music. 24 March 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  23. ^ "Freddy Häggstam Discography". The Kennel. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  24. ^ "Gavin Jones Discography". 365 Artists. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  25. ^ a b Fuamoli, Sosefina (13 September 2017). "Tom Jay Williams sets his sights on the global pop market as a new year of music approaches". The AU Review. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  26. ^ Adams, Cameron (8 April 2017). "How Tom Jay Williams has used streaming to launch a global career". News.com.au. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  27. ^ Choo, Gabriel (4 September 2017). "Apple Music partners Music Matters to create content for emerging artists". Yahoo Style. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  28. ^ Singh, Surej (8 December 2020). "Music Matters 2017 artists Reese Lansangan, Tom Jay Williams, Ben&Ben share their stories with us". Bandwagon.Asia. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  29. ^ Fuamoli, Sosefina (12 September 2017). "The Aussies shine bright in Singapore for Music Matters' third night at CHIJMES". The AU Review. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  30. ^ Brandle, Lars (18 September 2017). "5 Takeaways From Music Matters 2017". Billboard. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  31. ^ Brandle, Lars (15 September 2017). "YouTube Global Head of Music Lyor Cohen weighs in on streaming content quotas". The Industry Observer. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  32. ^ "Cool For Summer Festival Powered By Amplify". Toorak Times. April 12, 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  33. ^ "Commandeur teams up with Pnau & Zildjian". Aus Music Scene. 29 March 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  34. ^ "Coca-Cola embarks on its largest ever sampling campaign with Coca-Cola No Sugar". Coca-Cola. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  35. ^ "Coca-Cola Unveils New Sampling Campaign & TVC For Its 'No Sugar' Offering". Bandt. 26 June 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  36. ^ Marr, Georgie (6 May 2020). "Darling Brando's Alex Reveals How Leonardo DiCaprio Helped Name The Band". Hit.com.au. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  37. ^ Contarino, Michelle (24 September 2018). "Darling Brando talk about their debut in Singapore, songwriting and future plans". The AU Review. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  38. ^ "Sony Music Artist Roster". Sony Music Australia. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  39. ^ a b "Darling Brando: Meet Australia's hardest working boy band". The Music Network. 27 April 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  40. ^ "Australia's Newest Band Darling Brando Release Debut Single 'Beat Up Guitar'". Sony Music News. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  41. ^ "Australia's newest music sensation Darling Brando releases debut single". Manila Standard. 29 June 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  42. ^ "Joleen Belle Discography". Joleen Belle. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  43. ^ "Sebastian Lundberg Discography". Genius.com. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  44. ^ "Darling Brando: Meet Australia's hardest working boy band". The Music Network. 27 April 2020. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  45. ^ Bain, Lucy (11 February 2020). "Darling Brando make Mildura stop on an Aussie mission". Sunraysia Daily. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  46. ^ "Darling Brando: Meet Australia's hardest working boy band". The Music Network. 27 April 2021. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  47. ^ "Australia's Newest Band Darling Brando Release Debut Single 'Beat Up Guitar'". One Music Philippines. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  48. ^ Riordan, Ashley (20 October 2020). "Darling Brando Are The New It-Band You've Got To Listen To". Rave It Up. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  49. ^ Kelly, Vivienne (24 February 2022). "Darling Brando splits from Sony Music as Tom Jay Williams announces departure". The Music Network. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  50. ^ "At Sunset Announce National Kiss Me Headline Tour for March". Music Injection. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  51. ^ ""At Sunset Announce National Kiss Me Headline Tour For March"". Music Injection. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  52. ^ Stickler, Jon (22 October 2015). ""R5 And Jack & Jack Announce January Australian And New Zealand Co-Headline Tour"". Stereo Board. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  53. ^ ""R5 + Jack & Jack"". The Weekend Edition. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2023.