By Ginny Gillikin
About five years ago, Warren Peay decided to do the darn thing and focus on his music career. When he started out, the South Carolinian sang in a Christian group with friends from a local church. Compare that to his final week on “American Idol,” season 21. He sang Alanis Morissette’s song “All I Really Want” to Morissette (who had coached him), a star-studded judge panel, and over 7.7 million viewers.
The soulful Southern rock and country vocalist talked with StankRadio about where he is now — a unique space where he’s either getting approached by strangers in the street or surprised by the doors that still aren’t open for him. He also pulled back the curtain on some of his small steps to stardom and the backstage camaraderie that meant as much to him as being in front of the “American Idol” cameras.
After the pandemic sidelined your band, how did you keep up your momentum?
I started to make TikToks. I was definitely a little late to the game. I said, “I ain't got no use for that.” Eventually, I got on it and started to see that artists were getting popular doing it. I said, “Why can't I?”
What did you have to do to make TikTok work for you?
Just like with any other social media — really, any other form of media or promotion — you have to stay on there consistently. If you can post every day of the week or at least twice a week, do it. Interact with your followers and keep putting things out there.
Some people worry about the quality of content and think, “I have to have the most perfect video or lighting.” But, you don't. Content is content. Do the best that you can and put as much of it out there until you get better because you're gonna progress over time.
Do you think focusing on music and not thinking about the audience makes a difference?
Of course, you make music for other people. You want an audience and you want your fans to like what you put out. The main goal of having a music career is to have a fan base. But, more than I make music for others, I make music for myself.
This goes back to authenticity; it shows when you are authentic in your videos, your content, and your life — how you act in public when meeting fans or somebody who doesn’t know you. People can relate to you.
In a recent Instagram post, it seemed like you were singing about how you've grown up and gotten older, but the friends around you are still the same. Have you grown and reckoned with that?
When I got home after being eliminated from “Idol,” I thought, “I was just in LA. How am I home? This doesn't make any sense.” I came into my music room and started feeling a melody and playing around with something that felt natural. Then, the words started flowing. That song was a reflection on my own life and seeing some friends around me change.
I was somewhat depressed from the shock and the time it took me to process that I was back home. I thought, “Where do I go from here?”
I changed through the course of the show — a lot of it was for the better. But, I definitely started to see changes when I got back home after I was away for over a month. People treat you a little differently.
How did people treat you differently?
Some people won't talk to you and some people that never talked to you before are like your best friend. But, some people who've been my support group stayed exactly the same.
Things are different now; it's not the same as before I was on television. Maybe it was only for 15 minutes, but I was in front of so many people. Even though I was on a stage, it was more for my faith, my spirituality, and what I felt I needed to do.
Was the impact on your career what you expected?
Being on live TV has its perks, especially as a singer. You get to reach out and talk to people that would've never talked to you otherwise. I've made some great connections and have high hopes for the future.
Being on “American Idol” does not guarantee a record deal, but it's a huge jumpstart for your career. I went from having a few hundred followers to tens of thousands.
In some ways, it feels like I'm back at square one. I think, “How do I build from here?” But, the good outweighs the bad because some people out there want to hear me and come to shows; they want to buy my music.
How do you keep a positive attitude as you move forward?
Somebody’s gonna book you to play a show. People are gonna be there; some venues will work out and some won’t. So, I keep in the back of my mind that everything's gonna be okay.
What music are you listening to that you're really excited about now?
That’s so hard to narrow down. One of them definitely is my “Idol” co-contestant Wé Ani. She's got such an incredible, soulful voice. There’s something about her music that pulls me in every single time; it’s something special.
My favorite thing that came from the show was getting to listen to all of the other contestants’ original music. I get excited watching those guys put out music.
What were your lasting impressions of being on the show?
A big thing for me was the family that we made. There was no animosity between any of us; nobody had any grudges. Nobody was sabotaging each other. They told us that happened in past seasons, and none of us were like that.
We were all happy to be there and to have this time with each other and we all got super close. We would forget it was a competition until show day. We went out there and played a rocking show and then we're like, “We gotta watch people go home.”
But, we had such a good time together sitting around and jamming, making music, writing stuff, and talking about our future plans.
Photos courtesy of Warren Peay