Texas’ Tony22 on how spirituality informs his process, thinking from the fan’s perspective and navigating viral moments online.
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Growing up on the internet, Tony22 has seen it all. The Austin, Texas native spent his teens building a YouTube following as a cartoon animator called Tonyvtoons before deciding to share his original songs and FL Studio productions with his already sizable following. “I got a lot of support and that sparked a passion to write more music,” recalls Tony, whose heartfelt songs draw from melodic rap, indie and pop influences. With a new album out called ‘Divine Order’ – which explores poetic lyricism and wisdom gained along the chaotic journey from adolescence to adulthood – 24-year-old Tony22 called in from his new home base in Phoenix, Arizona to share more about learning to trust himself and literally weaving SoundCloud into his merch.
Can you share some insight into your new album ‘Divine Order’?
I started writing this album right after I dropped my last album ‘222.’ It was a really interesting time. It was right after I had signed with SoundCloud and Repost [SoundCloud Direct, formerly Repost Network], and I felt like there was a lot of pressure on me to write good music. Before I was just writing whatever felt right. I felt like things were getting serious and I was really taking life seriously, and a lot happened – I went through a lot of emotional relationship pain, a lot of physical pain even, and it just manifested into this project called ‘Divine Order.’ It had to be about realizing that everything that was happening to me was to bring me to where I need to be.
When I’m making an album, I just write for a couple years and then whatever body of work comes from that becomes the album. ‘Divine Order’ is mainly me; there’s no vocal features or anything. Because I was isolated here in my new home in Arizona, I had to make do with my own brain. have a hard time collaborating with people because it takes me out of my comfort zone. My friend Jolina helped me write one of my favorite songs on the album, “Past Life,” but aside from that, I did all of my production, my mixing, my recording, my mastering and everything like that for myself.
One thing that stands out in your music is your interest in spirituality and mental health. Who are your greatest teachers?
I read a lot. That’s where I get most of my source material from when it comes to my writing inspiration. Eckhart Tolle, who’s a huge spiritual teacher, [is a big influence]. Matt Kahn, who’s my personal favorite, wrote a book called ‘The Universe Always Has A Plan’ that has guided me through life more than anything so far. A lot of my songs are based off of that book. I’ve followed a bunch of YouTube gurus but now I’ve learned to step away from the guru obsession when it comes to spirituality because at the end of the day, you have to follow your own heart. We’re all the same – we all come from the same source – so at some point, you’ve got to trust yourself.
What has the album feedback been like so far?
Everybody’s just been saying which lyric has been hitting them the most. One of my favorite lyrics is, ‘I’m way too young to die and I’m way too old to give a shit.’ I’m almost 25 and I’m about to be halfway to 50, so I’m entering my quarter-life crisis [laughs]. I think a lot of my fans have grown up with me and have been following me since I was a teenager, so we’re all getting older together.
What advice do you have for artists who are looking to form deeper relationships with the people supporting them?
Treat your community as if they are your friends. I’ve never been one to separate myself from my community as if I’m higher up or someone they should look up to. I’ve always wanted to make them feel like I’m someone on their level, someone they can talk to and relate to and know that I’m going through the same exact problems they’re going through. I have close personal relationships with some of my fans who will hit me up about their relationship problems or spirituality problems, and I’ll do the same to them.
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As part of your latest tour, you gave fans who purchased merch a sneak peak of your unreleased music as a thank you. What inspired that strategy?
My first songs were posted to SoundCloud before anything else. SoundCloud is the O.G. of music for independent artists, so I know the fans who follow me on there have been riding with me for a long time. [On my latest tour], every piece of merch had a little tag on it that led straight to the SoundCloud link [directing to my unreleased album]. I wanted to give the fans who come see me in person something special, something that they can really brag about; like, ‘Yo, I saw Tony and not only that, but he let me listen to this album months before anybody else got to listen to it because I got this sweater.’ Every time I come up with an idea, I try to ask, what would I like? If I was a fan [of an artist], what would I want? I felt like a QR code with unreleased music on it would make my entire year. I think it worked well and the fans really appreciated it.
Learn more about sharing private playlists within SoundCloud
You’ve experienced so much growth in the past year. What has it been like navigating that?
It’s been really cool. Growth has always been something that I’ve been afraid of. When I see things grow and blow up on the internet, it’s always been something that stresses me out. I’m afraid of my own potential sometimes. When I have a song that does really well, I don’t know what the next move is. That’s why I have a team of people to help keep me grounded and remind me that it’s okay, the whole world isn’t looking at you. Just keep being yourself and doing what you’re doing; have fun and remember the reason why you’re doing it. It’s not about the numbers or about how big I get – it’s about the value that I’m providing for the people who are listening.
There’s not really a guidebook for how artists should handle a viral moment. What’s some advice you’d offer an artist who is blowing up online?
If you have something that’s blowing up, keep your head down and work on the next song, and get the next one out as soon as possible. Don’t look at the numbers. Don’t obsess over who’s saying what about you, or who’s making another video about you or who’s replying to you. The biggest mistake for me has always been focusing on the thing that’s blowing up. It’s good to give it a great deal of your attention and make the content and the music videos for it, and engage with the community that loves the song… but at the same time, focus on what’s next. Build on these moments, as opposed to capitalizing off the moment itself.
How did your decision to partner with SoundCloud for distribution come together?
I was between a bunch of different distribution companies that wanted to sign me. When I was talking to everyone from SoundCloud, it just honestly just felt right and it felt like they immediately cared about me. They were offering something for me that no other company was really offering. I was really in the place where I needed more help with what I was doing because things were growing so fast. SoundCloud became that anchor for me to help me get to that next level and not stress out as much.
Learn more about distribution with SoundCloud For Artists here
How do you strike a balance between writing music and the promotional or content creation side of things?
I start by writing from the heart and if it turns into a good social media idea, then it usually tends to do better than other songs that don’t necessarily fit the format of TikTok or Instagram Reels. There’s a time and a place for music that’s just good, and then there’s a time and place for music that [will] do well online. You have to follow the rules of social media and follow trends and stuff like that, but it’s important to have fun with it and actually enjoy social media for what it is. It’s supposed to be fun and stupid and silly and you’re supposed to make people laugh. You can’t always just be this serious artist who’s so depressed all the time. I mean, you can, but who wants to be that all the time?
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