[Reiley](https://www.instagram.com/reiley/?hl=en) is not your average artist, in the best way possible. Hailing from the Faroe Islands, which resides 200 miles north of the UK with a population of a little over 50,000 people, the singer-songwriter has always seen art as his channel into the universe, with an indescribable creativity when it came to playing the piano, taking photos, and making films.
It was in 2019 when Reiley made his first TikTok ever, effortlessly exploding to 10 millions views right out of the gate. [Currently amassing over 11.1 million followers on the platform alone,](https://www.tiktok.com/@reiley?lang=en&sender_device=mobile&sender_web_id=&is_from_webapp=v2&is_copy_url=0) Reiley is here to bring that same energy into the music industry — with every intent to push boundaries and make history along the way. With only one song out currently, “Let It Ring,” Reiley claims he’s still developing his sound—with “very pop” currently standing as the most accurate description.
Beyond the enchanting soundscape he comes equipped with, he expresses himself through fashion, dancing, visuals, set design, and most importantly, the storyline.
_Flaunt_ caught up with the Atlantic Records signee via Zoom, to discuss his small town roots, pop icons, the role social media played in his career, how he landed at Atlantic Records, self-directing the “Let It Ring” visual, studio essentials, and more!
**You’re from the Faroe Islands, which is super small right?**
You’re completely right, sort of in the middle of nowhere but close to a lot of familiar places. It's in between Iceland and the UK, no one seems to know about it. I did the whole round at Atlantic when I met my label, I think I met one person who knew of the Faroe Islands.
**What was it like growing up there?**
It's hard to describe. For me, it honestly was so normal. It wasn't a unique experience in that sense. Despite being small, there’s so much culture in my country. A lot of music, a lot of painters, a lot of artists that work with clay. I was always around a lot of art, that's something I can remember really well. I gotta say this: the Faroe Islands is honestly like any other place, just a lot smaller.
**Biggest influences coming up?**
I took classical piano lessons as a kid so I was always super interested in piano and film scores. Then eventually musicals, I later landed a role in a musical and that's where my music started. When I got more aware of music and pop culture, I listened to Katy Perry, Gaga, all the pop icons. Also the real OG icons like Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury. I loved disco, so that whole era of Bee Gees as well.
**How old were you when you did the musical?**
I was 14. That musical was great, but I was so young. Being there in that environment, performing every night in front of crowds made me want to do my own music. It’s so far-fetched being from where I am and doing it for a living, it’s something no one really does. I think when I got signed, that’s when I knew I could do it for a living.
**How did you find your way to Atlantic Records?**
Well, social media. Another part of me growing up and still is a big part of me till this day is videography and photography, that creativity. I got my first camera when I was 12. Ever since then, I've been so obsessed with creating visual art, taking photos or videos. That’s something that I always did but I didn't know it’d come in handy. When I decided I wanted to be on social media, I was able to create my own videos that represented me as the artist I wanted to be. I always wanted to entertain people on social media, any which way that I could think of.
When my social media started growing, I started getting attention from labels and found Atlantic who’s been the best home for the past year. Social media was my way of entering the industry.
**Through TikTok right?**
I started on Instagram actually. I went on Instagram because TikTok wasn't a thing when I started, it was a few months before. Then eventually when I went on TikTok and posted my first video, it got 10 million views.
**How did that happen?**
So so weird. It was a video of this song called “Hey Julie!,” which was trending at the time. Very early days of TikTok, the first month or two of TikTok being a thing. It was my first dedicated video to TikTok and I literally went from 0 followers to 250K in a week or two. I always had a hunch that if I made a name for myself singing there, then I might come across someone like Atlantic. This is the thing about social media: I always made sure to not do the influencer thing, because that’s never what I wanted to do. I've always done music, my social media’s always been about music and it still is.
**How does it feel to be the one of the most followed recording artists on TikTok outside the Americas?**
TikTok is such a cultural place, it’s where everyone is. It's the place to be. I feel really fortunate the circumstances happened the way that they did and the way that it worked for me. Everyone has their story of how they entered the industry and how they got to where they are. I feel fortunate I was born in the time where social media is a thing, TikTok is a thing. Had it been the 90’s or before that, I would have had to move. From where I'm from, forget it.
**What’s the inspiration behind your name?**
I moved to London shortly after the musical to do a year of college, and everyone called me Reiley ‘cause my name, Rani, was a bit strange. I wanted an English name closest to my own name. \[laughs\]
**Who or what inspired “Let It Ring”?**
I was in a situation with someone and didn't really know how to get out of it. I was super unhappy. You know when you talk to someone, even a friend, and you know what the right thing is to do, but you can't do it? You really should distance yourself, but you can't. I was in that situation for a long time where I knew what I needed to do, but I couldn't do it. Through “Let It Ring,” even though it's such a fun pop song, it empowered me to let the phone ring and distance myself from a situation.
**How does it feel to let it ring and not have to pick it up?**
It's scary in the beginning, but it feels really good. Doing what's right for you. I'm also eating super healthy now, which is super irrelevant. But doing stuff like that for yourself makes you a better person, it makes you feel good. It empowers you, it’s liberating.
**Are you vegan? Or how healthy are you?**
I'm not vegan, I just don't consume any sugar or any form of unhealthy “junk food.”
**What was your creative vision with the music video? I know you self-directed it.**
For this first music video, our biggest goal was to bring out the Reiley that people know from my viral videos and social media, and make it into a music video form. Reiley in 2021 is a very colorful, very sort of pastel world, very bright and minimalist aesthetic. That was the goal, to bring out that fun aspect of the song. Give people something familiar to them, yet also different because I was debuting as the recording artist and not just a social media singer.
**What was your favorite scene?**
The intro, because I shot it in my bedroom where I filmed all my TikTok and Instagram videos. It’s the last thing we added to the music video, literally shot in my bedroom and just composite. Such a full circle moment because I started my journey on social media there and got to however many followers, then I shot the first opening bit of the music video. It's so funny what you can do because after being on set with so many people, the intro ended up being something that I did myself. Me in my bedroom, running to my camera and clicking shutter, then sitting down and doing the thing on the little pillar in the sky.
**What is it you want fans to get from your story?**
In this era of “Let It Ring,” I want people to have fun first and foremost. I want them to feel they can be themselves. I want to bring a bit of color into a world that can sometimes be a little dark. I want people to not limit themselves and not listen to people that doubt them. I'm a testament to that. The abundance of people in my life back home and people in the industry—a lot of people in general I came across who were such doubters, who didn't believe in what I said I could do and what I always wanted to do—the fact I'm the first person from my country to have a global release on an American label, it feels special. I hope people take that and find some empowerment in that.
**3 things you need in the studio?**
Okay, it’s specific. I need jelly beans, the cotton candy ones. I need some water. The last thing, I need my phone for lyrics.
**How would you describe your fashion style?**
The whole thing about Reiley is contrast. That dichotomy of the soft and the edgy, it's opposites. My fashion is sometimes very dark, grungier, punkier, mixed with the feminine Reiley. I love that aesthetic I have with the colors, contrasty fashion.
**What can we look forward to? What are you most excited about?**
I’m excited about debuting, honestly. I’ve been on social media for quite a while. I’ve grown such a great platform but I never was able to realize my true creative self because I didn't have any music out. I've been sitting on so much music for so long that it feels liberating to finally release it. Starting this journey being that recording artist, that’s what I’m most excited about.
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