Edinburgh student Katie Gregson-MacLeod becomes viral sensation after song 'Complex' explodes on TikTok
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Katie Gregson-MacLeod is a singer songwriter studying History at the University of Edinburgh. The 21-year-old wrote a song called ‘Complex’ during the summer holidays, which she uploaded onto TikTok and became an instant hit overnight.
She said: “I was inspired to write the song when I bumped into someone that unexpectedly brought up tons of memories and I became very reflective. I wanted to capture all those feelings in the song, so it was a very unguarded moment.”
Since the artist’s childhood she always aspired to be a singer and was guided by her musical family teaching her the bare essentials. Katie writes with a poetic rhythm as her lyrics reminisce on past experiences.
Hailing from Inverness and until recently working in a local coffee shop, Katie’s candid songwriting and vocal abilities have captured a global audience. With almost eight million views on TikTok the youngster, grasped the attention of Grammy-award winning producer, Greg Kurstin.
Katie said: “I have tried to stay grounded and not get swept up with the crazy, bizarre and insane journey as it’s all happened so fast.” When describing what it was like to become an overnight sensation on TikTok, she said: “I am in the eye of the storm and it is amazing. I feel like a lottery winner, it just all happened so fast and it can be overwhelming.”
The singer’s lyrics caught the attention of stars in the music industry, inspiring cover versions from the likes of Camila Cabello, King Princess, Madison Beer and Tom Walker. In the span of just two weeks, Katie joined musician and singer-songwriter JP Saxe in New York City to perform the song together at the Rockwood Music Hall. Complex (demo) was recently named Tune of the Week by Jack Saunders on his BBC Radio 1 Future Artists show.
After aspiring for years to make the profound Scottish playlist ‘Scotify’ – where Scots celebrate the musically gifted on Spotify – the artist is now the face cover, and first song of the playlist.
She said: “Every Scottish musician works towards being added onto the Scotify playlist and now I am the face of it, it’s crazy and so lovely! I am a product of Scottish music, so it’s so nice to be a part of the playlist where Scottish music can be showcased!”
Now she anticipates an exciting project to be announced for the festive season whilst finishing the new version of the song ‘complex’, in addition to her first music video recently filmed to go alongside the new hit single.
Speaking on the new version of the song, Katie said: “It was really important to me to release the song in its rawest form, hence the demo release on the 26th of August, but beyond that I also wanted to see where else the song could be taken.
“When the opportunity arose to work with Greg Kurstin I couldn’t believe it and working with him was something that even seven weeks ago I never would’ve imagined to be on the cards.”