Gigi Perez talks impact of Sailor Song and advice from Mumford & Sons

20 November 2024, 20:00 | Updated: 21 November 2024, 10:02

Gigi Perez talks Sailor Song success, loss of faith & more

The singer-songwriter spoke to Dan O'Connell about her incredible TikTok success and teased live dates and new music.

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Gigi Perez has opened up about the "incredible" impact of her Sometimes and Sailor Song singles.

The singer-songwriter - who first found fame on TikTok with her track Celene and Sometimes (Backwood) - stopped by The Evening Show on Radio X and discussed everything from her UK No.1 single Sailor Song to her plans to release new material.

Quizzed about the whirlwind success, she told Dan O'Connell: "It’s incredible. I keep having these moments of realisation of just that point... It took me a long time to let go of Sometimes, you know, and to arrive at a place where things are just different. They feel different. My life feels different. It’s just impacting people. It’s just incredible. I don’t know. I could have never imagined it, honestly”.

Watch Gigi Perez perform Sailor Song in the Radio X studio:

Gigi Perez - Sailor Song (acoustic) | Radio X

Sailor Song has almost amassed the billion streams mark and has topped the charts in the likes of the UK & Ireland, while making the Top 10 in many more charts across the globe.

While it's clear the track has had a universal appeal, it was inspired by very personal experiences for Perez which included the passing of her sister, accepting her sexuality and distancing herself from her faith.

Asked about the context behind the song, the 24-year-old artist said: "I’ve been talking a lot about it openly, but I think a lot of what’s happening now.... My personal life and also things I’m exploring in my music and talking to others about is this broken world view, almost, that maybe for a few years it was OK for it to be broken. Following the passing of my sister, it just kind of shattered my reality."

Gigi Perez meets Radio X's Dan O'Connell. Picture: Radio X

She went on: "I think I used to find a certainty and reality and comfort in God and religion. Specifically, Christianity and I think so many things have transpired since that kid who was at church or that kid who genuinely believed in God and all these things.

"It’s just changed so much and I think the place that I was writing Sailor Song was from a place of this deep fear and this hole. And so it’s a love song, but that love song was written as in like, this person is my escape from this really uncertain, helpless thing that I’ve been dealing with… and I’m getting therapy, so I’m doing great, but that’s where it came from.”

Asked about the meaning behind the line "Love me like a sailor" she replied: "I think it’s the passion, it’s the passion of being away and getting back together and that fervour.”

Gigi Perez - Sailor Song (Official Music Video)

Perez just played an intimate set at OMERA in London this week (19th November), but she's revealed that fans on this side of the pond can expect to see her announce live dates very soon.

"There's a lot of stuff coming up that I'm just so excited for," she teased coyly.

The same also goes for her debut album, with Perez revealing she's spent much of the year learning how to record and produce, which she relished in.

Her EP How to Catch a Falling Knife was released in 2023, but asked if we'd find out about a full length record soon, she told Dan O'Connell: "I’ve been working on music for a year now, so got some more to do, but it’s just been amazing to learn how to record and produce and it's really changed the way that I create.

"It really allows me to get there when it’s just me in my room at 2am. It's just different this time and I'm really excited for everything to come.”

But it's not all just been about sitting in her bedroom recording songs. The singer-songwriter has been lucky enough to support the likes of Coldplay on their Music of the Spheres World Tour and has made a new friend in Mumford and Sons' Ben Lovett, who has given her some sage advice on her whirlwind success.

Asked if she's received any mentorship lately, she revealed: "Yes, recently that's been a thing. It's been really surreal to just know that I need advice."

"It's been amazing," she went on. "Ben's just been a really good person in these past few weeks since we've become friends and just reminding me to enjoy it. It was nice to hear that.

"There was this certain understanding where he said 'I know you seem like you're not taking this for granted and it means a lot to you, but also remember to enjoy it'. I think that's been ringing in my head."

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