Any artist will tell you that often, it only takes one song to change their entire career. For vaultboy – known to his friends as Jeremiah Daly – that one song was ‘everything sucks’.
Going viral a few years ago, what began as a simple spark of inspiration soon took on a life of its own, and translated into widespread international success that’d led to a seriously hyped Australian tour kicking off this June.
“‘everything sucks’ was such an anomaly,” he remembers. “I wrote it as a joke in the shower and then I went to my desk and recorded the video for it. I made a quick beat while I was on TikTok live for probably 40 people, and I didn’t think anything of it.
“I just thought, ‘this could go viral; this is so funny’,” he adds. “I think the fact that it resonated with so many people all over the world was just a testament to how rough the pandemic was for everybody, and it was a great song that kind of sarcastically acknowledged the negative aspects of the world, while also lending a little hope.”
vaultboy Australian tour dates
- Thursday June 6 – Oxford Art Factory 18+
- Saturday June 8 – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne Aa
- Sunday June 9 – The Brightside, Brisbane 18+
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Resonate with people it did, with the track reaching more than 13 million streams on Spotify alone after its release in early 2021. Currently, it boasts over 223 million streams on the platform, with hundreds of thousands of videos utilising the song on TikTok. “I just kind of got really lucky coming up with a song that fit what people were thinking at that time,” he says.
Prior to his pivot into the world of pop music, Daly was a performer who could be heard dishing out folky music under his birth name. A few albums arrived in this manner before he embarked upon a noted stylistic change – one he describes as a natural progression of the chameleonic artist he is.
“As we change as humans, our tastes change, and while I still really love the more folky music that I made, I just kind of came to love pop music,” he admits. “I was kind-of convinced that I was never going to do an artist project again.
“I had winded down a lot of the folk stuff that I had done and was just going to keep making music when I felt like it and not put so much pressure on myself,” he adds. “It wasn’t long after that I ended up where I am and getting to the point where I’m able to do this full time.”
@vaultboymusic ONE MORE WEEK!!! presave this song in my bio 🙂 #breakup #smilethroughthepain #vaultboy #happysong #sadboys
Describing his move toward pop music as being emblematic of his passionate and obsessive approach towards creating, the vaultboy project has since spawned numerous singles, a handful of EPs, and soon, a studio album that showcases his ability to spread his wings artistically and embrace his true self.
“These songs are the culmination of who I am as an artist,” he says. “These songs are the blood, sweat, and tears of the creative process that took years.
“They’re the emotional instability put into sarcasm, heartbreaking lyrics, and really dark melodies, or they’re the goofy times where you’re like hanging out with your friends. It’s just my life thrown into this mix of music.
“I think for a long time, I tried to hide a part of who I was in the music that I made,” he adds. “I’m uninterested in that nowadays. I’m really trying to make sure that I’m putting out really honest and really just authentic music.”
This celebration of authenticity has also led to his debut Australian tour, which will see vaultboy performing at the Northcote Social Club this June. After years of hard work as a folk artist, and an independent pop artist, he doesn’t feel deserving of this chance to tour the world. Rather, he seems amazed it’s all come this far.
“I feel so much imposter syndrome – like every artist does,” he admits. “I just want to make sure that I am making the best music I can and then making every effort that I can to connect with my fans.
“Do I feel like I’ve made it because I’m going to Australia? No, but I am super grateful, and I do think that it is some sort of weird alternative universe that I’m living in right now where I’m getting to do these crazy things.”
Grab tickets to vaultboy’s Australian tour here.
This article was made in partnership with vaultboy.
