By Content Director Cameron Castaldi
Earlier this week, I had the chance to chat with the England-based artist, producer, and self-proclaimed sorcerer, STOiZY. After repeatedly going viral on social media for his hypnotic vocals, wavy dance moves, and off-kilter visuals, his music has become a staple in my playlists and a frequent “vocal stim” within my friend groups (our current favorite being the chorus to “GAINING PURITY”, released earlier this summer). His artistic vision is unlike anything I’ve seen or heard before, so of course, I had to interview him and learn more about his fascinating musical perspectives. Below is our full conversation.
Cameron: So, for our audiences who may not know you, could you tell us a little bit about yourself, who you are, and what you do?
STOiZY: Of course, no worries. My name is STOiZY. I’m an experimentalist, an artist, whatever the f*** you want me to be. I create music. Well, I call it spells because it’s just a rare frequency that connects with the ones who actually resonate.
Cameron: What’s the song that really made you blow up on the internet? How did this all begin?
STOiZY: Well, I really haven’t had a big blow-up season, like stream-wise, but my name is quite known. Like, if you ask people in the underground [music scene], I’m quite known by bigger people, like Kreayshawn and Lil Darkie, they all follow me. They all respect the vision.
The song that I first got attention on, that got me a little audience in the beginning, was the song “ON STEPPING LIGHTLY”. In the video, I did a thing that was unintentional, I grabbed my balls in it as a joke, and everyone was freaking out. And then it gave me attention, but I didn’t do it for attention, I just did it unintentionally as a joke because I was feeling myself in the video.
And then, like two months later, I dropped the music video to “ENDLESS DIGITAL FOOTPRINT” because those two songs were on the same album, Committed To the Vision of Bizarreness. Then two months later, that song blew up [on TikTok]. I got 800,000 views… Maybe December time last year, I started posting on Instagram Reels more, optimizing that platform, and it re-blew up again… So yeah, it’s probably that song. That’s like the iconic one, the classic vocal stim.
Cameron: Can you tell me about your musical style in general? I think people are really entranced by—I don’t even know how to describe it—but how you pull your bottom lip back when you sing. I’ve never seen anyone else do that. How did you come up with that?
STOiZY: Well, thank you very much for noticing that. That’s fluctuating the vocal cords to get a different sound. If you first listen to me, it’s interesting, but you probably can’t hear what I’m saying unless you see the lyrics. Then once you know the lyrics, it’s clear as day.
I’m inspired by an artist called Bexey Swan, and in 2016, he had the same sort of style that I’m doing. I took the foundation of what he does with bending words and flows and rhymes, but then I brought it into my own world. Like Michael Jackson said, he’s just studied the greats and became greater. So I studied something that inspires me, because there’s something hypnotizing about his flows and the way he says words. So, I’ve just made it alienated and brought a new style to it, a positivity and wizardry and magic and alien, as people know it as.
I like Michael Jackson and Lil B The BaseGod, just due to his experimental ways and not giving a f***. And Michael Jackson would do the dance moves and high notes that I love.
Cameron: You said [on Instagram] that you’re producing something right now. Is it a new EP you’re working on? Can you tell us a little bit about that?
STOiZY: Yeah, I’ve got loads of unreleased projects, one that’s pretty much done, it literally has one song to go. It’s an industrial album, a sequel to my latest album I dropped last year, called CRAFTING REALMZ FOR BEINGZ LIKE YOU & I, which is an EDM, electronic, industrial album with a hint of alien. I’m sequelizing it into a new world, but it’s going darker, like monsters and more robotic, but that’s dropping in December.
I’m making an EP now, it’s come to mind within the past few days, called STOiBOY. It’s just swag and high voices, and speaking about more real stuff, being vulnerable, and tapping into that side of myself. That’s what I’m crafting right now.
Cameron: How did you come up with the alien persona? Where did that come from?
STOiZY: The first ever song where I introduced alienness was “BLINK UPON EYE”, which was in 2022, a year into my music career. I don’t know, I’ve always been interested in aliens, and it just came about because people always referred to me as an alien, like when I rapped and flowed. At the time, I would post TikToks with my top off, and I’m skinny, so I have an alien structure, I call myself the “alien structure physique”. Ever since then, I’ve kept the alien and just advanced it. Then I branched out into wizardry, sorcery, the chameleon, whatever it may be. I call myself the “sound-shifting chameleon”.
Cameron: So, if you could live on any other planet besides Earth, what planet would you live on?
STOiZY: Would it be a planet that already exists, or would it be a planet I can make up within my own mind?
Cameron: You can make it if you want!
STOiZY: Well, I’m crafting my own world, just a planet that we all can resonate on, a frequency world of love. Like I said, the album I made a few months ago was CRAFTING REALMZ FOR BEINGZ LIKE YOU & I. So however you feel when listening to my music, that’s you entering my world with your own perception. So when you listen to me, you might feel freer. So that’s your version of my world, a world of limitlessness.
Cameron: Inviting your listeners to create their own world in a way.
STOiZY: Yeah, that’s it. That’s it. But probably Saturn though. I like Saturn. It has the little CD around it, spinning music so we can all dance. I have a cover art for my album my girlfriend did called ALIEN BABESTAR! and in the background, there’s little aliens walking on the spin thing like a little vinyl.
Cameron: What’s it been like with your girlfriend kind of experiencing this musical journey with you? I know a lot of your music is about her and building that relationship.
STOiZY: Well, I’ve known my girlfriend for four years, but we’ve only been dating for almost two. It’ll be two years in November. When I started making music in 2021, I didn’t know her, but then I joined a Discord called Planet Switchers, which was for my favorite artist BEXEY. He had a Discord of people who resonated with his sounds, and we became friends through there. She would listen to my music when I first started. Ever since then, I’ve just evolved, we kind of grew together. I never thought I’d even go out with her, it just happened. She’s been supporting me ever since, so she’s kind of evolved with my energy and my path. Embracing myself, it gives her the ability to express and embrace herself. She’s been a harmonizer to my music and my career. And I didn’t make love songs before that because it has to be real. So her coming into my life, she’s leveled up my writing and I’ve been able to express parts of myself I never knew I had. It’s been wonderful.
Cameron: How has promoting your music online impacted your career?
STOiZY: Well in 2021, I didn’t really promote my music. I only started doing it in June 2022 when I started taking this more seriously. I just posted on Instagram, but I wouldn’t do professional stuff. But then I took it into my own hands and started showing up more, showing my personality, and started gaining a little following. It’s only kind of kicked off in the last year. I think it’s wonderful, I’m just showing up as I am, so if people want to resonate, they can resonate with that. I know people get distracted by trends and memes and all that s*** but if I continue to focus on what I want to represent in this world, then people can join along. I put my attention on evolving and putting my message out, so therefore I don’t really get distracted by bulls***. I appreciate the internet wonderfully well, because if it didn’t exist I wouldn’t find people like you, you wouldn’t find me, and I wouldn’t find my [favorite] artists.
Cameron: You have a headline show coming up in Manchester. Have you done a lot of live shows before, or is this a kind of new era?
STOiZY: It’s new, it’s a new era for me. I’ve performed three or four times, but I’ve adapted to it quite well. I’m starting to understand my own energy within that realm, so I’m quite a natural performer, but it took me a little while. It’s a bit awkward to find out how I move and enunciate onstage, but in the past two performances, I’ve really found myself. I’ve put a few performances on my YouTube, one in Birmingham and one in Manchester, and it’s proper fun because people move to my music and it’s nice to see that. It feels amazing, especially when you have like 100 people watching you.
Cameron: How do you want people to interact with your music? On the ideal dance floor, how are people moving?
STOiZY: Just freely expressing themselves in a bizarre manner. I’m not really into moshpits, I just let people be as they are because I can’t control them, they just have to resonate in their own way. I’m like Michael Jackson where he just does his thing and if you resonate, it will resonate. Whereas Freddie Mercury, he would hype the crowd up, and that’s wonderful, that’s what he’s good at. But I just do what I need to do and if they want to move, they can move. Usually they just do funny dance moves and, like the wiggly arms and stuff like that. Some robots as well.
Cameron: Okay, final question. Where do you see your music career going in five, ten years from now?
STOiZY: Just continuing to do what I do now. Evolution, that’s all I care about. Making sure I’m showing up for myself and representing the message that I’m portraying. People say “fake it ’til you make it”, but I’m gonna be it ’til I see it. I can see myself doing shows, headlining festivals. Next level, I would be like Michael Jackson. That’s how I see it in my own realm. And if that never happens, then I’ll continue putting up with what the f*** I am, so that’s never gonna be a fail to me.
A huge thank you to STOiZY for the lovely conversation! Click here to check out his music and socials!