Words By Hannah Ramirez

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2020 was the beginning of a challenging era for this world, as the COVID 19 pandemic spread and wiped out millions. The virus stole years away and created a space of isolation as people were told to stay indoors. But because of this deep isolation, people clung to social media to stay connected, and these unprecedented times hot spotted artistic and musical discoveries across the globe. 

This is what happened to Timmy Commerford. Timmy, a singer from Australia, started his musical journey at the age of 10 when his neighbor gifted him with an old guitar. From there, he taught himself how to play, and around 2018, he released his first professional song to Spotify. Timmy never expected, but definitely hoped for, the massive boom in streams, views, and likes his music would gain throughout this pandemic. 

"I fell in love with it, and I never got bored of it. I would do little lounge room performances in the garage for fun, and I never really saw it as a future- I just loved doing it. But in 2018, someone reached out to me because I would just upload my covers to YouTube or Instagram, and a producer reached out to me. He fell in love with my voice."

For Timmy, this was the moment things took off for him. He started to professionally create music that strayed away from his acoustic roots and into more hip-hop EDM-type genres. Still, the kicker was that this producer was stationed in France. An international connection expedited Timmy's reach over social media. It brought his voice to many different areas of the world. 

"He opened up a whole new world of making music. He reached out to me with an instrumental and wanted me to write the lyrics and vocals for it. It was a match made in heaven because I don't produce, and he doesn't sing. We made a song called Paradise, a tropical summer beat. He finalized it, released it, and got it signed so we could put it on Spotify. That did extremely well and hit over 11 million views; this was an eye-opener for me. Paradise helped me make a name for myself, prompting many more producers worldwide to reach out to me."

Timmy created his Spotify account when he collaborated with the French producer, and this release pushed Timmy into a new era of his musical career. From 2018 until now, his overall growth on Spotify soared., "I created my Spotify in 2018 and am currently sitting at a total of 27 million streams! Which I'm extremely proud of. I reached my all-time high of 1 million monthly listeners last year!" 

Timmy explained the domino effect that he credits for his boom in popularity worldwide. Because he collaborated with the first producer, this exposed him to a new fan base, and then this took off from there. More collaborations led to more exposure, and now he is sitting pretty with a fan base spread worldwide. For example, he didn't expect to be significant in India or Uganda. Still, because of his collaborations, that's what happened, "It's a crazy feeling because I've worked with people in so many different countries. I have so many people in different countries that know me now, and to me, that's crazy. Like in Uganda, I hit number one at some point, so I woke up and saw those stats. It's just nuts to see how far I've come, and It all started from posting on YouTube."

Timmy has come far as a musician, artist, and inspiration to many as someone who loves what he does and makes a future out of it. But he knows he couldn't have done it alone. During the pandemic, separation was something that everyone faced. But it was because of this isolation that grew compassion and connection through online platforms. 

Timmy is just one example of how we as a community can come out of any situation by supporting each other and sticking together. 

"I've done a lot in the last decade of my life, but nothing compares to the love of my fans and the points I made above. I'm incredibly humble."