Experimenting with a new vocal effect, Portland musician GLASYS uploaded a short video clip to Reddit and asked for feedback.
Later that day, he received an excited response from Reddit user TPain850 (known to most of the world as two-time Grammy winning recording artist T-Pain).
GLASYS got in touch with T-Pain after the positive comment, but communication went dry after a couple weeks.
"We've spoken a bit, and he asked me where I'm located," GLASYS tells P&P. "I told him I'm in Portland, but willing to travel to work with him (I believe he lives in Georgia) and he didn't respond after that. I don't blame him though, I'm sure he's super busy!"
Hoping to catch T-Pain's attention again after nearly a month had passed since they first talked, GLASYS jammed over his Tiny Desk performance of "Up Down" and uploaded a second video that he shared on Reddit.
"I wanted to get his attention and also find out what our styles would sound like together," GLASYS tells me.
It worked. The second Reddit post went viral and the YouTube video already has half a million plays within two days of being uploaded. Most importantly, the clip caught T-Pain's attention (again).
"I expected a decent response, but never imagined it would blow up like this," GLASYS says of the whole experience. "It's been a wild ride for sure... my inbox is inundated with messages, collaboration offers, gear questions etc. and my social media following has grown substantially. I honestly wish I could reply to everyone and thank them for their support, but it's becoming impossible! Not used to being in this position."
Watch the original video that impressed T-Pain so much below and see the follow-up clip that's going viral above. While you wait for the collaboration to materialize, you can find more of GLASYS' music on YouTube and Spotify.
