Name: Gui Williams
Year: Senior
Major: Biology and Psychology on the Pre-med Track
Hometown: Guyana, Brazil
What age did you start singing?
Gui: “Singing, I was seventeen and playing the guitar, I was like 5.”
What’s your favorite song to perform?
Gui: “I’m doing mostly covers because I’m still doing the copyright on my songs, but I released one already. So, favorite song, there’s a lot…that’s kind of a hard question. I wanna say The Scientist by Coldplay.”
Who’s that special person behind your music?
Gui: “I don’t want to say much because it comes out weirdly, but I want to say it’s an ideal relationship. I’m not going to say there’s a person behind it, but it’s a combination of events that happened that combine into a song.”
Tell us about your newest single Whenever You Want.
Gui: “I wrote it two, three years ago and I’ve been working with it for a long time now. I just felt like everyone was asking me ‘Do you write songs?’ because I’ve only released like covers and stuff. And I just felt like it was time to release one of my own songs. And I put it out on Spotify and iTunes so I’m just getting responses, what people think. I wanna get my love stories, my ideal relationship in one song and that’s how the song came out.”
What type of music do you listen to?
Gui: “I listen to pop, rock, like Maroon 5, Coldplay, John Mayer, more like contemporary music I would say.”
Tell us something that most people don’t know about you.
Gui: “I’m a sweet guy I would say, but I like to annoy people a lot. Not in a bad way though. But kind of find their pressure points and make them happy, make people realize that they have pressure points and try to change it somehow. Try to push their buttons, you could say that.”
What do your friends and family think about your success?
Gui: “They like it; they think it’s kind of dangerous because it’s kind of hard to make money in music. That’s why it would be kind of like a secondary career. And that would be a pipe dream. So like it’s happening but it’s not really there yet. And that’s why I’m doing pre-med. And doing music like kind of a hobby and people are starting to like it, which is awesome. But my career is mainly medical school. I’m applying next semester and I’m taking the MCATs soon.”
How do you balance the arts and the sciences?
Gui: “It’s hard. Sometimes I don’t sleep to be honest. People who know me ask me how I do it and I’m like ‘I just don’t sleep.’ Some nights I sleep two hours and that’s it. But when it comes to exams and tests I always forget music for at least that week or two weeks before the exam and when that exam is done I always come back to music and do whatever I want to do. I always do lists. So if I have to do something, instead of keeping my mind on it, I make a list of stuff I have to do and when I have enough time, I’ll come back to it. I can even show you my list, it’s like I have ten million things to do.”
What’s your favorite part of the music making process?
Gui: “Writing. I like to do the lyrics, the melody, and getting the chords on the guitar. That’s the best part I think. It’s the part where I have the most fun.”
What advice do you have for other people trying to do what you’re doing?
Gui: “You can do everything you want as long as you organize yourself and you are happy with it and you have a passion for it. I mean do it. Just freaking do it.”
Where can people follow you and your work?
Gui: “So I just released a song on iTunes and Spotify called Whenever You Want. I also wanted to release an EP soon. It’s going to be around 4 or 5 songs and also going to be on Spotify and iTunes.
I have videos on my YouTube channel, Gui Williams. I have covers of The Scientist, I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You by Elvis Presley, and Let it Go by James Bay so just go on YouTube and check it out.
My Instagram is Gui.Williams.Music, I put something up every day that’s happening with my music or in my life so you should go check it out.”