Ezra Williams: 'In Cork, the community feels a lot more approachable'

The Wicklow-raised singer-songwriter has blossomed since moving to Cork to attend art college

Tue, 30 Jul, 2024 - 14:57

Ed Power

When critically acclaimed musician Ezra Williams moved to Cork to attend art school, they didn’t know what to expect. Having grown up in Greystones, Co Wicklow, and spent their adolescence knocking around South Dublin suburban haunts such as Dundrum Shopping Centre, going off the range to study at Crawford College of Art and Design was a step into the unknown. So it came as a more than pleasant surprise to discover Cork had a nurturing experiential music scene, which has provided the inspiring backdrop to their atmospheric new EP, Socks.

“In Dublin, you have to be more in the know. In Cork, the community feels a lot more approachable,” says Williams, who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. “Every single gig I’ve been to, I recognise people from other gigs. There’s a big group of people who goes to everything, which I like.”

Alongside their studies, Williams has blossomed as a songwriter, their ethereal confessional sound landing somewhere between a Billie Eilish ballad, the introspective art-rock of their musical hero Lana Del Rey and Gen X indie groups such as Cocteau Twins or Mazzy Star. A 2023 debut album, Supernumeraries, and April’s Socks EP have been widely praised – while Williams' fanbase exploded after their ballad 'My Own Person' featured on Netflix’s queer teen drama, Heartstopper.

“It was probably one of the biggest things that’s happened for me,” says Williams of Heartstopper. “I was approached for it – I was asked for my song to be in it. It felt very full circle for me. That’s the kind of show that, had it been around when I was younger, had I been having the feelings I was writing about – it would have been really comforting. So it was nice.”

There’s a lot of joy in William’s songs, but some pain, too (“Been talking about the same problems for years now/But nothing I do seems to make things happen,” goes 'My Own Person'). “When I was in school, I felt that I was the only one who was out as non-binary,” Williams explains. “I had a horrible time in school.”

Though Williams is just 22, they believe queer and non-binary people have more support in Irish education today than when they were a teenager. “I hated school a lot and dropped out,” they say. “It is definitely a lot different now than when I was 12 to 14, in a good way. I like the fact that you see baby gays in their school uniforms. It’s quite nice.”

Williams’s first songs were written at home, in quiet moments, away from prying eyes (and were initially released under the alias, Smoothboi Ezra).

In that respect, they are part of a wider movement dubbed “bedroom pop” which includes artists such as Clairo and Girl In Red – musicians for whom a laptop and a shut door provided sanctuary from the world.

“I spent my ‘teenage-hood’ in my room, all the time,” says Williams. “I was making YouTube videos and music. The reason that I had time to do that was because I wasn’t really doing school-work. I definitely only put effort into my music. I did not care about school in anyway. That’s how I ended up having such a backlog of music by the time of 18. It’s what I was doing when I should have been doing school.”

Williams is shy – but, as with many introverts, they have the paradoxical experience of being comfortable on stage. “I am coming out of my shell recently. Up until this year, I would stay inside more. I’m trying to be more extroverted. I’m trying to make friends in the music scene. That’s something I struggle with. I’m bad at interacting people and knowing what to say. If someone doesn’t come up to me and say hi, I’ll stand in a corner.”

They shrug: “Being on stage makes it easier – the audience don’t have to interact back. You’re there to do a job and you leave and there’s no expectation on you after that.”

Their music is woozy and sometimes bleak but for Williams the future is bright –and in Cork they have found a place where, as an artist and a person, they can be themselves.

“It’s so good. I love it. I’ve made so many amazing friends,” they say. “I didn’t realise how much Cork would suit me.”