Del Osei-Owusu interviews artists on the FOTN radar and gets them to tell their origin story over a cup of tea and biscuits. This week it’s Amity and he brought party rings.

Hello Amity how are you?

I’m alright, thank you! Everything’s a bit crazy at the moment, so I’m a little overwhelmed, but in the best way possible.

Congratulations on the release of “Ephemeral” how does it feel?

I feel like my presence as an artist feels more tangible – I’ve been performing and creating for years, but it was only February 2025 that I started releasing my music. I had even played at the Royal Albert Hall twice before releasing anything, so to have something solid out there has really helped me solidify my identity as an artist.

It’s a four track EP what’s your favourite track from it?

Ironically, even though it’s numerically the least successful track on the EP, Hurricane Heart might actually be my favourite of the four. ‘Bite Me!’ is, of course, the most popular song on the EP, but it’s hard for me to be objective about it – I’ve heard and played it so much as a result of its popularity that it’s become a bit overplayed for me!

What was the inspiration behind it?

The inspiration behind Hurricane Heart was my own experience of how a destructive relationship can still affect you long after it’s over, and I actually wrote the first half of the song on stage after a soundcheck!!

I had spent the day with these lyrics going around my head, but couldn’t think of a tune, and then, as I was about to get off the stage after the soundcheck for a gig, I finally found the tune for the words and started putting chords to it, as well as writing the next lyrics as I played! It was such an experience.

You’re an artist from London how did it all begin for you?

I started writing songs when I was 9 years old, but didn’t truly realise my passion for it until during lockdown, when the things I went through left me a shell of myself.

My music saved me, and when I was about 15, my parents started taking me to perform at open mics in an effort to get their child back, and I started realising the power of music and the potential my songs had to help people other than myself.

After that, I started performing regularly, and pretty soon, I found myself on bigger and bigger stages, all the way up to the Royal Albert Hall.

What did you listen to growing Up?

I used to listen to anything on the radio when I was little, which mainly consisted of pop music, but as I discovered streaming services, I started getting into genres like indie rock, jazz, punk, metal, whatever genre Will Wood is (someone listen to his music and tell me what genre that is, because I don’t know, and nor does google as far as I can tell), and I discovered that pop music is not my favourite genre. I think it’s safe to say I now have a rather eclectic music taste.

You’ve gone viral this year – what’s that been like?

Absolutely insane. Everything’s gone utterly crazy, and it’s as terrifying as it is exciting. As of the day I’m writing this, I now have 12k followers on TikTok, and 23k across all social medias, and I’m sorry, but what do you mean TWENTY THREE THOUSAND PEOPLE KNOW WHO I AM??? That’s wild. I even got recognised a couple times while busking!!

But the whole thing has been very surreal. I just put a clip of myself writing a song up on TikTok on the Saturday. By the Sunday it was viral and I was so inundated with thousands of messages begging for its release that my distributors pushed me to get the finished track uploaded by that Thursday. I hadn’t even written it all and it didn’t have a name. So in four days, I had completed the song, recorded it, and had it mixed and mastered. That was wild. I also had a sore throat so it wasn’t ideal. But it’s out this week and it’s called To Make A Man if anyone wants to check it out.

I’ve been getting a lot of wonderful, supportive comments, and even making new friends through it, which I’m very pleased about, though I’m anxiously awaiting the inevitable hate comments.

It’s definitely created a lot of pressure to keep responding and interacting, which is quite time consuming, but it’s also nice to see all the positivity.

You channel emotions through your music how do you get into your writing headspace?

I tend to get this restless itch in my brain whenever I need to write a song. It’s less me trying to force myself into the headspace and more the headspace forcing itself into me!!

All I need is the right environment and energy, and off I go!

You play piano, who is your favourite piano player?

Will Wood, otherwise known in my friend group as “Babygirl William Wood”, by a long shot. His piano playing is insanely good, and his lyrics are genius. I look up to him so much. 100% recommend his music.

What are you listening to at the moment?

At the moment, I’m listening to Car Seat Headrest, Will Wood, Lovejoy, Destroy Boys, and The Family Crest. I love their music so much, and I can hardly spend an hour without listening to it!!

What are you looking forward to doing in 2026?

I’m looking forward to recording and releasing more music – I have a huge back catalogue of songs that I want to share with the world, and I can’t wait to do so! And I’m determined to make this year the year of my first proper UK tour. I’ve got so much amazing support around the country and I really want to take my music out to the people so they can access it live right where they live.