I never thought I’d utter the following words: Thank God for TikTok. But the platform is indeed helping many worthy artists catapult to fame that might otherwise elude them. One such artist is Indonesian-born, L.A.-based Francis Karel, whose new single “Small Talk” is an extraordinary song.
“Small Talk” is a textbook example of an impeccably crafted song: intimate verse and pre-chorus, killer chorus and a soaring bridge that completes the emotional arc.
Every good thing ends
We just don’t know when
Now all we have is small talk
How’s the weather?
Did your mom call?
Since moving to America at age 19, Karel’s career has gotten a boost from well-known artists like Andy Grammer and Tori Kelly. In fact, the Karel/Kelly TikTok duet on “You’re Too Close” helped the song top 7 million Spotify streams.
I’ll never be a curmudgeon about TikTok again. It’s given us exceptional artists like alt-country’s Zach Bryan and now pop megastar-in-the-making Francis Karel.
“Small Talk” is a really remarkable song. What was the creative process like in writing that song?
It was a really stripped process compared to most of the writing sessions I’ve had. This was one of those sessions where the words came first and the melody came together after the lyrical content pieced together. A big part of it was talking about the details with my collaborators (Sierra Deaton, David Charles Fischer, and David Schaeman), who really helped me piece the song together.
How old were you when you moved from Jakarta, Indonesia to the U.S. – and what was your biggest (pleasant) surprise about living here?
I was 19 years old when I came here. I was so infatuated by the music scene in LA and I think I just wanted to witness what it was like. The biggest surprise I’d say is that I got the opportunity to do this for a living.
Thanks to TikTok, your star is rising rapidly. What’s it been like to be suddenly admired and well-known around the world?
It’s still really weird. I don’t think I fully comprehended it until the end of 2021. Going viral during the early stages of the pandemic didn’t really allow me to fully comprehend what TikTok was capable of, mainly because I didn’t witness how it was translating outside of the app. I’m very honored that there are people who enjoy my music and I hope to not disappoint with what I’m working on.
Your career has gotten a big boost from Andy Grammer and Tori Kelly. How did you meet those artists?
They both interacted with some of my songwriting TikTok videos, which honestly made me realize how insane things have gotten on TikTok. Andy and Tori are some of the artists I listened to growing up, so to think that they not only knew who I was, but liked what I was doing, fully blew my mind.
Are there any songs on your upcoming EP that sound a lot different than “Small Talk”?
To me, the songs I put together in this EP feel pretty different from each other. Sonically, I think they’ll flow into each other but I wanted to be sure that each song has its own voice. What I will say is that not all of the songs are ballads.
