Scottish singer-songwriter Katie Gregson-MacLeod has told how she woke up to “absolute madness” after posting a 45-second clip to TikTok.
Overnight, the chorus of her song Complex amassed 100,000 views and comments from musicians Gracie Abrams, Lennon Stella and Maisie Peters.
Four weeks on, Katie, a student and coffee shop worker from Inverness, has signed for Columbia Records.
The song, written at her parents’ home, is now being made into a record.
The Edinburgh University student told BBC Radio Scotland’s Mornings with Stephen Jardine programme Complex – a tale of unrequited love – was written in an evening in an outpouring of emotions.
Katie, 21, said: “I posted 45 seconds of the new song after writing it a couple of days before. I always post clips of new writing to see what happens and this one exceeded my wildest dreams.
“I woke up to absolute madness.
“It was early, I think 6am, and saw it had more than 100,000 views.”
Katie said the day was a blur but went to Perk, the coffee shop where she has worked since she was teenager to do her usual shift.
“I’ve worked full-time at the coffee shop every summer since I was 17 but that day and for a couple of weeks it was hard balancing that with the mayhem,” she said.
Record labels
Complex increasingly became a viral hit and drew the attention of major record labels.
One morning, meetings were arranged with three record companies in Inverness and they all met in the coffee shop where Katie worked.
She said: “They were on a table each – three record labels in a my wee coffee shop. I thought ‘this is surreal’.”
Katie is currently in London with a potential trip to the US on the horizon.
She said her final year history studies might have to be deferred as she takes time out to focus on music.
“It is going to be turbulent and hard to process this initial stage,” she said.
Katie has been playing music since an early age and started songwriting when she was about 16.
She performed at the Belladrum Music Festival, near Beauly, in 2019 and released her debut single Still a Sad Song in July 2020. Within a week of its release it was chosen as song of the week by BBC Radio Nan Gàidheal’s Rapal programme.
Katie was also one of BBC Radio Scotland’s 25 Artists to Watch in 2022.
She performed on the Hot House stage at this summer’s Belladrum festival. (BBC)