From a TikTok page to the Hay Park stage: UK artist Sophie May prepares for Groovin’ The Moo performance

“I’m sorry for how casual this is.” Joining the video call from her brother’s home in Melbourne, UK singer Sophie May is seated on a blow-up mattress, laughing at the lack of formality with the situation. The fact May shrugs it off speaks of her ability to keep her feet firmly planted on the ground despite her head-spinning path to the Groovin’ The Moo stage at Hay Park on Saturday. It has been a big couple of years for the 24-year-old, who first became noticed after posting short videos of her singing on TikTok during the COVID-19 lockdowns from her London home. While May had been playing guitar two years beforehand, it was not until she noticed a school friend recording herself playing guitar online that she considered doing the same. “I saw it got a bit of traction and I remember being like ‘ooh, maybe that’s a good idea’,” she said. “Because I had no friends following me on TikTok, I suddenly had more of an incentive to post on there compared to any other website because if they did see it, it’s usually because it has had some traction.” At first May was getting very little, with it taking her until the beginning of 2022 to start getting noticed. “I posted a little clip that I had produced a little bit more on Logic (music software), and then I gained like 10,000 followers overnight,” May said. “From then on, that felt like the biggest hurdle almost . . . and then after that, it was just a gradual build I guess.” Her music has since caught the attention of many, including superstar Billie Eilish who performed on the last Groovin’ The Moo tour in 2019. She commented “beautiful” on a snippet of May’s song Loverboy on TikTok, which resulted in her gaining a bunch of Eilish superfans as followers. “I think I posted that video on a night out, it was a Friday and I was like ‘I will post it, nothing will happen’,” she said. “Then the next day I remember seeing that and being like ‘that can’t be real’.” In August, she released her first EP You Do Not Have To Be Good and now she finds herself playing a six-leg festival tour on the other side of the world. May admits she cannot believe how quickly her music career has taken off, though she does say her Australian connections have made the GTM tour easier. Alongside her Melbourne-based siblings, her mother grew up in Newcastle and she has a number of other relatives across the country, including in WA. “It has been so much fun that I almost haven’t had the time to feel overwhelmed during this tour,” she said. “I just think ‘thank god people are listening’.” She will bring her latest single Doppelganger and songs from her EP to the “Moolin Rouge” stage as one of 24 acts to perform at this year’s festival. To buy tickets, visit gtm.net.au.