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Will Swinton crafts gripping, soul-baring songs that other artists wish they’d written themselves — just ask Machine Gun Kelly, whom Swinton met by chance at an Idaho bar in July 2022. MGK was “intrigued” by the 22-year-old New Zealander — enough to invite Swinton and his manager, Ryan Adelson, to his Mainstream Sellout Tour show in Spokane, Washington, the next night. Backstage, Will shared his music where MGK expressed his love for Swinton’s acoustic, lovesick ballad “Missing You.” “I was about to release the song, and I was having some doubts, but if that is not reassurance, then I don't know what is,” Swinton says.

Growing up in Auckland, New Zealand, Swinton oozed charisma long before he had any idea he possessed an evocative, grabbing voice. He wasn’t an engaged student, opting to mastermind pranks or skip school entirely, but his teachers adored him anyway. Music had a casual presence as a constant companion while skating or riding in his parents’ car. “I always loved discovering new music before any of my friends, and I always wanted to be the guy that was putting people on to new music,” he says. At 17, Swinton developed an interest in DJing after seeing RL Grime perform at the Rhythm & Vines festival.