Rolling in the deep: the highs, lows - and occasional sinking feeling - of TikTok’s viral Wellerman star. By Sandra Dick
Just over two years ago, Nathan Evans flicked on his microphone, thumped his desk with his fist and, with the eyes of TikTok upon him, changed his life.
The video lasted just a minute, yet the earworm burrowed its way into millions of screens, sparking a sea shanty craze that propelled the postie from Airdrie into a world of record deals and international fame.
An overnight success, Evans now boasts so many awards for the No1 single his video spawned, that he doesn’t even bother to put them all on show: some are stashed in a downstairs cupboard.
It’s his wildest dream come true: he has a new home, a sparkling new car and new career as a singer-songwriter that sees him commute to the likes of Berlin, Frankfurt and, last weekend, the Faroe Isles.
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But, as the man who brought sea shanties to the TikTok generation now admits, it’s not been all plain sailing.
For the whirlwind of newfound fame brought some very stormy seas to navigate.
Not least, it’s emerged, is niggling ‘imposter syndrome’ and the toll that becoming an instant household name took on his relationship with his wife, Holly.
While behind the gloss and smiley TikTok uploads lurks the constant pressure to come up with fresh ‘clickable’ content for the sometimes brutal world of social media, alongside his own dark demons that even success haven’t totally quelled.
Evans’ efforts to shrug off the “one hit wonder” tag and cement himself as a singer-songwriter in a landscape dominated by the likes of Ed Sheeran, Gerry Cinnamon and Lewis Capaldi, is told in a new 45-minute BBC Scotland documentary.
Filmed at his Airdrie home and in Germany where, perhaps surprisingly, he has found himself in high demand, it explores the trepidation of showcasing his own material, the pressure to perform and fear of letting others down.
It’s similar angst to that documented by Capaldi in his own recent Netflix film, How I’m Feeling Now, and which bubbled to the surface during his heart-wrenching Glastonbury set.
“What he is going through at the minute is heartbreaking,” says Evans.
“When I see him there, I understand. As an artist, there’s that big demand from everybody, from all sectors of his life, and behind the scenes, he’ll have stuff going on that people don’t see.
“There is loads of expectation and you ‘big up’ all this stuff up in your head and make it 10 times worse.
“For someone like Lewis Capaldi,” he adds, “the cameras are always on you. You can’t go anywhere without someone wanting to speak to you, and on top of that he has his Tourette’s.
“I wish him all the best and hope he gets into a good place.”
Evans has had his own issues to overcome: the documentary reveals how his mental health struggles peaked while he was working up to 13 hours a day as a steel erector.
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“Before I quit that job I was going through a hard time with my mental health and anxiety,” he reveals. “I was getting a lot of panic attacks. One day on site, my chest went, my breathing went, I started getting all sweaty and hot, and I thought I was going to start crying.
“I had a panic attack while on the cherry picker and thought, ‘I’m not doing this any more’.”
There followed “dark days when you don’t see any way out” but which also led him down the path to today’s success.
Off work for two months, he poured his efforts into music, uploading his own songs and covers to TikTok.
It was therapeutic and confidence boosting. By the time he was working as a postman, he had gathered a loyal TikTok following. The sea shanty post at the height of pandemic lockdown, sent it into the stratosphere, led to him signing with Polydor Records, part of Universal Music Group, and receiving attention from the likes of Queen’s Brian May and Gary Barlow.
Music, he says now, is his salvation: “When I play music, the guitar or piano, I just forget about everything else. I just escape into the music,” he says.
But success – his YouTube video of The Wellerman has had over 266 million views, and his channel now has 1.4 million subscribers – has a downside.
His profile soared, but his relationship with childhood sweetheart, Holly, temporarily stuttered.
“I stopped paying attention to everything else, music was the priority,” he reflects. “I saw so much potential, I could chase the dream job and try to be the musician I always wanted to be, and everything else got dropped.
“That’s going to have a massive effect on a relationship.
“Being away from each other for extended periods of time… it was tough, but it’s paid off, I’m still doing music and now we have our little boy.”
Son Hunter arrived in April, another life-changing event in a long list that he shared with his social media followers.
Pushing out more content and securing ‘likes’ helps to keep the money rolling in: at last count, the firm launched after he quit his postie job to become a full-time musician had racked up a £450,000 profit, while his second business had assets worth £285,000.
But it’s also brought it’s share of grief: one viewer suggested he be publicly executed; others have pestered him and wife Holly for money.
“Social media is like a marketing platform – it’s like another part of the job that you need to do,” he shrugs.
“Sometimes it’s stressful when you’ve run out of ideas, you can’t think of anything, or you’ve done them all. But it’s like every job you need to get on.
“I like that 20 years ago when people saw singers, they looked inaccessible, but the joys of social media is that I put stuff on of me in the kitchen making my tea, and young guys and girls see we’re normal people and think if they can do it, then I can do it too.”
The programme was produced through a new scheme launched by BBC Scotland and Screen Scotland which pairs emerging directors with seasoned production companies.
Director Neil Sargent said: “One of the things that surprised me most about Nathan was just how good a singer and performer he actually is.
“My preconceptions were that this was a guy who had got a little bit lucky on TikTok and was milking that cow for all it was worth.
“The reality couldn’t be further from the truth. He’s a really talented guy, a great songwriter and a consummate performer.
“I think the documentary will surprise people.”
It opens with Evans questioning himself: “Why me, why am I here?,” he asks.
With a new single just out and an album on the way, he says he now copes better with niggling feelings of self-doubt.
“I don’t think they will ever leave. I think ‘why is this happening to me’, but I have learned to deal with it.
“I remind myself the reason I’m here is because of me - I accept it.
“This started because I love music, I’m still doing music, and I must be alright at it.
“I look at it like ‘what’s for you won’t go by you.”
What Next for the Wellerman? is on BBC Scotland on Thursday July 6 at 10.30pm
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