Grentperez is YouTube’s favourite romantic

Grant Perez, the musician better known as Grentperez, has just returned home from recording a Youtube challenge video. ​“We’ve been out in Sydney, talking to people, telling them they look [good]”, he laughs. Grant, ever the consummate nice guy, had made himself an ​“impossible checklist” to attempt in the video, including challenges such as making a stranger laugh and picking up 12 pieces of trash. If not quite impossible, definitely wholesome.

It’s this kind of stuff that helped the 22-year-old gain so many fans over the pandemic. Born and raised in Sydney, challenge videos aren’t the only thing Grant posts on YouTube: he also started uploading clips of himself singing in 2018, before deciding to take it more seriously the following year.

Inspired by fellow YouTuber and singer Alaina Castillo, it was his soothing Sing Me to Sleep series – mostly covers of artists like Daniel Caesar and Norah Jones – that helped him to solidify a fanbase that would later stick around to enjoy his original songs.

At the time, the Filipino-Australian was studying industrial design before deciding to drop out when Covid hit: ​“I was like, I’m not paying 40k Australian dollars to do an art degree from home”. Luckily for Grant, his channel was beginning to take off and Rex Orange County took notice of his cover of the tear-jerking track Pluto Projector.

​“Initially, he commented two Saturn emojis, and I was like, this is the best feeling ever,” Grant says. Later on, Rex sent him a DM. ​“He said, I would have loved to have you on tour with me, but I heard that you’re gonna be on tour [yourself], so I’m not sure if you’ll be able to make it. I was like, hold on, hold on, I could make something happen… and we did.” That ​“something” being a sold-out tour of Australia and Asia in 2023.

Much like Rex, Grant’s music is both catchy and a little sentimental – in a good way – prompting fans to pour their hearts out about their personal heartbreaks in the comments and sell out his tours like they did in 2023. After three EPs, the musician released his debut album When We Were Younger last year, an upbeat indie offering focused on – you guessed it – falling in love.

With so much under his belt at such a young age Grant is insistent that young artists can make it in their own way too. ​“You don’t have to sell your soul,” he says. ​“Just take the right steps and assess yourself positively. Reflection is a big part of growth and artistry, and if you can have the courage to look at your project and critique it then I think you can have faith that you will go somewhere.”

You’re a bit of a petrol head. What are you driving?

I sound so nerdy when I say it but it’s a four door Toyota JZX100 Mark II.

What kind of emotions influence your music?

Love. It can be positive and negative, and it’s very overwhelming, but you can fall in love with anything. You can fall in love with a bloody car! So that’s where I draw inspiration from.

What does the music industry need more of?

It needs more creative freedom. Less ​“make more TikToks”, blah blah blah. Let people create.

Do you think you fit your star sign?

I’d say so. I’m a Sagittarius and [I wear] my personality very much on my sleeve, [it’s] very apparent.

What’s a moment that changed your life?

I was chilling with a classmate’s dad once who was a flight attendant. I told him that I wanted to be a flight attendant too, but he said, ​“You shouldn’t do that.” Not because it’s a bad job, but because he saw a lot of potential for something creative in me. I’d never heard that from an Asian parent before.

Love, like, hate?

I like being creative, I love trying new things and I hate touching wet hair.

Do you have any hot takes?

I don’t like matcha nor Studio Ghibli’s Kiki’s Delivery Service. For some people that’s their favourite movie ever but I don’t like it.

What’s an ideal first date?

A beach, either at sunrise or sunset, and a huge mat so you don’t get sand in your food. And candles, [I don’t mind] real or fake just as long as they’re flickering.

What’s a guilty pleasure?

I really love listening to hardstyle whilst I’m driving sometimes.

What’s better for songwriting: heartbreak or falling in love?

Falling in love. You can imagine quite deeply how it would feel to have your heart broken when you’re in love.