Niall Senior is a 16-year-old British YouTuber from West Yorkshire. He started making covers of popular songs back in the summer of 2014 and has since carried on making these videos, which have since helped him build an audience and a following online. He has made many accomplishments since starting YouTube such as being featured on GetSung as the artist of the month and winning the #RedLouderComp hosted by one of his favorite artists. We have your exclusive interview here!
Photo Credit: Niall Senior
When and why did you start your YouTube channel?
I started my channel in the summer of 2014, I had one channel before this which I was active on 2012/13 but it wasn’t very successful and it was being talked about by people in my old school which I didn’t like the feeling of so I made all my videos private. After some time I discovered I wanted to start making videos again but I didn’t want anyone I knew to find out so I created a new channel with a specific name so that no one could search and find me without knowing that specific name. The original reason why I started my YouTube channel was because I had seen many people such as Christina Grimmie/zeldaxlove64 making singing videos getting such a positive response from all of these people she didn’t know, which I liked the idea of because of the reasons above.
Which of your videos are you the most proud of?
Even though this always changes, one of my proudest videos has to be “Hello” by Adele. I learnt that song in a matter of hours & although there’s many things I would change about it, it all just seems to come together so well and almost satisfying in a way (to me at least) haha.
What is the best thing that has happened to you because of YouTube?
The best thing that has happened to me because of YouTube, no doubt about it, has to be winning the #RedLouderComp. This was a competition I entered (hoping) to win a trip down to London and a recording session at the YouTube Space in London with one of my all time favourite YouTubers/artists called ‘Red Official’ on YouTube! She was one of my biggest inspirations to start YouTube again and the day I got the message that I had won I was honestly over the moon!! The day was absolutely perfect, all of the team working that day were so friendly and I wouldn’t change it for the world. (credits to Instrumental./PopShack) You can see the video we recorded here:
I saw the video of you performing with Years & Years at one of their concerts! How did that happen?
That was one of the craziest nights of my life, wow! I have been a fan of them for so long now and one day I thought about asking the main singer (Olly Alexander) if I would be able to sing with him, I had no idea where or when this would happen so I kinda put the idea off for a while. It wasn’t until their tour came up and I had seen multiple people at previous dates getting up onto the stage to dance, or just sit next to him whilst he played a song I decided this was the time to do it. So, I decided that the next person to go up would be me! I decided to make a sign that said “Olly please can I sing Memo with you” which is my favourite song of theirs. I kept changing my mind on whether I was going to do it or not but I held the sign up during the 2nd song and I got a nod from him so I was obviously going crazy… Just before the song started Olly invited me up to the stage and the security had to lift me over the barrier (not glamours) and then it just happened I guess! There’s a few videos on YouTube if you want to watch it!
Who would you say are your musical influences?
My influences are extremely vast and varied. I take a lot of different things from artists such as Amy Winehouse, Jessie J, Olly Alexander, Troye Sivan and so many more it’s hard to pinpoint any particular person. I’ve had people say I’ve reminded them of a few of these people which was crazy.
Where do you hope to be with YouTube in the next couple years?
I don’t want to say anything in particular because the future is scary and I could be anywhere with YouTube in the next couple of years, I even hope I’m still doing YouTube in a couple of years haha. I definitely hope to post better content and hopefully I can make an impact on people in the years to come. Hopefully with YouTube I won’t just be posting covers and hopefully I’ll be posting some original content too.
What is your favorite song at the moment?
My favourite song at the moment has to be “Cruel” by Foxes! This song definitely isn’t well known, but it should be! PLEASE have a listen and you’ll know what I mean 🙂
@ItsMegan2 wants to know: “If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?”
At the moment, if I could travel anywhere I would definitely go back to New York. It’s not too extravagant but the last time I went it was a total surprise by my mum and I didn’t have any time to plan anything really, so if I was to go back I would definitely meet a few friends over there which I would’ve liked to meet in the first place! I also felt really welcome and I just enjoyed it a lot so I’d definitely go back there!
Where can people find you on the internet?
You can find me on:
Facebook – http://on.fb.me/1SAYHUQ
Twitter – http://bit.ly/1pyjMUz
Instagram – http://bit.ly/1pyjXPq
YouTube – http://bit.ly/1TuhzWt
Make sure to check out Niall and Pop Hearts TV! I will see you back here next week for another “Pop Hearts Plugged In.”
