Interview: Social media mogul Christian Collins discusses his new music project

He may only be 19, but Christian Collins has already secured his place as one of social media’s most prominent presences. Since 2010, Collins has been creating videos under the name WeeklyChris, where he shares inspirational messages, encouraging advice, and lighthearted moments from his everyday life.

Collins’ sense of humour and authentic personality has resonated with people around the world, leading him to accumulate an enormous cross-platform following with five million followers on Facebook, 2.6 million on Instagram, 3.8 million on Vine, 1.5 million on Twitter, and 1.7 million on YouTube. His status as a social media influencer is so great, in fact, that he was appointed to be a U.N. Youth Ambassador for Peace at this year’s International Day of Peace on September 21. And now, with his recent foray into music, things are only getting bigger and better for the Calgary native.

“It’s crazy how it’s given me the ability to connect with people around the world… people that without it I would never have the ability to connect with,” says Collins of social media. “I’ve been blessed to have an audience that is really accepting and supportive. I see it as just having a few million best friends.”

Growing up in a family of singers and pianists, Collins was always naturally drawn to music. He began posting covers of various songs on his WeeklyChris channels, including “Chains” by Nick Jonas and The Weeknd’s “I Can’t Feel My Face,” putting his own flavour on the tracks with rich vocals and moody, synthy production.

Collins’ very first original release, “You Don’t Have To Go” was dropped in December — an infectious nugget of R&B infused pop. As one might expect, it generated a lot of attention.

“I’ve been doing covers for a little while — you can do your slight variations and put your own spins on covers, but to do [my] own project is one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done,” he says. “I’ve always been writing different songs and working on stuff, but this is the first time I’ve put something out of my own and it’s just kind of cool how people responded to it.”

Collins is set to release his debut EP in the New Year. And like everything else he does, he’s approaching the project with honesty and determination. “I love just to move forward — the ability to just continually improve and work on the content,” he says. “There’s a mix and variations of sounds and different concepts that I’ve had and wanted to write about for a while, but I’m going to put everything I have at this point into it.”

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