grentperez, courtesy Theo Batterham.

He’s selling out shows from San Francisco to New York now in support of his upcoming EP When We Were Younger (out June 2), but Australian musician Grant Perez’s music career began on YouTube, where his siblings started posting videos of him singing karaoke when he was still a pre-teen. Eventually, he took the initiative and started posting acoustic covers online, where they found an audience. People were charmed by his sweet nature, calm demeanor and beautiful voice.

After he began sharing original songs, he got a record deal. These days, the 21-year-old regularly plays to huge crowds in his hometown of Sydney, as grentperez.

“It’s an absolute treat for me to play to my community and all these new people,” he says, adding his original goal was simply to share his music online. “I don’t think I ever saw it coming.”

His first original song was one he wrote for a competition in 2019. It didn’t win, but lit a spark to keep going.

Having grown up with his parents’ records, he fell in love with the Carpenters, Bread and the Beatles. Eventually, he related more to R&B and hip-hop artists like Neo, Usher and Musique Soulchild.

Grentperez describes his own style as “a hybrid of bossa nova with some trap,” and also says he has “an affinity for jazzy chords” and Philly Soul.

He’s also finding other outlets for his other artistic endeavors. He directed videos for his two most recent videos, “Us Without Me” and “Old With You,” and created a scavenger hunt for his sketches when he was on tour in the U.K., hiding drawings in the cities he played and posting clues online. He got the idea from artist Laufey, who also left mementos for her fans.

Perez also brought a pet rock on a photographic journey to Canada. He shared pictures of the rock and its travels online, gifting it to a fan at the end. He says he loves being able to give those experiences to his community of listeners.

“It’s like a little souvenir,’” he says of his sketches.

Grentperez also started a series of videos called “Sing You to Sleep,” where he performs “chill” versions of popular songs, the idea for which he credits Alaina Castillo, another artist who got her start online.

With his success, he says he does feel pressure, sometimes, to keep the viral moments coming. He says he wishes artists’ trajectories where more like they used to be, with a great amount of slack to allow for both highs and lows. There’s a constant push for views and clicks right now.

“You’re exposing yourself to such a sporadic burst of fame,” he acknowledges.

“I’ve refused to take myself so seriously. … Once you accept that you can truly be yourself.”

Follow Rachel Alm at Twitter.com/thouzenfold and Instagram.com/thousandfold.