He sings all the parts—even the guitars
By Mike Doherty - Monday, December 6, 2010 - 7 Comments
How a YouTube sensation from London, Ont., wound up in Timbaland’s studio
The 23-year-old’s videos are G-rated covers of raunchy fare by Katy Perry and others—sometimes he has to change the lyrics a bit | Photograph by Cole Garside
In a World Wide Web full of bizarre celebrities, from the histrionic Chris “Leave Britney alone!” Crocker to the glassy-eyed Tay “Chocolate Rain” Zonday, one YouTube sensation stands out. His name is Mike Tompkins, and he’s… rather normal.
The London, Ont., vocalist and producer garners millions of hits for videos in which he cheerily recreates the multi-layered sounds of contemporary pop songs—using only his voice and mouth, and occasionally, a tambourine. In October, über-producer Timbaland (Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake) invited him to Miami, saying, “You’re doing something normal, but in a really cool way.”
Tompkins, 23, is clean-cut and well-mannered—over lunch at Duggan’s Brewery in Toronto, he even says grace before tucking into his burger. He’s the kind of guy his many teen-girl fans would like to take home to their parents, if he weren’t already married.
