Chorley artist OXYGEN hoping to make waves in the music industry as he releases first single with Time Records and Universal

Kenny Waine, whose stage name is OXYGEN, is a singer-songwriter from Adlington, who has recently been signed by Time Records and Universal Music Group.

After months of hard work under the guidance of his new labels, Kenny, who has 41.7k followers on TikTok, is finally releasing his first single with them on Friday, June 2, and hopes it is the start of a superstar career…

How was OXYGEN discovered?

The former Adlington Primary School and Albany Academy pupil says he has wanted to be a singer for as long as he remembers, but it was only after he completed a media course at Runshaw College, that he began to focus on his career.

Kenny explained: “When I was younger, I really wanted to do music but I went to college and got all in my head thinking it’s probably not going to happen, just focus on getting a normal job, but then this just happened randomly, they found me by mistake! I put things out there and it happened – it’s so weird.”

Although he had never done any busking, Kenny spent many years writing sounds and creating demos in his bedroom, and in 2021 decided to release his very first song, called Vibes.

Kenny said: “I never expected anything to come from it, it was a hobby at the time, and I was just hoping that some people would like it. It's got like 7000 streams now on Spotify which is alright considering I did it in my bedroom. Then in April last year, I said to everyone, I've got an album that I've written, I'm going to put a taster track out for you all to hear, so I released this track called ‘Chaos’, and within a week I had an email and a message on Instagram from this guy. He was like ‘can we speak to your management, please, can you take the song down’, and I was like what's going on? I thought I was in trouble!”

It turned out Kenny was not in trouble, instead the man was from the Italian music label Time Records, who then signed him on April 27 last year. The label worked with Kenny over a period of months, before flying out to Berlin in January this year to play ‘Chaos’ to Universal Music.

Kenny said: “On the day, I'd not heard anything for ages and I was just thinking it's not good news, and then suddenly I had an Instagram message off my label saying ‘quick send us your artist bio’. I had no idea what an artist bio was, so he explained it’s evidence basically of you being an artist and I was like, but I've only been doing it in my bedroom, I don't have any evidence! Then his next message read ‘you need to send it quick, Universal like the song’ and I was like oh my god, my heart just dropped.”

After that, Kenny signed a joint contract with Time Records and Universal for two singles and an album, and returned to the studio to polish the track, which is now called ‘Into the Night’, working alongside Yello Koala, a songwriter and music producer for artists including David Guetta, Little Mix and Craig David.

Kenny added: “I actually asked them once, how did you find the song? They were like we just found it by accident, so if they had never found it by accident, I'd never have been signed, which is crazy.”

What’s happening with OXYGEN’s new single?

On Friday (June 2), OXYGEN’s ‘Into the Night’ is being released in over 70 countries, including America. A lyric video will also be coming out in Italy and Germany.

Describing the song, Kenny said: “It’s very, very summery, which is perfect because it's the start of June. I think it'll get everyone up dancing: it is very dance, very electronic, very fun, but very meaningful as well, so both sides come together in a nice summery dance song.”

The song has already made a short appearance on TikTok. Although Kenny had to take down all his old TikTok videos when he signed his new contract, three days ago, he posted his first new video, lip-synching to the song and announcing its release, receiving 35,000 views.

On the release day, Kenny, along with a group of friends and family will also be out in Manchester to promote the single.

Kenny added: “I'm going to be pretty much performing on the spot in the middle of town, telling everyone this new singles out. I also have a whole social media plan that they’re making me – I have no idea about any of that, it's crazy.

“It's all just unreal because obviously growing up in Adlington, things like this don't happen to people like me. I have told everyone and they just can't believe it. I feel sick at the fact that my song comes out on Friday, because I've got all these eyes on me and I want everything to be perfect. It just feels so surreal, I'm so so grateful and so excited.”

Who are OXYGEN’s major influences?

Kenny says for his look and music sound, he takes inspiration from 90s/early 2000s dance music, and artists such as Daft Punk, Lady Gaga and David Bowie, adding “Anything electronic, I'll be straight there, and with my image, I try to be a bit more creative.”

What is in OXYGEN’s future?

Kenny said: “10 years from now I'd love to be doing major music events, festivals, releasing more music, having a bigger fan base, a string of successful songs – bigger fashion, bigger music, bigger music videos!”

How to download the song?

‘Into the Night (Chaos)’ will be available on Spotify, Itunes, Apple Music and deezer.

You can keep up with Kenny’s career by following Oxygen’s TikTok page, Twitter or Instagram.