Words: Daisy Taylor Photography: Glen Perotte
The word fresh draws a few things to mind: new, not stale, original. That’s precisely the thing we are craving most in the art and music world, particularly here on Island. There’s nothing more thrilling than discovering the undiscovered, hearing the unknown, and supporting the up and coming. Lucky for us the island is ripe with freshness, it’s just about unearthing the talent.
So meet Will Howarth, Jersey’s very own local treasure. “Born and bred in Jersey”, and at 20 years Will Howarth is breaking into the music world, funding and fuelling his passion working in the everflourishing finance sector. Only just out of his teen years, Will seems to brace everything with subtle self-assurance, eagerness to learn, and blissful optimism. As a singer-songwriter, Will Howarth is locally appreciated for his emotionally evocative acoustic songwriting, blending heartfelt lyrics with stripped-back arrangements. With his songwriting placing him more akin to a storyteller, as he weaves fictional and inspired narratives with a seemingly natural ease.
Now in his final year of his degree apprenticeship with Lloyds Bank, whilst Will is keen to retain his position, he’s amping up to shift his focal point in a more balanced way to accommodate immersing himself in his music career; as he exclaims “it is the biggest passion of my life”.
Coming from a particularly musically minded family, Will has been immersed in music from an early age– whether that be playing piano from the age of eight or becoming enchanted by old CDs on long car rides. Having called it quits with the piano at the age of fifteen, Will wisely made the choice to pick up the guitar as his next creative outlet. Beginning his guitar tutoring at Chordz Music School, Will continued his lessons with his tutor Ben, studying at both The School of Popular Music and now the Red House Yamaha Music School. Coyly Will discusses his introduction to singing: “I used to be a town church chorister back in the day, when I was nine or something like that”. Yet, he admits “that didn’t really spark” his love for singing, it was in fact in his secondary school years that Will truly acknowledged his intrigue into vocal work. “I always sang at home, but never to an audience…it’s just too embarrassing when you’re a young person”. Lucky for us, at the age of eighteen, Will took the plunge and finally sang in front of an audience for the first time: “and from then on I was just hooked with singing in front of people”.
Beneath a youthful freshness, Will carries an older head on his shoulders, making for an eclectic and interesting range of musical influences. Will draws inspiration from the classics on his day-to-day playlists, citing artists such as the Bee Gees and Marvin Gaye alongside more contemporary voices like Olivia Dean and Tom Misch.
For Will, the creative process takes on a life of its own; while he may begin by listening to a track and drawing inspiration from an artist, the end result often evolves into something entirely unrecognisable. “When I’m writing a song, I’ll always go into it with: okay, I want it to sound like this song, and then I’ll just noodle around on the guitar until I find a nice chord pattern, and then a melody… and then it will sound so opposite to what I expected it to sound like, but it sounds in my head like what I wanted… so it works”.
Songwriting unintentionally and abruptly became a part of Will’s life back in 2023, as he recalls the tale of his first songwriting experience. While staying in St Ouen’s with his family at the Barge Aground, Will recalls how his family were all suffering with Covid, therefore he bought his guitar along in an effort to occupy his time, or as he puts it: “I can’t be stuck in this cabin, bored out of mind with covid, so I bought my guitar along with the intent of just playing it… not writing a song”. Alas, that’s not what panned out, “it’s so strange. One night I was asleep, had this crazy nightmare, and then woke up with all these chords in my head… so I picked up my guitar and then kind of just worked around the chords”. These phantom nightmare chords were not immediately transparent to Will, he couldn’t envision the finger positioning on the fret board, instead he conceived what they were through playing around with different progressions and ultimately matching the sound to what he relayed in his mind. As for lyrics, Will credits them as family effort, “we just all sat around the dinner table one night… just kind of firing off some really terrible lyrics at each other. And then some things would be really good”. For Will, this three day stay at the Barge Aground in St Ouen’s was a groundbreaking catalyst for his songwriting journey. The song in question is titled ‘Wasted Bit of Luxury’, and whilst it’s not out on streaming platforms as of yet, you can catch a snippet of it on Will’s socials.
If you missed Will’s most recent Art House gig at The Barracks, in which he treated his audience to tasty renditions of his original tracks, you can be sure to catch Will at some of his favourite local venues in 2026; with honourable mentions of his local pub, The Royal, and The Sundown. Although Will’s time is occupied at this present time with being in the final year of his degree apprenticeship, he gives the impression that if gigs come his way, he’ll be picking them up at the drop of a hat. Currently on Will’s creative schedule for the year are several weddings, including the honour of performing at his own guitar teacher’s—an honour that speaks volumes about his talent. From his perspective, while there is an unmistakable pleasantry to earning money for playing live gigs, he humbly expresses “I would do it for free. And I know it sounds stupid and ridiculous, and cheap, but it’s true”; exemplifying Will’s immense passion for performance. As for
the future, whilst he refers to Jersey as a “paradise on Earth”, he counteracts himself by saying that it is “a tiny tiny island”: after all it is only appropriate that those with creative minds spread their wings if only to spur more creative flow and inspiration. Will reflects on the possibility of travelling—perhaps hiking through Sweden and Iceland—with the idea of one day moving to the UK. Still, his connection to home remains clear, as he admits: “I want to come back to Jersey eventually”.
In a scene that craves youthful, refreshing originality, Will Howarth stands as an ever-evolving personification of creative freshness. With a future rich in musical exploration and rooted in instinctive storytelling, he marks himself as one of Jersey’s most compelling emerging voices—an artist to be discovered now, and followed closely in the years to come.
