Artist Profile: Harvard’s Own Williams* on Living to Create

Williams Goldsmith ʼ26 is offering his life to you through his music, and you should listen.

Goldsmith, known as Williams*, is churning out singles and EPs. Nixing doubters of the sustainability of this rapid-fire process, he expresses certainty about music’s place in his life.

“I want to put out something about every month for the rest of my life,” Goldsmith says. “I'm trying to treat this as journal entries, because it makes my life feel more meaningful.”

He enjoys the experience of looking back on his past self through his writing, as he bears witness to his growth not only musically, but personally: “Few things fulfill me more than just being able to look back on having created something that is a genuine representation of my lived experience because I feel like the meaning of life is living.”

Clearly, Goldsmith loves to create, but it is obvious that music is his preferred choice of creative medium — since childhood, Goldsmith has loved rock music.

“On the radio, whenever rock music would come on, my brother and I would be air guitaring in the backseat,” Goldsmith said.

As music grew to become everything to him, Goldsmith found himself documenting those life experiences through that outlet. “To be able to capture that in a medium that is really important to me is the most meaningful thing in my life,” said Goldsmith.

His dedication to art, however, is not limited solely to his music. He treats social media with a certain grace that artists do not often offer in the name of pompousness. To Goldsmith, social media is not only a marketing tool, but also an extension of his art. Goldsmith went viral on TikTok in 2020, and he credits this fame to allowing his audience to grow. Because of his experience with gaining traction from TikTok, he treats social media with import, even when other artists don’t.

“If you spend all this time on a song, and you really love it, then don’t put some shitty video over it,” Goldsmith says. “I want to treat the music I spent so much time on with dignity, visually.”

Social media, though, draws a fleeting audience to many artists, which Goldsmith wants to avoid.

“If it takes a little bit longer, and you don't pop immediately, but you're really creating stuff that's genuine and beautiful, then people are gonna stick with you,” Goldsmith said.

Goldsmith makes it clear that he makes music for whoever wants to listen, no matter the origin of the audience. Studying Music at the College, he knows that he is fully committed to pursuing music as a career. And while he’s sure of this, he still wants to create with anyone he resonates with, regardless of the place music holds in their life.

“When I see kids who are studying something different, and then still make time for music, that's so cool,” Goldsmith said. “The most important thing is to genuinely enjoy music because I'm making music for people. I'm not making music for other people pursuing music careers.”

No matter the audience, Goldsmith performs with an unmistakable presence, his passion for the music emanating to the crowd. His diverse discography makes it easy to perform an unforgettable set; he knows that his most recent releases, “I’m So Girl” and “Peach Wine Freestyle,” are high energy cuts that lend themselves to levity and dancing, but he also appreciates the sincerity of performing more serious, carefully lyricized songs. His upcoming single, “Sinkhole,” is of the latter form.

“I don't think I have a song yet like ‘Sinkhole’ that has lyrics that I feel are more serious, and that I'm proud of,” Goldsmith said. “I'm excited to be able to put that out in a couple weeks. And I'm excited for people to hear it and just kind of see that side of what I'm trying to do.”

When it comes to releasing music, Goldsmith is unabashedly devoted to releasing singles; he doesn’t bash the ever-panegyrized concept album, but rather finds singles to be a more fitting avenue for his style of creation. It all goes back to the song as an entity, existing as a form of journaling for Goldsmith — a vehicle for introspection that holds time still.

“That's why I like releasing singles because if I was releasing albums, I would have to probably spend four months on it and it would feel like I changed my mind a lot,” Goldsmith said.

Harvard is lucky to have an artist like Williams* on campus, documenting his college years through his music. Through his demeanor, and presence on stage, anyone can understand that all he wants to do is make art, unpretentiously, unabashedly, and with grace. And aren’t we lucky to take it all in.

—Staff writer Asha M. Khurana can be reached at asha.khurana@thecrimson.com.