It can sometimes be hard to say what you feel, whether that be because of fears and insecurities or just pressure in general from the world around you. It can feel like being vulnerable isn’t accepted or isn’t “cool” to do. When it comes to Gatton however the feelings are right out in the open, and in this latest reimagining of an earlier release, he shows us just how deep those feelings can go. When Scars Become Art originally was released in 2018 as a part of the 4 song EP of the same name. At the time Gatton was attending college in Tennessee and had just gone through a significantly difficult season in his life. Flash forward to 2022, where he posted a TikTok of the song that now has amassed over 9 million plays.
“Now don’t say, don’t say that you’ll stay for good. Don’t tell me what I want to hear cause you think you should”
When Scars Become Art
While the original song delivers the same emotional gut punch, the new release shows just how far Gatton has come both as an artist and as someone who learned to deal with the hard times. Opening with a gentle acoustic playing, Gatton starts off musically easy but lyrically deep. With lines like “How will I trust you when you say you’ll love me, cause she said that too?” you can see how deep these scars run. Gatton is joined by Danish artist Maximillian (known for his breakout hit Beautiful Scars) in the second phrase, with flawlessly blended harmony that capitalizes on the similarity of the singers’ tones. Dynamically the song stays low, but as the other harmonies come in you feel almost swept away in the notes’ movement. The trade-off between Gatton and Maximillian feels so mutually respectful, as they seem to tell their separate life stories with shared lyrics.
Gatton has released a number of songs over the last 2 years, with a number of them gaining traction in the soundbite usage worlds of Instagram and TikTok. In fact, a number of his releases have now crossed over 1 million plays on Spotify alone, with some of his covers becoming almost if not as popular as the original release themselves. The largest growth though has to be in the viral nature of this song. The Philippines have picked it up as an almost anthem, making it the fastest-growing song in the country.
He was recently interviewed by Charmie Joy Pagulong of The Philippine Star, where they discussed this explosion of popularity. Gatton said “The Philippines just genuinely changed my life. I don’t even say that lightly because I honestly wanted to quit music last year. I was so burned out and exhausted. I didn’t know the direction I wanted to go. I’m in Nashville, so everyone is doing music here and that’s kind of overwhelming at times.” He would love to make plans to travel to the country soon and make music with the supportive people there.
Gatton is currently working on his debut album, set to release later in the year. He also works regularly in photography, organizing and directing shoots with local talent.
Maximillian released his second album Too Young in 2021.
When Scars Become Art II was produced by Aaron Hayes, who also played acoustic. Vocals are by Gatton and Maximillian.
