Berklee student Louis De Schouwer is blending shelf-stocking with social media stardom as he trades frat houses for future concert venues
BOSTON – Currently stocking the shelves of Target’s Fenway location is Boston’s next hometown hero. Don’t let the red vest fool you, behind the discount stickers and price gun is a Berklee student with a dream. While that’s far from news, he’s reaching audiences through the Instagram explore page working hard to grow his online following. For now he’s still the “new kid on the block”, but while he slacks off at Target, he uses the time to post Instagram reels as he tries to “dropkick” his way to the top of the music charts.
Louis and I met while I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and found one of his videos. He was promoting his new song “Missing”, an upbeat track with angsty love lyrics, complete with beachy guitars that give it that summer vibe.
As he makes music out of his dorm room, his goal is to go from playing frat houses to Boston’s real concert venues, ones that don’t include a beer pong setup where the mosh pit should be—although there may still be throw up in the corner.
Over the next few months while he is off from school, he is diving all in as he attempts to create the next viral song of the summer.
The way musicians become famous has changed since James Taylor first broke into the mainstream. Now it’s less about impressing a label, and more about capturing the attention of some random 30-something scrolling social media on her lunch break. It’s about obtaining and harnessing a viral moment.
According to iHeartRadio, the majority of top 40 songs in the US right now are also viral or TikTok trending. The online world and the real world are happening simultaneously, the blurred lines creating parallel trends. What’s viral online is viral in real life and vice versa. In this way, internet fame is more real than ever. If you are famous online, you are famous—period.
When TikTok’s algorithm secrets were leaked in a company document in 2021 titled “TikTok Algo 101”, it allowed the average user to understand how to harness the technology to work in their favor. The document outlined the way that it analyzes user signals and content engagement to create a personalized for you page. Now it’s common knowledge that using viral sounds, following trends, witty captions, and encouraging people to like and comment are strategies to increase your visibility.
Part of getting your content into the algorithm has to do with posting consistently. Louis explained that he tries to post at least once a day, if not more. Sometimes the algorithm just works in your favor, resulting in his most viral video at 585k views, while his others average at around 3,000.
After just a few months, Louis has 12.5K Instagram followers and almost 15K monthly listeners on Spotify—with both numbers steadily rising. Since beginning this article, I have had to revise those numbers multiple times to account for his new fans.
Louis has been making music since 8th grade, when he released his first song under the name 772 Louie. It was a diss track written to settle the beef between him and another kid on the basketball court, but as he matured so did his lyrical content. Honoring his hometown area code was a nice sentiment, but the title seemed more fitting for a soundcloud rapper, while his new sound is more comparable to Domonic Fike.
With his updated indie sound, he chooses to honor his family name De Schouwer. His new image is more authentic.
“I’m unapologetically myself. Not in like, a Kanye way” he joked, “but you know—I just want people to like me because I’m me. Not because I’m trying to be someone else.”
“Until I get canceled,” he joked. “If I get canceled then it’s over”, in which case he would probably need to change his family’s name and let the old one die with his career.
But until that day arrives, Louis is determined to expand both his follower count and the size of his concert venues. He recently rocked the stage at Brighton Music Hall on August 6, but if you missed it, don’t fret—stay updated on his latest shows and releases by following his Instagram. Afterall, shameless self-plugs and savvy self-promotion have been key drivers in his journey so far.
Louis De Schouwer isn’t just waiting for his big break; he’s creating it himself, one post at a time. He explained that social media gives independent artists the power to build a fanbase on their own terms. Why wait around for a label to hire a lighting crew when you can grab the spotlight yourself?
“The labels are probably shitting bricks right now” he joked.
This article was produced for HorizonMass, the independent, student-driven, news outlet of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, and is syndicated by BINJ’s MassWire news service.
