Wyatt Pike moved to Los Angeles last fall to pursue his career as a singer-songwriter after rising to fame during performances on American Idol in 2021.
His new single, Deep Blue, is the result of collaboration with a fellow Idol contestant and a friend from Park City High School, Peter Hanaman.
Hanaman and Pike met in Jazz Band at Park City High School and sailed with the Park City Sailing team.
Pike said this is just the beginning of their partnership in making music.
“So, we're already working on a couple more songs, specifically first up another single for a couple of weeks from now. Hopefully, we got to crank that one out. It's definitely a production crunch time I'm trying to get an EP done before the summer. Should be probably five, four, or five more songs with Peter this time around and then I don't see any reason that we don't keep working together. It's been a really fun collaborative process just because we had a friendship long before we started working together.”
Pike said Hanaman was a good wingman as he sought to try new things musically after Idol.
“Coming off of that show, it's kind of a, how am I going to almost reintroduce myself musically off of the show. Because obviously there's an understanding of who I am on the show, but that maybe doesn't completely represent who I want to be and who I want to become. Peter has done a lot of music that has been far poppier and very well produced and it was a little bit outside my comfort zone too.”
He said American Idol was a fantastic experience that opened doors, increased his fan base, and enabled him to move to LA. He had earned a top 16 slot in the competition when he pulled out unexpectedly the Monday after performing in the Sunday night episode.
“Regarding my departure, the bottom line is that reality, competitive music on TV is not my thing. It became too much--the stress and the behind-the-scenes pressure and things that had to happen.”
He said he wants to create a lasting image of himself through his work instead of the world’s snapshot view seen during the Idol stint.
Pike said he’s interested in sharing more of the Idol story later through his music. He is now focused on releasing several more collaborative songs with Hanaman.
Pike has performed live a few times in recent months, and plans to announce tour dates to support the EP.
KPCW could not reach Hanaman for a comment in time for this report.
