Edmonton-born Internet star releases new video

Despite being born during one of the most significant events in Edmonton’s history, 23-year-old Internet sensation Mike Tompkins doesn’t remember the City of Champions very well. Tompkin’s was born on July 31, 1987, the day a powerful tornado tore through Edmonton. His family moved away just two years later, but he’s heard the stories.

"The hail was the size of softballs," Tompkins recounts. "It was just the craziest thing and people had so much damage."

Tompkins now resides in London, ON where his work as a music producer has taken the Internet by storm. His multi-layered interpretations of popular songs – performed only with his voice and mouth sounds – are a viral phenomenon.

"It was always really intriguing to me, the fact that you can gain an Internet following," Tomkins says. "It’s been something that’s changed the way I saw my career going."

Tompkins posted his first video in December of 2009, but it was his performance of Katy Perry’s hit "Teenage Dream" that really got the ball rolling.

"(Celebrity blogger) Perez Hilton blogged about it, which helped, and that was the one that really took off for me," Tompkins explains.

Soon Tompkins had millions of views, as well as offers to appear on NBC’s Today Show and The Ellen Degeneres show. Then things really took off.

"After the Ellen show Ellen said, ‘Mike, we know you’re a fan of (famed producer) Timbaland … And he saw your videos and he wants to work with you."

Tompkins was flown to Miami and spent two months working as a producer and artist on Timbaland’s new album. As far as Tompkins is concerned, there will be more opportunities like this for young artists in the future.

"I think the music industry has changed so much because of social networking and because of YouTube," Tompkins says. "I think that in the future we’re going to see a lot of really talented people coming out of the woodwork."

Tompkins’ latest video – an interpretation of Michael Jackson’s "Pretty Young Thing" – was released on June 23. Tompkins’ YouTube video currently have over 40-million views.