Tyler Shaw has a warning for anyone attending Friday’s iHeartRadio FanFest in Toronto.
“We’re about to blow your mind,” he tweeted on Monday.
The 25-year-old B.C.-born singer took a break from rehearsing for the show to elaborate.
“I could not be happier,” Shaw told iHeartRadio.ca. “I am so pumped. So excited.”
He explained: “It’s a short set [and] with that in mind, we want to do something that’s super impactful. I’m working with a great musical director and he’s helped me bring my vision to life. It’s going to be fun, energetic… you’re going to want to dance. It’s going to be never a dull moment, that’s for sure.”
One of the songs Shaw is likely to showcase is “Cautious,” the single he released in January from his sophomore album, which is due this fall.
MORE: Tyler Shaw Strips Down "Cautious"
Last week, he debuted a collaboration with Toronto singer Amaal Nuux titled “Anybody Out There,” co-written by UK artist Kyan Kuatois.
“We walked into the session and we were just talking about life, and isolation, and anxiety, and depression,” Shaw recalled, “so that song sort of came from those thoughts.”
He believes “Anybody Out There” resonates with a lot of people, including himself.
“I think the majority of people, honestly,” said Shaw, “whether they are in denial or they don’t realize they’re alone or that they feel alone.”
Shaw will soon tie the knot with his longtime girlfriend Alexandra Karolczyk, to whom he proposed last October while on vacation in Italy.
"It’s been an awesome time planning the wedding,” he said. “We’re getting married later this summer so it’s a little stressful.”
Which one of them is the “bridezilla”?
“I think I am, to be honest,” Shaw replied. “We both have our moments.”
He didn’t offer any more wedding details (except to say it will take place in Canada) but it wouldn’t be surprising if he shared highlights on Instagram and Twitter.
“A lot of fans want to know what you’re up to,” Shaw said of social media, which he admitted is a “super important” part of his life. “You have to open up your entire life pretty much to let your fans in because they’re so curious. They’ll find a way to know what you’re up to anyway so you may as well give it to them first-hand.
“I really don’t have a problem with it. They’re the reason I’m doing what I love to do.”
Asked to name his dream collaborator, Shaw doesn’t hesitate. “Justin Timberlake, hands down,” he replied. “When I was growing up, I played his music in the basement and tried to dance like him.”
But, wait. “Actually, you know what, there’s a tie.
“Also Michael Bublé. I give him credit for teaching me how to sing,” added Shaw. “I don’t know why but I had all his albums when I was growing up and I put them in my CD drive in the morning and I would just sing along to all of his songs.
"I wasn’t a good singer at the start so I feel like because I was singing so much of his songs I became a stronger singer.”
Shaw, who grew up in B.C. and attended university in PEI, developed an interest in playing music when he was barely in his teens. A friend pushed him to cover Hedley’s “Invincible” for a 2012 contest on Much – and Shaw was crowned the winner.
The exposure helped Shaw’s debut single, “Kiss Goodnight” achieve Platinum status in Canada and earned him a Juno nomination for Breakthrough Artist of the Year. His 2015 debut album, Yesterday, spawned Gold singles “House of Cards” and “Wicked.”
Last year, Shaw dipped his toes into acting with a starring role in the feature drama The Meaning of Life, in which he plays a musician who performs for sick children.
“That was a learning curve for me,” he recalled. “That was the first time I’ve done something in front of the camera that wasn’t a music video.”
Shaw insisted that acting won’t pull focus from his music career.
“Music is No. 1 but I am definitely not opposed to hopping on another movie or even a TV show,” he said. “I love it. I love being in front of the camera acting as a different person.”