"I still remember being blown away by Smokey Robinson's songwriting, I still am. I've got a very vague but distinct memory of that being music for the first time. I'm sure it wasn't, but in my head it was."
From then on, he never thought of anything else to do.
"It just felt extremely natural and I didn't really know if I wanted to perform, but I wanted to sing that's for sure. I hadn't quite made that leap from singing to actually being a performer, but then it just slipped into stream and became the thing that it is."
Williams first cut his teeth in the industry with High School band The Unfaithful Ways, before going on to collaborate with the likes of Delaney Davidson, Tami Neilson and also Aldous Harding - the inspiration behind his 2018 album Make Way for Love, before releasing his solo self-titled album in 2015.
Much has been made of the elegant swoop of Williams' voice: choir-trained and country addled, with an unusually wide range and pure tone.
He has been compared to everyone from Elvis to Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash, captivating crowds across the world with his uncanny ability to turn his classically trained voice into an effortless, worldly, seductive instrument of storytelling.
2018 was arguably the most career-making year of his life. He embarked on an album tour which took him around the globe for the majority of the year, playing festivals and selling out headline tours. But most notably, he was awarded an APRA Silver Scroll for his song Nobody Gets What They Want Anymore, and received four nominations at last year's Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards - three of which he won.
This success he finds hard to grapple with.
"I mean it's really wonderful to be recognised but as an artist, I think it is a bit of a killer to dwell on it. I was thinking the other day that the only thing more embarrassing than failure is success for an artist. So in that sense, I try not to think about it too much."
However, he is "becoming more and more comfortable with every aspect and every part of what it means to be a musician".
"The repetition makes you grow, it forces you to dig deeper."
However, 2018 was also the year he played a role in Bradley Cooper's Hollywood film directorial debut A Star Is Born. A "weird, surreal and brief" experience, Williams admits.
"It was unlike anything that I've ever experienced before - being part of the Hollywood circus. I was on set with a crew of hundreds and hundreds of people and you are just one small part of this big machine that's going on. But because of that, it was incredible being able to watch Bradley Cooper run the show - that was inspiring."
While he doesn't have the so-called "bug", he is not closed off to gracing the screen again.
Now he is on a homecoming. "It's interesting you know when I'm on stage, there's definitely the feeling that it's sort of my people around - a slight extension of playing to your family at a family event."
After the best part of several years on the road, the Marlon Williams Live Show has taken on an almost mystical status - not just for Williams' extraordinary voice, but also for the hypnotic command he has over an audience, his seamless blending of genres, and the effortless, instinctive relationship he shares with his band, The Yarra Benders.
It is this which was captured on his first live album - released on the eve of his Tūrangawaewae Tour and recorded during what was then the largest shows he had performed in the country at the historic Auckland Town Hall.
His show in Hawke's Bay will be the first time playing in about six years. "It is going to be a bit of a reacquainting," Williams said.
"Hopefully it will just be a solid show. There will be some new songs and a lot of old favourites. A nice environment for some music, to put it simply."
Marlon Williams will perform at Black Barn Vineyards with Don McGlashan and Emily Fairlight on Saturday, February 23.
For tickets, visit: www.ticketmaster.co.nz
