story/Monica Wolfe
photos/Jena Cumbo
styling/Jess Mederos
hair/Laura Mitchell
makeup/Maria Ortega
Jasmine Thompson is a goddamn force of nature. Sheâs just released her sophomore EP, Wonderland, and at only sixteen years old, sheâs already a polished musician with a voice like honey and piano skills to match. Sheâs also picking up guitar and bass, because, as she puts it, âthe more instruments I can learn, the better, because I really want to educate myself in my career and my passion as much as possible, and I want to understand music so I can be as creative as I want with it.â
Sheâs based in London, so I chat with her over the phone, and Iâm surprised that it doesnât at all feel like Iâm speaking to a teenager. Sheâs articulate, strong, and most important of all, truly and honestly passionate about her music; it seeps through her voice, uncontained. You might expect a young pop artist with over 600,000 Instagram followers and millions of YouTube subscribers to be more focused on fame than art, but sheâs an exception. When I ask about her social media following, she tells me, âI hate when Instagram becomes just promotionâŠI want to make it as colorful and real as possible,â and I get the feeling that when she says she wants to connect with her fans, she means it.
Wonderland is an ode to growing up. Itâs an album of teenage anthems that venture deeper than your typical radio pop songâthese songs arenât about going out, getting drunk, or being rich and famous. The lyrics hang heavy with meaning from the perspective of someone deeply aware and receptive to her surroundings. Donât mistake this for an album that takes itself too seriously, though. Backed by an impressive group of cowriters including Meghan Trainor, Thompson has created a brimming handful of hard-hitting songs that are fun as hell to listen to. (Good luck getting them out of your head.)
âOld Friendsâ copes with the transition from carefree childhood friendships, where trust and understanding come easily, to adult relationships, which sometimes ring hollow and bend toward the world of networking. She sings, âSomebody told me to light up every room / Make them remember you / But nobody here knows what Iâm going through.â Itâs about the end of an era of innocence, and about realizing that youâre no longer expected merely to be yourself, but to present yourself as others wish to see you. Tracks like âSomeoneâs Somebodyâ and âWordsâ tackle young love and navigating relationships and heartbreak. Sure, Thompson is a teenager, but this album isnât only for her peers. These lyrics are so true and telling of both the struggles and the sense of wonder we all experienced growing up. Itâs nostalgic. Itâs heartrending and uplifting all at once. Itâs comforting and familiar, no matter what your age, because, as Thompson says, âno one stops growing up.â
If you have yet to download Wonderland, make it the next thing you do (after, of course, you read our conversation below for a heartfelt story about learning from parentsâ mistakes, being a âpretty normal teenager,â and how sheâs created meaningful bonds with her fans through social media).
I want to talk about how you have this huge online presence and youâve already built up quite a following on social media. How does it feel being âinternet famous,â and how does that affect your day-to-day life? Do you think it gives you more advantages or greater struggles than the average sixteen-year-old?
I wouldnât say that I have more advantages than other 16-year-olds. I just think that itâs just a nice way of experiencing life, because I get to travel so much, and I get to see a lot of different cities and cultures and places, and it kind of fuels your creativity, I guess. I mean, Iâve been doing music for almost six years now, and honestly, I couldnât have asked anything more. This is exactly what I want to be doing with my life. So the fact that itâs happening for me at such a young age, Iâm super grateful for. And this kind of feels like normal life. This is what every day is for me. I wake up, I go to the studio, I do a show. Itâs just normal life. It has the same disadvantages and advantages of anyone.
As a young pop artist, you have a lot of people looking up to you. How does it feel to be a role model to young girls? Does it feel like a responsibility that you have to act a certain way?
I mean, Iâm super grateful that young people look up to me. I guess thereâs a bit of pressure to always remember how to influence people in a positive way and to try and make sure that I get my points across and influence them in the right way. Itâs a good role to have, though, because it makes me realize that whatever I say to my followers, I try to put that in my life as well. I go on Twitter a lot and talk to my followers. I always want to see how their day is going, and if theyâre just like, âOh, Iâm having a really bad day,â and theyâre talking about these kids at school and all this stuff, if I say to them, âYou shouldnât worry about it,â and I give them this advice, I have to try and remember that I should do that, too. I should actually do what I tell them sometimes.
Youâre kind of inspired by them, as well, it sounds like.
Yeah, totally. I always listen to them, and theyâre always there for me when I need them. I feel really close to my followers.
Do you ever feel that you have to censor yourself in this public image, or do you think youâre able to just be yourself, and it works out?
Iâm pretty honest with my followers. Iâm a pretty normal teenager. I donât really do anything outrageous, and I like to be honest with my followers so they can see the real me and feel like theyâre connecting with a real person. But I always do think itâs important to keep a bit of your private life private. You always need that one thing that isnât out there in the world.
Yes, definitely a good idea. You have a good head on your shoulders.
Thank you!
(Top + Shirt by Carleen, Shoes by Laurence Dacade, Socks Stylist’s Own)
Of course. So, how old were you when you first got into music? And how did you get interested in it? Did you start with singing or writing or playing instruments?
Iâve always really been into music. I love listening to songs. And Iâm quite an emotional person, so listening to music is my way of putting myself in another world. When I was eight, I started to learn piano because my parents thought it would be a good idea for me to learn something thatâs creative. I loved it. I kept learning piano, and then gradually I started having singing lessons, and eventually when I was around ten, after a couple years of growing a passion for music, I started releasing some covers, and I was like, âOh, I really love doing music.â
Nice. So, do you play any other instruments? You said piano, but did I also see you playing guitar in one of your cover videos?
Yeah. I mean, I play piano. Thatâs my main instrument, because Iâve been playing that for the longest. About three years ago, I picked up guitar for the first time. Iâm still pretty basic at it, but I want to learn guitar, and Iâm also learning bass at the moment. I just think the more instruments I can learn, the better, because I really want to educate myself in my career and my passion as much as possible, and I want to understand music so I can be as creative as I want with it. The more I learn, the better it will be.
Yeah, for sure. And how old were you when you started using social media for your careerâfor music?
I guess YouTube I was ten, and then I was eleven when I got Instagram for the first time, but I wasnât using it as something to do for my music career. I just got Instagram because all my friends had Instagram. And my YouTube channel kicked off at twelve, so I was kind of just posting the weirdest stuff on Instagram, and then gradually I was like, âOh, I can use this as a way to promote my music,â and it became a more serious thing.
I find it so interesting because itâs still a relatively new thing, using social media for promotion in the music industry. Thatâs great that itâs given you a big step up.
The thing is, I think social media should always still feel more normal, like I hate when Instagram becomes just promotion. It needs to be, like, your face, your friends, your family, and things you do. I want to make it as colorful and real as possible, so I try not to do too much promotion.
(Sweatshirt by Jarret, Pants by Mr. Larkin, Shoes by Avec Moderation)Â
Right, right. Okay, so, on your new EP, I love the song âFix Me.â And I was really struck by the lyric, âIs this how swallows learn to fly, falling out of their nest?â I thought that was really beautiful. Can you tell me more about the meaning behind this song?
Well, the meaning behind that lyric isâmy dad used to live on a boat, and it was kind of in the countryside outside London, and Iâd always go and stay on his boat, and in the mornings, especially during the spring, Iâd wake up and look outside the window, and there would always be swallows. And I was thinking about how you learn things from trying and failing, and to me, itâs about failing, and getting out of it just by going through life and realizing that you can learn from your mistakes. âFix Meâ is about my family history. When I was about six, my dad and my mom got divorced because my dad was an alcoholic. It was a really intense experience. And Iâve really relied on my dad over the past couple years, because heâs gotten sober, and heâs been sober for the past seven years now. And he has become a really important part of my life, because heâs shown me that even though such a terrible thing has happened to him, he got out of it, he turned his life around, and it really inspired me. Thatâs what âFix Meâ is about, because Iâm always gonna see him as that person, and Iâm always gonna be here for him to give him that support of family.
Thatâs really beautiful. So, a lot of musicians use their music to help themselves or help others feel better in rough times. Have you ever used music or art to get through anything like depression or dark moments?
I listen to music every second of the day that Iâm not doing anything. The moment I wake up, I turn on music. Whether Iâm happy or sad, you can always find those songs that you can relate to, and I think thatâs why I get so passionate about music, because itâs helped me in the past, so Iâm trying to make music to help other people, because whenever I see comments on my YouTube or Facebook or anything about kids with mental issues and theyâre suffering from things, and they tell me that my music helps them, that means the world to me, because I donât want to do this unless I know that itâs benefitting other people. Benefitting other people makes me feel more positive about me giving an influence to this world.
Do you have a favorite song on your new EP?
Iâd probably say my favorite one is âWonderland.â
Can you tell me more about it and why you love that song?
âWonderlandâ is like my little baby. Itâs kind of this insight to my world, because I want to see life like itâs a little game, like itâs this place full of wonder where you never know whatâs actually gonna happen in the end, and you never know what is around the corner, and thatâs beautiful. And itâs a song about me and my friends. And the music video actually has me and my real-life friends in it, and weâre running around all of these places in London, which is where we all grew up, and itâs the actual places that we go to, and itâs got a lot ofâitâs very sentimental for me. Itâs about being a teenager and growing up.
And when your fans listen to this new EP, what do you hope they take away from it?
I hope that they can take the lyrics to the songs, and I would love if they could connect to the stories Iâm telling, if anyoneâs got those people in their lives that the songs are about. I mean, if they liked it, Iâd be happy. I just think that itâs an EP that can kind of apply to everyone, because the main meaning is about all of those emotions that you get when you grow up, and Iâve been having a whole year of all these new things. I feel like this year me and my friends got a whole lot more mature, and itâs just interesting. I guess no one stops growing up. Youâre always gonna continue having these new waves of emotion. I just hope people can connect to it.
(Earrings by M. Spring Studio, Jacket by Jarret)
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