Jasmine Thompson: “I choose songs that are really connected to me”

Fifteen year old singer from London, Jasmine Thompson, became popular thanks to YouTube. She uploaded her homemade covers of different hits and now has more than 2m subscribers to her channel. Her cover “Ain’t Nobody” received 217m views and the song «Sun Goes Down» – 186m. Now, the young star also performs live. She’s getting ready for a world tour! Recently this girl with a «sparkling» and «crystal» voice came to Moscow for the first time. We met up with Jasmine and had a talk about her singing, success and everyday life.

This is your first time in Moscow. How do you like it so far?

I love it, it’s really nice. When I first came, it was snowing, so it was really beautiful. And I haven’t seen snow for like three years, so it was really exciting for me to come here. I haven’t seen that much of Moscow, because I’ve been in a car and like studios the whole time, but I wanna come back. And see the Red Square and something like that.

Please tell us, how did you start making music?

So, when I was younger, music, it was like always around. It was always in the car, and my family was really into music. My parents loved music. So, at eight I started having piano and singing lessons, and then when I was ten, I like discovered YouTube, and I watched a lot of videos. And then me and my Mum, we got an idea to make covers of songs that I love. That’s basically what we did. Like, we kind of just decided to share my music on YouTube. And it just built the fanbase.

Does your Mum still take part in your career? And what does she think about your life that has changed so much during the last few years, since you became famous?

So, my Mum still, like, she travels with me everywhere. And she is here right now. ‘Cause it’s good to have my Mum around, ’cause I’m so young, and it’s nice, just to like have a piece of home come with me. I’d say, the thing that has changed the most is, to spend all the time on music and travelling. So I pretty much spend every day working on my music, promoting my music, making music. And I travel so much as well. So, pretty much it’s like, the people have stayed the same, but like my life has completely changed.

Did you ever dream of becoming famous and did you ever imagine you’d become this successful one day?

When I was younger, I never thought anything would happen. Music was always just like a really big hobby of mine. And I didn’t expect myself to be like a famous person or anything like that. I just enjoy making music. When I started, it was all for fun, basically.

Was it difficult for you to get used to singing in front of a real live audience?

At first, it was really scary. It’s different to what I started on, like YouTube, because YouTube is just singing into a camera and you can do as many takes as you want, and it doesn’t matter if you make a mistake. But on the stage, everyone is like watching you, and I feel like quite subconscious sometimes (smiles). At first, going on the stage, knowing there were so many people watching me, it was kinda terrifying. But once I started singing, it became really fine. And, like ever since, it has been getting better and better, and I’m fine with just coming out and singing.

How do you communicate with your fans, and what does it mean for you?

I try to spend at least an hour every day on Twitter and Instagram talking to my followers, ‘cause some of them have been following me ever since I was ten. So that’s been like five years now, and it’s kind of my second family in a way. So I try to talk to them as much as I can.

How do you choose a song to make a cover?

I choose songs that are really connected to me. Like if I love a song, lyric, the melody… ‘Cause I just want to share my interpretation of the song. Yeah, just if I love the song.

What music do you listen to and what is your favorite song at the moment?

My favorite song is It’s Strange by Louis The Child and the sort of music I listen to, all sorts of music. It’s like a mix of Justin Bieber, mainstream pop, and also quiet like piano ballads. And there is an artist called Tom Rosenthal. I listen to his whole album like on repeat all the time. And Twenty One Pilots is one of my favorite artists at the moment.

Tell us please about your latest EP “Adore”. What inspired it and so on?

So, “Adore” – the song was about my relationship with music. ‘Cause it was also my first official single. I wanted to like dedicate it to music. I’m quite young so I’ve like never fallen in love in someone before, so this first love song is kind of about music, ‘cause I’ve been in love with that ever since I was a child. The whole EP, there’s a lot of messages about like being more confident, and getting out, being like… Plus, kinda what I struggle with is doing all of this travelling and like staying in connection with my family and friends, like keeping connection with people. So, the whole EP is kind of a mix of emotions about love and friends and family, and trying to rejoice in yourself.

What do you like to do when you have free time?

I just like to hang out with my friends pretty much or I watch Netflix, yeah (laughs)

What are your future plans?

Just to like continue doing music for the rest of my life. Just still like travel with my friends, with my band making music. See as much of the world as I can, pretty much.

Would you like to go on a big world tour?

Yeah, definitely! I would love to go on a world tour. I just love travelling so much, and I’d love to come back to Russia, to see Saint Petersburg, Moscow, all these places. ‘Cause I just wanna see more of this place. ‘Cause I’m only here like these three days and I really wanna come back and do a live show.

That’s really great. Thank you so much!

(laughs) Thank you so much!