Born with the essence of pop and a singer-songwriter, Eliot Thompson represents a musician’s natural instinct to produce catchy and lively music. Elements of pop and rock can be heard in his recent/upcoming albums and singles that captivate listeners from all genres. With a nod to pop icons of the past and present, Eliot Thompson continues to push the boundaries of contemporary sound.
As a soon-to-be freshman at Berklee College of Music, Eliot Thompson carries forward music as his number one priority, aiming to further his musical career and his status in the industry. By persistently improving and surpassing his own limits, Eliot Thompson refines his style of music through each release.
Follow Eliot Thompson’s journey as he becomes the next big hit in music!
With “Keep me around” out now, we took some time to hear from Eliot Thompson. Read below to learn more about Eliot Thompson, the story behind “Keep me around,” and what’s to come.
Hi Eliot Thompson! Let’s start with how did you get your artist name?
Eliot Thompson is my full name, and I decided that using an alias didn’t really suit me. I want my name to mean something in music and to carry the weight of my growth, and having potential listeners get to know me on a more personal level fits with my style of intimate singer-songwriter music.
What city are you from and where are you based now?
Though I was born in California, I mainly grew up in Connecticut in a small town called Weston, just southwest of New Haven. I did all of my recording and producing around this area, starting in early high school, now moving onto Boston to study music in college.
At what point in your life did you decide to pursue a career in music? How did you get started?
Growing up, I have always pursued creative endeavors, including film, creative writing, jazz, etc., and I eventually landed on songwriting late into my freshman year of high school. This was mainly sparked by a great deal of emotional complications that I was dealing with at the time, particularly involving the loss of friends and failed romantic pursuals (a hallmark of young adolescence). One of my close friends at the time was also passionate about songwriting, with the energy of a solo-acoustic act, which ended up rubbing off on me. Hence, I began writing my own music to cope with my emotions, starting out by recording and producing my own music with online beats, then progressing to creating my own instrumentals with software like ProTools and Ableton Live, to then releasing my first self-produced albums on Spotify. By this point, the hobby had turned into a sincere passion of mine. Years later, I was skilled enough at writing and composition to bring my work to a professional studio, in which I recorded ‘Keep me around,’ as well as other music like my singles ‘Caroline (Take care of me)’ and ‘Sunshine.’
How would you describe your sound to readers who may not be familiar with you?
I would describe my sound as a blend of singer-songwriter and pop/rock, with undertones of jazz and R&B. It’s easily accessible to people with an ear for contemporary pop, while also appealing to those with a liking for rock and funk instrumentation. Many other new artists focus on a more indie/rock or pop sound, hoping to fit the ‘vibe’ of popular music online, while my focus is blending my inspirations and different genres with my own personal experiences, all while making sure my mixes are tight and fit modern day production.
Do you have any hobbies outside of music? What do you do to stay creative?
As I mentioned before, I’ve pursued many creative endeavors; when I was very young, I became infatuated with creating online YouTube content, primarily comedy skits and vlog style content. However, as I grew older and learned how to use more advanced equipment, I wrote, directed, and edited my own short films which my team then sent off to film festivals. Nowadays, my primary focus is songwriting, but jazz drumming is still a part of my life, as well as fitness and promoting the work that I currently have out. Contrary to popular belief, being a musician means constantly writing, planning, promoting, filming, and so much more, so I have many avenues in which I exhibit my creativity.
Who are some of your main musical influences?
In the more modern pop scene, I take a lot of influence from artists like Ed Sheeran, Noah Kahan, Lizzy McAlpine, Phoebe Bridgers, Laufey, and so on and so forth. Most of these artists are singer-songwriters whose lyrical content is similar to that of my own music – heartfelt and intimate stories about our lives and experiences that we’ve gone through. However, I also draw a great deal of inspiration from older artists/bands such as Bill Withers, Queen, and Paul Simon. In addition to singer-songwriters, I also listen to hip-hop and alternative artists like Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Tyler, The Creator, in order to draw inspiration from a broad variety of sources.
Who would be a dream to collaborate with?
If I were to pick three artists that I would most like to collaborate with, I would have to go with:
Laufey
Noah Kahan
Phoebe Bridgers
(and Ed Sheeran as an honorable mention)
What’s one of the proudest moments of your music career so far?
Even though I’ve released a great deal of music that I’m happy with, and I’ve played at various large venues, I’d say my proudest moments come the moment that I’ve completed a song in the studio, and I get to listen to all the work that my producer and I have put in to create an amazing product. With ‘Keep me around’ being my first song done in a professional studio, this was a huge moment for me, as it effectively marked the beginning of my legitimate musical career; as such, completing this project brought me the most joy and pride out of anything that I’ve done.
What would you say are the greatest lessons that you’ve learned so far?
One of the most important lessons that I’ve learned as a child learning to develop his musical and social skills, is that nothing will ever come about unless you get up and actually do it. In other words, many people are afraid that their creative endeavors will fail or that they will not be perfect, but it’s only when you acknowledge that nothing will ever be perfect, that you begin to improve. Many of my peers have expressed their desire to create art, whether it be music, visual art, or whatever else, and have too expressed their reservations or worries about their potential failure. My advice ever since I was still in middle school has been that you simply just have to do it, and accept the possibility that you might fail, embarrass yourself, or even create something that is subpar compared to your expectations. I have failed to complete countless projects, and yet the only way that I was able to create great music was through trial, failure, and persistence. If you are too worried to release your art into the world, my advice is to just start. If you go through with it, there is always a chance it will not succeed or it will go poorly. But, if you don’t even try, then there is a zero percent chance; I will always take the small chance of success over the one hundred percent chance of failure.
Now onto your release, ‘Keep me around.’ What inspired this song?
I wrote this song when I was seventeen about romantic experiences that my friends and I have had respectively. It’s predominantly about unrequited love and the need for clarity on where you stand with someone that you care about, a common topic amongst love songs. The idea for it came to me when I had already developed verse and chorus melodies, and I was in need of a narrative. I chose the desire for mutual affection as my focal point, mainly because I was all too familiar with the feeling of self-doubt and frustration surrounding a person of interest. In the song, I reference alcohol and drugs in order to shed light on the effects of a situation like this, and how one can be driven to great lengths in order to ease the pain of unrequited affection. The chorus makes reference to this person of interest, asking if they ‘…were too high’ and whether or not they remember shared moments that the speaker believed to be genuine. Ultimately, it’s a story about young love and heartbreak, a melancholy topic that is ironically contrasted by the upbeat and extremely danceable backing track.
What is ‘Keep me around’ about?
As I said previously, ‘Keep me around’ is about unrequited love and affection. However, the story blends my own personal experiences with those of my friends’ making for a more universal and easily accessible narrative.
What was the creative process like when making ‘Keep me around?’
I brought this to the studio with little idea of what direction it might go in musically. At first, my producer and I laid down acoustic and drum tracks, the instruments that I was able to play myself, and as we slowly added more components, the dancey and upbeat feel of the track became more and more noticeable. We ended up doubling down on the pop/rock feel, with a final chorus of heavy electric guitars and drums, with Stevie Wonder style keys and energy. I remember one moment when we felt as though something was missing from the middle sections of the track; we went through various instruments in search of what was missing from the mix, and we eventually added aux percussion in the form of shakers, claps, and even a tambourine, which thoroughly enhanced the feel of the whole song.
How long did it take to complete ‘Keep me around?’
Because this was my first song working with a professional studio, we took our time with it, meeting only once a week for a few hours at a time. All in all, it took 2-3 months to fully record, mix, and master.
What is your favorite lyric in ‘Keep me around’ and why?
My favorite lyrics in ‘Keep me around’ come from both the very beginning of the song, and then from the refrain as well: ‘You see/Me Bleed/Like you never have before…’ is a line that encapsulates the narrator’s feelings about how he believes the person of interest to view him – with an indifference towards his suffering. ‘Yeah were you too high or do you remember/All the moments shared together’ is a line from the chorus that is representative of the overall message, which is the uncertainty that the person of interest sincerely cares about the narrator, or if they were simply under the influence. And finally, the song’s title is noteworthy as well: ‘So keep me around for awhile/Cause’ that low cut dress is in style,’ an ode to the naivety and shallow nature that young teen heartbreak can entail.
What message do you hope fans take away from your music and from ‘Keep me around?’
I strongly hope that my fans resonate with the message of the song, and subsequently become more aware of the amount of pain young teenagers can experience, even in the face of seemingly unimportant issues. Aside from the narrative, I hope that my audience enjoys the danceability and upbeat energy of the song, and I hope that they feel that they are able to blast it in their car with the windows down as they drive to get ice cream or something…
What’s next for you? Are you working on any upcoming projects, or do you have any upcoming shows that we should be on the lookout for?
I have various private events that I’m doing with my band, but I’m also performing at local venues and restaurants! The most noteworthy upcoming event, though, is the release of my new single, ‘Roses & Chrysanthemums,’ which drops August 1st. Following that release will come a string of singles every three weeks, which will hopefully keep people engaged and interested in the stories that I would like to share with the world.
Where can we follow you on social media?
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0NMs7bEmUY6O9VuzSF0wWa
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/eliotthompsonmusic
TikTok:
https://www.tiktok.com/@elioththompson
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/people/Eliot-Thompson-Music/61562757641829
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@eliotthompson4888
Thank you for the great interview; wish you much continued success!
