We had the pleasure of interviewing THOMASINA, and here’s what she had to say:
Q: Could you give us a background story of how you got the idea for “Happy Pills”?]
THOMASINA: Happy Pills is about my personal experience with anxiety and depression. I was really frustrated with how I was feeling on my anti-depressants and wrote “There’s a difference between feeling happy and medicated, and I live between feeling everything and feeling sedated.” From there the song poured out of me. Songwriting has always been like a therapy for me, but this song was like a thousand light bulbs going off at once. Depression and anti-depressants are not a “one-size-fits-all” situation and I feel like this song finally helped me express the complexities of what I was feeling. I think anti-depressants have become over-simplified. It’s not just “Here, take this and everything will be better.” It’s so much more than that and that’s why I included some tongue in cheek lines like “Science of Happiness 101: Why feel sad when you could feel numb?”
Q: Could you walk us through your creative and production process for this song?
THOMASINA: I wrote this song on guitar before bringing it to my producer friend, Nick Trapani. Well, first it sat in my notes app for about 2 years collecting dust but it eventually saw light. He sent over the intro and I loved it. I wanted the song to have really high highs and really mellow lows to emphasize the way that anxiety and depression can throw your feelings around. The song starts with a drawn out synth that’s easy to get pulled into before breaking into a more pulsing chorus. I think my favorite part is the breakdown that happens in the second verse. It kind of comes out of nowhere and I wanted it feel like a surprise. It’s very similar to when you think everything’s going great and out of nowhere you get hit with a wave of overwhelming thoughts
Q: How does your musical roadmap for the rest of the year look?
THOMASINA: I recently moved to LA and am looking forward to writing a ton of music and collaborating with other artists as well as playing some shows. So far I’ve been able to see some really cool songwriting showcases and would love to participate in one soon. I also have a few more songs on deck that I can’t wait to share!
Q: Do you enjoy experimenting with different genres? If so, what is your favoriteso far? Why?
THOMASINA: I love experimenting with other genres. I actually started my music career in country music and many of my songwriting inspirations are country singers. For me, it’s always been important that regardless of the production of a song it can stand on its own lyrically. My most recent song Baby Come Back was still in the Pop Music realm but it had a darker tone to it that I hadn’t explored before. I enjoy following the music where it wants to go. I’m not going to force a song to be a pop song just because I am primarily a pop singer. If it feels right for it to be country, folk, or rock, then I’m going to venture down that road and see what happens
Q: What advice would you give someone who is interested in becoming a musician, but they’re quite uncertain because they don’t know whether they’ll make enough to survive?
THOMASINA: One of the hardest things I had to learn to do was value my art. This can be difficult because we hold our music so close and personal that we want to share it like we share our personalities. You wouldn’t charge someone to get to know you but that’s what it feels like when sharing personal songs. My best advice is to know your worth and stand by it. Also in the age of streaming, it can be helpful to have multiple sources of revenue through that involve music ie ticket sales, merch, sync licensing, songwriting sessions etc.
Q: What is your favorite memory so far from your journey as a musician?
THOMASINA: The day I sent my debut EP off for distribution felt like one of the biggest milestones of my life. I had released singles before but this was a full project. 6 songs that told a story that I was so excited and proud to share. To finally press send, after waiting all day because I was nervous was so crazy. My discography quadrupled that day and I really felt like I was moving in a direction I had always wanted to go but didn’t know how to get there.I have two very close second favorite memories though! The time I heard one of my younger piano students singing one of my songs was so cool. One thing I learned from working with kids is that if they don’t like something they are going to let you know so to hear that they liked it was very validating. The other memory is when I first heard my song on the radio. It was the night before my high school prom and I was sitting in my little Volvo by myself and just couldn’t stop smiling and freaking out. It felt like I was floating.
Interviewed by Zoey King
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