Interview with Tom Khan!
We recently did an interview with teen singer, Tom Khan.
Read the interview between Daania S. and Tom Khan.
Read the interview between Daania S. and Tom Khan.
Tom: Hi everyone, my name’s Tom Khan, I’m 17 years old and live in London at the moment! I pretty much film covers from artists that I like to listen to:)
First Question: When did you first get introduced to music and how?
Tom: I started learning piano at a fairly young age (around 8) and did the violin for a bit (didn’t go too well to be honest lol). From my piano lessons I started to love music and used to continuously sing almost everywhere I went. My singing did and still does annoy people I know every day but at least now I can annoy my followers on Instagram and YouTube more:)
Question 2: Speaking of your followers, how do you feel about them?
Tom: I know I don’t have thousands of followers and probably never will, however, I must say that I am honestly so grateful to be able to connect with all these people online. They are so kind, and I am sometimes so overwhelmed and happy that I have the opportunity to get to know them. I know it sounds so cliché (I’m funny) but I never imagined me posting covers on YouTube/Instagram and even publish a song for people to listen to and (hopefully lol) like.
Question 3: Who are your biggest inspirations?
Tom: Vocally speaking my biggest inspiration is probably Ariana Grande. Everyone who knows me knows that, though I don’t listen to her music too much (still really like it), I think she honestly has one of the greatest voices today and binge watching her performances daily on YouTube is not a rare occurrence.
Question 4: Do you plan to put out an album or have you yet?
Tom: That would be a dream! I’ve put out a song called ‘Not Okay’ which is a very deep song I wrote and produced almost a couple months ago now. I’ve actually been writing a couple new songs and producing some tracks as I’m planning to release an EP:)
Question 5: Could you talk about the meaning behind the song “Not Okay” and how you created it? What was the creative process?
Tom: It was actually never meant to be a song and was completely unplanned. At the time I wrote it I was going through quite a lot all at once and it was quite difficult for me. I remember sitting on my bed at around 2am with my guitar and I started playing random chords. The lyrics that you hear were actually all said on that night and I wanted to keep it that way by not changing anything later on to show how I felt in a more personal way. It’s quite a deep, emotional song and it talks about the feeling of going through tough times and basically feeling bad
Question 6: How would you describe your musical sound/genre?
Tom: My kind of music is one that (I hope) people can vibe to. It’s the kind where people can spend long plane rides listening to or late nights driving or times where you sit on your bed late at night. I love using non-musical elements in my music too. In ‘not okay’, for example, I used a speech from Obama on mental health, glass shattering, crowds talking etc. Though a lot of my songs in the future will be purely sing-alongs, I basically want it to be more of an experience
Question 7: Has music ever gotten in the way of school? If so, how did you overcome that?
Tom: For me that was one of the hardest things to deal with. I do like school and am interested in doing medicine at university but also love music, therefore, having to record covers and filming material as well as writing and producing new songs was really overwhelming for me - this year was definitely the hardest for me as I was also going through other issues. Education is very important, and though it can be very difficult at times, it has to be prioritized. Music is a great escape for me and many others and it’s such a good thing to do to relax and just have fun with it as there is no right or wrong. Just try and stay positive when you can but also know it’s actually fine to be sad, vent and be down once in a while.
Question 8: What was the best advice you were ever given that young singers should hear?
Tom: I’m still a very young singer and definitely do not think of myself as professional or experienced, but to me, the most important thing is sticking to your own sound and what you like to sing. You shouldn’t change yourself to please others especially if it makes you unhappy. The thing with social media is that it’s not like a high school and you will always find people that share your interests and it can be such a positive environment if you be yourself. I saw this clip from an old film which has always stuck with me and that was it’s not about how you look to others but the strength of your character and the size of your heart.
Daania: Any last things you would like to add?
Tom: No I think that’s fine thank you so much!!
Daania: Thank you!
View Tom's Insta: @vocal.tom
First Question: When did you first get introduced to music and how?
Tom: I started learning piano at a fairly young age (around 8) and did the violin for a bit (didn’t go too well to be honest lol). From my piano lessons I started to love music and used to continuously sing almost everywhere I went. My singing did and still does annoy people I know every day but at least now I can annoy my followers on Instagram and YouTube more:)
Question 2: Speaking of your followers, how do you feel about them?
Tom: I know I don’t have thousands of followers and probably never will, however, I must say that I am honestly so grateful to be able to connect with all these people online. They are so kind, and I am sometimes so overwhelmed and happy that I have the opportunity to get to know them. I know it sounds so cliché (I’m funny) but I never imagined me posting covers on YouTube/Instagram and even publish a song for people to listen to and (hopefully lol) like.
Question 3: Who are your biggest inspirations?
Tom: Vocally speaking my biggest inspiration is probably Ariana Grande. Everyone who knows me knows that, though I don’t listen to her music too much (still really like it), I think she honestly has one of the greatest voices today and binge watching her performances daily on YouTube is not a rare occurrence.
Question 4: Do you plan to put out an album or have you yet?
Tom: That would be a dream! I’ve put out a song called ‘Not Okay’ which is a very deep song I wrote and produced almost a couple months ago now. I’ve actually been writing a couple new songs and producing some tracks as I’m planning to release an EP:)
Question 5: Could you talk about the meaning behind the song “Not Okay” and how you created it? What was the creative process?
Tom: It was actually never meant to be a song and was completely unplanned. At the time I wrote it I was going through quite a lot all at once and it was quite difficult for me. I remember sitting on my bed at around 2am with my guitar and I started playing random chords. The lyrics that you hear were actually all said on that night and I wanted to keep it that way by not changing anything later on to show how I felt in a more personal way. It’s quite a deep, emotional song and it talks about the feeling of going through tough times and basically feeling bad
Question 6: How would you describe your musical sound/genre?
Tom: My kind of music is one that (I hope) people can vibe to. It’s the kind where people can spend long plane rides listening to or late nights driving or times where you sit on your bed late at night. I love using non-musical elements in my music too. In ‘not okay’, for example, I used a speech from Obama on mental health, glass shattering, crowds talking etc. Though a lot of my songs in the future will be purely sing-alongs, I basically want it to be more of an experience
Question 7: Has music ever gotten in the way of school? If so, how did you overcome that?
Tom: For me that was one of the hardest things to deal with. I do like school and am interested in doing medicine at university but also love music, therefore, having to record covers and filming material as well as writing and producing new songs was really overwhelming for me - this year was definitely the hardest for me as I was also going through other issues. Education is very important, and though it can be very difficult at times, it has to be prioritized. Music is a great escape for me and many others and it’s such a good thing to do to relax and just have fun with it as there is no right or wrong. Just try and stay positive when you can but also know it’s actually fine to be sad, vent and be down once in a while.
Question 8: What was the best advice you were ever given that young singers should hear?
Tom: I’m still a very young singer and definitely do not think of myself as professional or experienced, but to me, the most important thing is sticking to your own sound and what you like to sing. You shouldn’t change yourself to please others especially if it makes you unhappy. The thing with social media is that it’s not like a high school and you will always find people that share your interests and it can be such a positive environment if you be yourself. I saw this clip from an old film which has always stuck with me and that was it’s not about how you look to others but the strength of your character and the size of your heart.
Daania: Any last things you would like to add?
Tom: No I think that’s fine thank you so much!!
Daania: Thank you!
View Tom's Insta: @vocal.tom