Tristan Thompson has quite a lot on his plate and the big piece is the release of his second album this month.
At age 12, right around the time when The King of Pop, Michael Jackson died, Thompson began his personal journey into music for the first time and how it felt to him. At the time, he knew who Jackson was, but didn’t know a lot about him, so he began YouTubing away, amazed by Jackson’s dancing.
“That was the first thing that came to my mind was his dancing,” Thompson told the PNR, adding that he later asked his father how to do the moon walk -— MJ’s signature move.
After studying him for years, Thompson felt ready to take to the streets of Victoria, dancing, busking and impersonating Jackson. On one Canada Day, the Grade 12 Stelly’s student drew a crowd so large on Government Street that the police had to break everybody up.
“Everybody was dancing, it was such a good time,” he said.
After singing at family functions, friends and family encouraged him to try singing professionally. And that he did, locking himself in his room, practicing his singing. He later got together with a local production company called BG Soldiers when he was 15. They recorded a cover song and made a professional video of Swedish House Mafia’s, Don’t You Worry Child, which got the attention of Chatter Records.
“That was my first kind of experience in studio,” said Thompson.
In his last year at Stelly’s, Thompson released his second album on May 2, titled Love You Can Believe In, which he said is an album for all ages.
“So, there’s different styles for everybody. There’s pop, there’s a little bit of rock in there which I love and there’s some more alternative and R&B sounds. It’s very Prince-inspired.”
Thompson wrote six songs on the album while Chatter Records wrote the other six.
Thompson said he often locks himself in his room at night, which is when he writes his songs.
“I have these things called hue lights and I control them off my computer and I can do whatever colour in my room and I give it an ambient feeling.
“What I basically do is I create a track with my keyboard, so my synthesizer,” he said, adding that he’s really into ‘80s pop, but modernizing it. He also loves funk.
For Thompson, he lets the songs write themselves.
“I don’t really try and write a song, it just comes to me.”
When asked about a good moment in his life, he said there have been lots of them looking back.
Most recently, he said he worked with producer and songwriter, Alex Greggs, who did some work with N’Sync.
He produced Thompson’s newest album and helped write and collaborate on one of the songs.
Thompson said he also had the opportunity to collaborate with producer and songwriter, Mischke Butler, who did some work with Jackson.
“So I got to collab with some big guys in the industry on this album, so I’m really excited,” said Thompson.
So what’s next for this up and coming artist?
The plan is to do some more television appearances and shows around town and around Canada.
A lot of his fan base he said is in Italy, so he hopes to do something over there as well.
Those interested in purchasing his newest album can do so through iTunes or by visiting his website and online store at: http://tristanthompsononline.com/.
