An Interview with Thomas Headon

British pop singer-songwriter Thomas Headon is taking the world by storm! Known for his alluring, catchy melodies that speak to the Gen-Z experience, he is hailed as a “fast-rising star” and a “pop prodigy.” I got the chance to chat with Thomas following the kickoff of his co-headline North American tour with Alfie Templeman about his recent releases, his reasons for pursuing music, and what it’s like getting to be on the road after seeing major success during pandemic lockdowns. 

I wanted to start this off with a little bit of an icebreaker. So first off, are there any songs or albums that you're really enjoying right now?

T: I feel like I've had this one since it's come out, the new Harry Styles album is just on repeat for me constantly at the moment.  It just feels so well made. So I'm just constantly bumping that. Also, the songs are really good. So the Harry album, a hundred percent. 

Congrats on the release of your latest EP earlier this year, Victoria! Can you talk to me a little bit about the process of making that project and releasing it? 

T: Totally, yeah. Thank you! It was fun. I think I write all my projects not really as like, “cool, I'm gonna go in and write a project”, I just write a bunch of songs and then I see what fits. So that's kind of how it came about. But I think after basically two years of no touring, now looking back on it, it feels like it was more an EP that I wanted to put out so I could play it live. And I've done that now for the past year, which I'm so happy about. But that's what looking back on it feels like now because I think I was craving that at the time, but I'm really happy with it and it came out well. I think a lot of it is just like a diary of my life and that's what it feels like to me, which I'm really happy with. 

Are there any songs on it that you're particularly proud of or that have special meaning to you? 

T: Yeah, it's interesting. I think because it's, like I said, it's like a diary entry. Every song is based on a true story so they all especially mean something. But it's one of those things of like, I think it's probably the same way you do like interviews or anything else in life, like, as you look back, you're like, “Well, I'm doing so much better stuff now.” So it's like, at the moment I’m like, it's good, I'm really happy with it, but I feel like I could do so much better. I think it's a self-judgment critical thing. But “Nobody Has To Know” is my favorite on that EP. It just feels really like rocky and fun.

What would you consider the highlight of your career or something that you look back on and you're like, “that was insane”?

T: We just did a venue called Kentish Town Forum in the UK in London. That was crazy. That was like 2000 people- 2300 people, which was really fun. That was wild. I was actually just saying this to Alfie [Templeman] on the tour bus, at the moment it feels like we're constantly hitting highs, which is such a weird feeling because it's like, I don't know, it doesn't feel right. Like I was saying to him, it's strange that we are just like touring America right now. So I think probably in a couple months my answer will change and it'll probably be like touring America. But at the moment, playing that sold out London show was crazy. That was really, really fun. It's always show related. It's never like, “Yay, I hit this many streams” or something. It’s always show related, which is fun. 

Alfie templeman and thomas headon, currently on tour together.

What got you into doing music?

T: It's a really boring answer. I'm just not very good at anything else really, to be honest. I mean, I could have done maths when I finished high school-I was very good at maths-but I didn't. And to be honest, I wanted to be an actor for a long time. And I was doing a lot of musical theater and then I realized that I couldn't dance, so I just stuck to music instead. But I like, I love music. I say it jokingly, but there isn't really anything else I can't imagine myself doing right now. But I'm just going along with the ride, you know, If it fails, we fail. 

So I wanted to talk a little bit about your latest single “Georgia.” I know that was pretty highly anticipated online, what was it like seeing all of that hype and excitement before the song was even out? 

T: It's crazy. It's a really, really good feeling. And it's also one of those things that I think it just really, it makes you feel secure with the release of it. It's just exciting. It's exciting to have fan anticipation. Like, as I said, it was like a couple months ago, it was like [excitement] leading up to tour and then we announced the release date… and then that it was coming out, like so close to each other, it was just like this overwhelming feeling of just excitement, which was so great. But I love seeing it online. I think that's such a perfect way to gauge how fans react to stuff. So it's great. I love that feeling. It's really, really fun. 

Continuing about TikTok and your audience, over the pandemic you grew a pretty large online audience. What's it like getting to go out and actually meet your fans and stuff now? 

T: It's really weird. It's like, you see the number, right? And it's like, “Oh, that's cool”. But then you go out and play the shows and it's like, whoa, you guys are real. That's crazy. So wild. Especially, I feel like I'm repeating myself, but it's like now touring America, I love touring this place. It's crazy. It's good fun. It's so massive and the crowds are so different and I love it so much. I've grown up so far removed from America and, and you know, I see it on TV or on YouTube or stuff like that, and then like playing here. It's like, whoa, you are real people that listen to my music. It's really surreal. But it is a really great feeling, I'm glad that I can get to do it. I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

Have there been any interactions that have stood out to you or that you remember specifically? 

T: I think my favorite thing ever is meeting the people that you interact with every day online. Like, there's this girl, Annie in LA, that responds to all the tweets. She's great, she's lovely. And then seeing her at the LA show and her being like, “Oh. I'm Annie” was like, whoa, like, you're real. It's not so much like specific things, but there's so many people that you talk to online, you respond to their comments, their tweets, they're in your Instagram DMs, you know, replying to the stories and whatnot, and then you meet them in real life and it's like, this is such a cool moment. So I love that side of it. That's just my favorite thing ever. Basically. 

How do you spend your time outside of touring and recording music?  

T: I'm really boring, I'm not gonna lie. Like I'm such a 22 year old guy. I just like, I play a lot of video games and I go shopping- I enjoy shopping. I wish I had a better answer for this, I wish I had like “Oh, I meditate” or something, I don't, but you know, we should say that I meditate, let's go with that. 

What is your dream collaboration? Whether that's a show, opening for somebody, or like a song recording? 

T: I mean, Harry [Styles] would be, like, I can't even fathom that even being a thing ever. Or even meeting him, I would be like, I don't know. I don't really think about it. I think I'm surrounded by such cool people. All my friends are so talented. And it's one of those things of like, to be like one person I think would not serve all my friends justice. At one point I would just love to like, put out an album or something that's just got all my friends on it. It would be crazy like Alfie, and my friend Claire, there's so many people that I would love to work with. But yeah, my answer would just be all my friends. Like I'd love a Harry feature, yeah, sure. But I think my friends are, I just wanna work with them more, and that's more realistic to me at least. 

If you had to choose one of your lyrics or like a reference to one of your songs to get a tattoo of what would it be and why?

T: Oh, I don't know. I have a butterfly tattoo. That's one thing. So maybe my song “Butterflies,” that's sweet. I like my song “Victoria.” Maybe there's lyrics in “Victoria.” I can't pick. I'm not gonna pick. I feel like I had a really big phase the past like year, where I just got a lot of really small tattoos, which I love, but the idea of a tattoo on me or even anyone else getting a tattoo of my lyrics is like, that's on your body forever, you know. But if anything, probably my song Victoria, that's probably got the most tattoo-worthy lyrics I would say. I dunno what lyrics, I'm too insecure to pick one of them.

What impact do you hope that your music has on people who listen to it? 

T: Whoa. I don't know. I think I listen to music to like soundtrack moments of my life, and that's how I would like my music to be perceived as well. As much as I love music relating to people and whatnot, I would really like people to be going through a breakup with my music or having their first kiss to my music or being at a moment with their friends, wherever it be, and my music be playing. I would much rather that be the impact rather than like, “I relate to this so much”. You know, growing up with it rather than it being a thing that's like relatable. If it is relatable, that's great though. I'm all for that. That's lovely. But you know, yeah. That's the way I indulge in music, so I would rather it be that, I think.