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Interview with
THMPSN

(26th June 2024)

Interview with Shaquira Hobbs

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SHAQUIRA HOBBS: You have a rich background in classical music. You’ve toured the world with orchestras and lectured at the French Conservatory of Music. How has your classical training influenced your approach to producing funk music?
THMPSN: So basically I just add more orchestral elements and like violin lines in the music. So that’s pretty much different. It’s like actually one of my friends from back home, Timmy Trumpet, it’s kind of similar to the vibes he does, like adding the trumpet into electronic music. So instead I add violin.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS:Very interesting. And I’ve definitely heard Timmy Trumpet, obviously he’s pretty big. So what drew you to the genre?
THMPSN: So my friends are all pro drift drivers. So they all drive and formula drift out here in the US. So we go to the racetrack quite often and drift cars together. So the genre, and then also I used to do a lot of work in hip hop, like making beats for rappers.
So the genre started off as hip hop beats from Memphis and then kind of went to Russia. And now there’s a sub genre called Drift Funk. And since it’s based on the hip hop stuff and the car stuff, it’s kind of like all the world sort of combined to exactly what kind of things I already was doing before and things that I’m passionate about. So it kind of was like the perfect fit.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: And how do you think that transition affected your career overall?
THMPSN: So I feel like it’s kind of like a really great transition because it also works out that the label I’m signed with is the biggest funk label in the world. And I used to do a lot of Instagram posts with them where I’d play music to their rappers that they were managing at the time with the rap records they were putting out. And now they’ve shifted to funk. It kind of works out amazingly because they represent the biggest artists in the world. So for my career, it just gives me a lot of opportunities to work with the biggest funk artists that have like 10 plus million monthly listeners immediately instead of having to wait to sort of build everything up.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: Yeah. And speaking about hip hop and all those different genres, what’s your go -to personally to listen to?
THMPSN: Probably like ASAP Ferg or let’s think who else I really, really like. The ASAP Ferg is my favorite and then 21 Savage. There’s a lot. I don’t know. I’m trying to figure out who… That’s probably my two favorites. Yeah.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: So some good party music.
THMPSN: I like the more darker rap stuff. Yeah.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: Yeah. And you have a little bit of a collaboration coming.
THMPSN: Yes, I have a collaboration. So I had one with Nicole Aniston. So it’s just interesting because she does, she’s like a huge mainstream porn star, but she loves doing Reiki and likes healing sessions. So I had her do a Reiki and healing session with me. And then we kind of just took her voice and kind of explained what Reiki is and then turned it into a track.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: And what gave you that idea? Like that’s something very different.
THMPSN:  Yeah. Yeah. So it’s super unique and different. And then what we did is, We filmed it at my friend’s car shop who actually builds all the cars for Formula Drift, like one of the big car shops for it. And then we filmed actual drifting at the racetrack. So it was like, it kind of all kind of came together.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: And you also directed that music video yourself as well.
THMPSN: Yeah.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: So what was your vision for the video and how’d you bring that to life?
THMPSN: Just kind of like Just imagining like, I guess, Nicole Aniston having her own racing team of like women where they’re building the race car and then off to the racetrack and racing them. That was pretty much it. Like super simple.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: It’s really, really cool. I’ve seen the video. You wouldn’t think it was filmed in a car shop. Like that’s really cool. So obviously your genre is still emerging, like emerging in the mainstream media. What do you see as the future and how do you plan to contribute to its growth?
THMPSN: So right now, the audience is pretty young. I know Cordell, he’s the number one of the number one guys in the genre, if not the number one guy in the genre. He just did a show with Skrillex over Christmas, like over New Year’s time. And he was trying to book a headlining tour around the US, but the audience was still very young. So it’s kind of hard to like to bring the crowd because they’re all under 21. How I think it’s probably going to evolve is right now as well, like a lot of hip hop people will have elements of funk music now in their records, you can start hearing it. So I think that’s kind of the direction I want to lead into is like keeping it very in the genre how it is now, but then sort of mixing it with sort of house music. So making it a little bit more mixing of a more like a mainstream genre with the funk elements so it can kind of move faster is kind of the direction that I want to take it in.

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SHAQUIRA HOBBS: sounds really exciting. And I’ve a lot of your growth has contributed to social media. How has that impacted your career and what role do you see it playing in the future?
THMPSN: So I was pretty, especially in 2019 and 2020, I used to be on WorldStar like three times a week. I’ve been on TMZ multiple times. I used to do wild videos where I play violin and have girls dancing. So I’ve done them with like Amber Rose and like a bunch of other big celebrities. So I kind of exploded through that. And then I used to manage Calum Von Moogah, who was an Australian bodybuilder. I ran all his social media. So I did his YouTube channel and everything else. So I kind of have a big background in production, like filming for other people, growing their like YouTube channels and all their social media to then grow my own. So now the music, I kind of like picking a direction I want to go with the music. Now it’s kind of like creating a narrative around all that social media to sort of propel the career forward more to build out like a big community around it. So when I’m performing and DJing, like everybody knows, everybody knows to come out and get all these kinds of viral videos circulating around the internet again.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: I’ve seen a couple of your videos, across YouTube, your little shorts, you do covers of songs
THMPSN: So I’ve been like, I’ve been experimenting with things that are more clean, like cover versions of the songs that I’m gonna, gonna take the ones that are performing well and then remix them into funk tracks. So you’ll be using your social media to work out where to go next with your music, basically. So basically, I already kind of know the direction I want to go in and the aesthetic that I want to go. So now it’s basically just rinse and repeat and just making a ton of content and playing and pushing it out there.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: And what advice would you give to any aspiring musicians who want to explore multiple genres and be in the music industry like you have?
THMPSN: So I would definitely say what you want to do is pick a don’t pick something that’s already a saturated market, you know, definitely try something different and then make it your own. So come up with your own sort of style, your own sound, because I think a lot of people get stuck in the trap of liking what other people are doing. And if you try, for instance, stuff like you try and make stuff like Skrillex makes, well, you’re not gonna be Skrillex and everyone’s gonna compare you to him. And even if your stuff’s really good, you’re always gonna be second best if that. So create your own lane. And then when it comes to social content, make something that stands out that if somebody sees you for one second and their friend sees you for one second they’re able to explain it like, okay, have you seen the guy who plays violin with a snake wrapped around his neck or something like something that really stands out? You want to really kind of stand out for the crowd when it comes to branding.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: Great piece of advice and talking about animals. I heard you have over a hundred animals. Is that correct?
THMPSN: Yeah. I think I think I’m about 300 animals. I have wallabies and lace monitors from Australia, sugar gliders, hedgehogs, snakes, lizards, and I’ve got two monkeys on the way.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: That is so cool. I’m a little bit jealous.
THMPSN: Yeah, so I have a mini zoo. Yeah, it all started because I used to rescue animals in Australia and then when I moved to America, like I’d be at the gym and people would always be giving me their snakes because they bit them or something. So I would just rescue a ton of animals. And now it’s kind of turned into this whole thing.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: How do you manage your time between your music career and taking care of all of those animals?
THMPSN: So I have three full -time staff now on the animals, which is really, really helpful because it used to be me. So I’d be up all day long, like all night long, because I would film and edit for other people’s YouTube channels. I was teaching 40 people piano, violin, and viola while I was producing music and taking care of about 100 animals at the time. So it’s just kind of gotten to the point where like, unless I staff this out, it’s unmanageable.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: That is insane. With so many passions and projects, how do you balance everything and stay so productive?
THMPSN: Well, I’ve definitely learned that you can’t hire people to try and do everything you’re doing. So you have to compartmentalize everything. So I just kind of like, I’ve been hiring teams around each individual project and finding the best people that are specialized and skilled in that area. And then yeah, building good teams around everything. And then obviously you want to treat your staff well and make really good working environments. Everybody’s motivated and everybody wants to be part of something bigger and grow together.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: That’s amazing. So is it like a sanctuary or is that your goal or?
THMPSN: Yeah, so pretty much out here. So I moved to Vegas. So I’m going to be getting like five acres of land and kind of making a community ranch. And yeah, with all the animals I have right now and then the long term goal is to have a proper rescue where I can be rescuing and rehabilitating animals and everything as part of the whole project.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: amazing. Good job.
THMPSN: Thanks.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: So do you have any upcoming projects or collabs that you can share or what can fans expect?
THMPSN: I have a track dropping in like two weeks with, they’re called the Dragon Boys. So they’re the biggest vocalists from Brazil for the genre. So that’s super exciting. That’s gonna be a really nice big one. I just did one with Reyes Hell, who’s one of the big funk artists that did a remix of his track. And then I have a couple more ones coming up, same thing with other big funk artists. So there’s gonna be a lot of collaborations with big, big artists in the genre. So I’m excited for them because it’s really gonna push the whole project, like the whole career forward pretty quickly.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: And will we get to see you back in Australia anytime soon?
THMPSN: I think eventually. I’m not sure yet. I want to kind of build up over the next year, putting out a lot of tracks and music videos. And then I want to start, maybe come back to Australia with an American rapper and then do a tour.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: That’d be awesome.. Well, that’s it for today. I wish you the best with everything.
THMPSN: I hope you have a great time. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

SHAQUIRA HOBBS: Thank you. You too. Have a good day. Thank you. Bye.
THMPSN: Bye.

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Follow THMPSN
X – Instagram – Facebook – Spotify

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Press Release 8th June 2024 (below) HERE

Phonk producer/violinist
THMPSN
taps Memphis legend
& adult-film star for single
“Nicole Aniston”
+ music video

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AMNPLIFY – DB