Words by Pankhuri Bhutani.
Photography // Alt Bloom – press.
Ethan Thompson, who is professionally also known by the name Alt Bloom, is an LA based alt-R&B artist who has so far released many phenomenal tracks. Some of them including- “Damn Baby,” “West Coast,” “Call It Home” and “October Eyes.” With around 200,000 monthly listeners on his Spotify profile alone, Alt Bloom recently dropped his new track, “Text Talk Touch” in collaboration with the highly talented Gnash on August 28th.
Alt Bloom also surprised his fans by releasing an iconic music video for the track for the fans to enjoy as they listened to the euphoric song. We caught up with Ethan to talk about the process behind the initial production stage of the track, how this collaboration came into existence and if there’s anything that the fans can expect from his upcoming projects.
Hi there! Thank you for joining us on Peachy. You recently released your new track “text talk touch” with Gnash. Congratulations on that! How did the collaboration come into existence?
Hello ! Thank you so much for taking the time !
The collaboration came to be via my manager at the time. He was homies with gnash’s manager and reached out to see if they dug the song. Gnash sent back a V2 pretty quickly and it turned out to be such a fresh style of duet we decided to go for it pretty much right away.
What was the creative process like with the track? Did you face any sort of challenges during the making of the song. If so, how did you overcome them?
The collaboration on this track was amazing. The Orphanage, a production duo, had a seed of a track idea both myself and Sebastian Kole dug. Sebastian had the concept and we pretty much wrote the whole thing in a matter of a half hour. Sebastian came up with a verse right away, pointed at me for the chorus and what you hear is pretty close to what I sang. The whole thing felt like fireworks.
Watch the video for “text talk touch” below:
What kind of reaction are you hoping to receive from your fans regarding this track?
When putting things out, I always want people to feel more connected in the experience of being human we are all having. I know many times when a song said something I knew I was feeling but couldn’t put into words. I always try to write from that honest place.
How did you come up with the name Alt Bloom? Was there a specific meaning attached behind it?
Basically by shutting myself in for 3 days and throwing words at the wall I liked. My whole thing was I wanted it to feel nature and city which are my two main influences of existence. Alt Bloom was the combination of words that made the light go off. I pretty much called my team about 10 minutes later.
You have garnered a massive amount of around 200,000 monthly listeners on your Spotify channel in just a short span of time. How does it feel to know that your music is creating such an influence?
It feels great to know people are connecting with it and makes me very much excited for the music I have next to share with all of the new listeners ! It’s a dream to be able to do what I love to do and have people enjoy what is being created out of that process.
What is the biggest piece of advice that you have received so far in your professional journey?
Be yourself. In music there’s always a push to sound like something else. I think that every human has a very unique way, if they choose to, express themselves. Each of us has a unique footprint we can leave behind and it would be such a shame to try and fit into somebody else’s print. Be your own beautiful and I will watch in awe.
If you get an opportunity to introduce your music to someone only through one track of yours, what song will you choose?
I’d say west coast. It has a lot of elements that I love, from hip hop to folk rock to jazz and the message is essentially a series of diary entries from my life.
What’s next for you Ethan? Any plans on your forthcoming projects or collaborations?
I am working on my next collection of music. Directly ahead is a slew of singles I just want people to hear, and after that is a collection of words and vibes I’ve wanted to say or dreamt of expressing for a long time. I am excited to watch it come all together while learning more about my own spirit and the human spirit day to day.
Lastly, is there anything that you would like to convey to your supporters from around the world?
Dearest tribe,
Keep shining and taking those feet into the woods, oceans, mountains and all the places beyond.
With love,
AB.
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