Thomas Day On His New EP, Turning 24 & The Art of Authenticity

Thomas Day is having a better week than most of us. Today, the burgeoning pop singer released his brand new EP, My Bad, which he’s celebrating with another trip around the sun. “I can't even believe [I’m turning 24],” Day tells NYLON. “I saw this thing that was like, ‘22, you're young, 23, you're old as f*ck. 24, you're young again. 25, you're young. 26, you're young. 27, you're old as f*ck. 28, you're old as f*ck. 29, you’re old, 30, you're young as f*ck.’ I was like, oh my God, dude,” he says despondently. Hopefully for his sake, the shock will wear off by the time he makes his festival debut at Austin City Limits on Oct. 11. “I've been really, really dreaming about doing festivals, so I'm super excited.”

My Bad comes exactly one year after his Kids EP — a total coincidence, he insists — which spawned one of his largest hits to date, the peppy love letter “She Got A Thing About Her.” Within a few weeks, he was back with “Lost Myself 4 U,” a moody, Labrinth-esque breakup track that proved to be an even bigger smash. Now, he’s back with a project that he insists will make him a huge star before he turns 25.

“I think I'm going to become one of the biggest artists in the game. I'm not even lying,” Day says. “I have a drive now. Last year was a confidence year. I produced two records that are now my biggest performing songs, and I wrote them by myself, and it gave me the confidence that I can do this.”

“I'm excited to release this EP because they're going to get a taste of this and everything's going to start really, really, really hitting this next year,” he continues. “I'm just dialed in on all levels. [24 is] going to be a really big year.” We tend to agree, which is why we caught up with the artist on his second-to-last day of being 23 to talk about his new project, ACL, and the importance of authenticity in music.

How are you feeling about the EP release?

I'm excited for people to hear it. It's a collection of songs that I produced and wrote on one weekend. I fell in love with these records when I first made them, and I'm excited for people to hear this side of me. It's a different side of my artistry that I feel like I haven't really tapped into too much.

What was going on in your life when you were writing the songs?

A lot of where this came from was just influences of home and what I grew up listening to, like Phoenix, Current Joys, and MGMT, and trying to find a way to find all my favorite influences and mix them into one cohesive sound. I originally went into it making an album and I probably made 20 songs of music that are in this world. Then I was like, “I'm just going to make it an EP” because the thing about me is, I'm always writing and I'm always inspired. When I was writing it, I was changing and growing and trying to find what it felt like to listen to music as a toddler and just be jumping around.

I was talking to my girlfriend and she was like, "Bro, what was it with children that were obsessed with [the band] Fun.? I swear every kid I knew was f*cking screaming ‘Carry On’ for no reason." I was trying to capture that feeling for me with my siblings, who are much older than me. They were showing me MGMT and Phoenix and all of these original things that made me feel like that. That's where my head was at. I was really trying to get my biggest influences out.

Is there a song that you're most excited for people to hear?

I'm releasing a really deeply personal song on this record, something that I haven't ever done before. It's called “Cannonball,” and people probably won't guess what it's about, fingers crossed, because they'll take it in their own way, but that's probably the most exciting thing. It's the most different than all the others. I'm very excited. I don't even know how to f*cking promote that song online.

Well, I was going to ask if there's a song that you're nervous about putting out.

Definitely that one. It's the type of song where I immediately write it and I'm like, "Yeah, bro, I'm never going to release this," only because it's so personal to me and people that are in my life. The people in my life will literally be like, "Oh, it's so f*cking obvious." They'll all know because it's a trauma-dumped song, so it's just going to create f*cking lore and tea in my family tree.

How do you think you're going to navigate that conversation when it comes up?

I don't know. The person that I wrote about, I asked them, "Hey, do you want to hear this song?" And they were like, "Yeah, no, I don't want to hear this song.” But they're going to hear it, so we're going to see. It's one of those songs that if this type of scenario has happened to you, it's going to hit people if they really, really listen to those lyrics.

So would you describe the EP as your most personal work, or is that song just an outlier?

That song's just a standout. [The EP] has by far the most personal song I've ever written on it, but the EP in itself is really just me just not overthinking and just having a good time with music and finding something that's unique that people can latch onto. I will die on this hill that it's the most unique EP dropping that doesn't really sound like anything else this year. I'm not even being cocky, I actually believe that. I'm just confident and I know it.

Which of these songs are you most excited to play live?

I've been doing rehearsals for the past couple of days and I love playing “Will You Be Coming Around” live. It's so fun and I think people are going to really, really enjoy that. The first song on the record is a horny French song, and that song is my favorite to perform live for sure.

How have the live show rehearsals been going?

It's interesting navigating the differences between this music and how it's going to come across live. I don't know yet. I think it's going to be super fun and upbeat, but I'm excited to figure it out. It's a really, really good show.

Is there anything you can tease about the ACL set?

I'm definitely playing unreleased songs.

So does that mean more music coming soon?

Oh, for sure. The train is non-stopping. I want to be releasing so much more next year. I write too much to just hold onto it. I don't want to just hand it out to artists because I'm too much of a baby. I'm like, "No, I want this song."

Is there a reason for that?

I think it's hard for me to come to terms with giving a song to somebody if I don't feel like they will do it justice, so it really has to depend on the person. It's the same for if I'm writing for somebody, I don't want to go in there and not give them exactly what they want. I just have so much music that I probably won't release. So at the end of the day, it's like, "Brother, just settle down and just let them..." But I'm weird like that.

Is there an artist or artists who you do think would do your music justice?

There's definitely artists at the top I would love to write for. I would love to write for Daniel Caesar or Rex Orange County. That'd be really tight because I love composing and I know that Rex loves composing.

Who are you excited to see at the festival this weekend?

To be fully transparent with you, I haven't really looked at who's playing my day. I could be wrong, but I think Audrey Hobert is playing my day, which could be nice. I would love to see her jump on a trampoline. I love it.

Who else is inspiring you these days?

I've been listening to a lot of the new Steve Lacy record, Oh, yeah? I think it’s his best album. He is so good, and I'm in awe of somebody that consistently is themself. I feel like he doesn't try to be anything else but himself. That's what I find people resonating with a lot. I've been loving some Slayyyter. I just love people that are being themselves.

There’s obviously a trend for fans to hate on artists right now, and I think it's from imitation. When somebody's imitating something and it doesn't come off as authentic… everything needs to be as authentic as possible now, because nobody can really tell the difference anymore, so you need to be yourself and authentic because that's what hits home.

With AI and all this sh*t getting f*cking crazier, I've noticed a trend of people longing to go back to almost Tumblr-era sh*t. Filming on digicams, anything that feels nostalgic because everybody just wants it to be like how it used to be. I think that is really important right now. That's what I really searched for with this record because it just felt like how it used to be for me and what I fell in love with music. It seems like the most maxed out version of what I love. It just feels like me.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.