Interview with Jannine Weigel about her music career, about the drive behind her new song

Jannine Weigel

ML&L - For those who aren't familiar give a little back story with how you came to music?

Jannine -I started with music when I was 12, that's when I started my YouTube channel. Back then I was already in a (Thai) label but I was still a trainee so I had a lot of free-time. That's why I started my YouTube channel. That’s where it pretty much took off.


ML&L - Are you more of a singer or actress and model?

Jannine - I actually do both singing and acting, and even though I act quite a lot people remember me more as a singer, one reason is probably because singing was the thing I started to get famous of.


ML&L - Who are your inspirations? What got you to write songs? 

Jannine - My inspirations are mostly female singers, say Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande. I think they all are amazing performers and watching their shows is just mesmerizing. I hope I can entertain as good as them one day. I think for me writing songs is a way to express myself. There are so many things I want to say but I sometimes don't have the courage to say it or I just don't know how to say it so I try to put it in my songs. For me this way is much easier to tell people what’s on my mind.

ML&L - How Thailand and Germany influenced on you?

Jannine - Thailand and Germany both have very different cultures. Growing up in Germany (and living there for 10 years) the society there is pretty straight forward. We say what we think. But here in Thailand it's a bit different. But that isn't really a bad thing, it's just another way. But both cultures have shaped me into being a better person and made me understand people a lot more, and how diverse people are.


ML&L - How have your Thai-German roots influenced your music style?

Jannine - My Thai-German roots influenced my music style a lot since I got to listen to a lot of different music in different languages (Thai-German-English) and analyzing each languages' songs you can see that there is quite a pattern in each languages' songs which I find interesting. It helps a lot to create something new and mix these things up when doing my own music.


ML&L - What are your biggest dreams for your career?

Jannine - My biggest dream is to be an international singer, to go touring around the world and make music that inspires people and makes people grow. I find that music can have big influence on how you think, for me what I listen to shapes my mind so I want to make good music that lifts people up and builds them. That's my ultimate goal.

ML&L - What is the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in the music industry?

Jannine - I personally think that everything in the music industry is hard. It’s hard to find someone who can create music that I vision of. Its hard to find sponsors every time I plan to shoot music videos. Its hard to promote my music when I don't have a label. But luckily I still have a lot of support from my fans, without them I couldn't keep on doing this. And I believe that one day everything will get a lot easier. I just need to keep on pushing.


ML&L - Has there been one particular moment in your musical career that you’re most proud of?

Jannine -There are just so many moments I am proud of. One of them is my first million subscribers on YouTube, or releasing singles and Music Videos that are created by myself (not with a label). I think every step that I made is just a little victory that I'm proud of.


ML&L - What’s your motto or the advice you live by?

Jannine - My advice is to do what you love not for yourself but to make the world a better place. We all need to help build each other up cause we were built to love each other and live as a community. Doing it for the money won't make you happy. At the end money can’t but love, not permanently.


ML&L - Do you have any advice for anyone wanting to sing as a career or just advice about singing in general?

Jannine - A lot of people sing well but what can make you stand out is character. There is always going to someone who is a better singer than you so don't try to compete with someone else, you'll only get frustrated. Better compete with yourself cause every time you do, you'll be a little bit better than yesterday's you.

ML&L - What was the inspiration for the song  "Strangled Love"?

Jannine - The inspiration of Strangled Love is basically about being in a relationship that (doesn't necessarily have to be a romantic one) is destructive but you don't want to let go. I tried to visualize it through the MV with dancers that are statues and later on turned me into a statue too cause of the tiring relationship that was destroying all the emotions.


ML&L - What projects you are currently working on?

Jannine - I'm working on the MV for my last song on my EP DEEP END called Heart stop. It’s going to be a fun and quirky video with dancing so I'm very excited about it.


ML&L - What are you up to next? What does the future hold?

Jannine - I'm planning to focus mainly on original songs now and do less covers since I really want my identity to be a singer and not just a cover singer. I plan to do collaborations and travel more. I'm really excited for the future.