RENAISSANCE WOMAN
Jannine Weigel on finding her niche through Youtube
WHEN 10-year old Jannine Weigel first stepped on the stage to sing, she immediately knew this was the career she wanted to take. Now a solo artist under Redrecords, Jannine has emerged as a renaissance woman who is putting Thailand on the global music stage with her single “Passcode.”
According to Jannine, “Passcode” is simply a song about “falling in love but still being scared.”
“You’re basically asking for the passcode to his heart but you end up telling them how you feel,” she said. Through a combination of its dance pop melody and Jannine’s effortless charm and vocals, “Passcode” is not only a delight to the ears, but shows that Southeast Asian music can stand toe to toe with other acts around the world.
Born in Germany and later moved to Thailand, Jannine was a born entertainer, having entered the entertainment industry at age 10 first as a model and later as a child actor.
“When I was eleven I wanted to take part in a singing competition. And before that I loved music but I never really took any lessons so I didn’t really think that I was good at it. But I tried it anyway,” she shared.
“The moment I got onstage, I immediately knew I wanted to pursue music as more than just a hobby.”
As fate would have it, Jannine was able to catch the attention of a record label shortly after the competition and was quickly signed on to become an idol trainee. Unlike K-pop idol training, which is known for being extremely rigorous and requires almost 24/7 devotion to perfecting both singing and dancing, Jannine said her own training did not require her to live in her record company’s premises.
“In my experience, I would only go to the company about four to five times a week and have dance and vocal lessons. Sometimes we have performance or acting lessons as well,” she shared.
After six months of training, she wanted a new challenge. Given the immense popularity of Youtubers at the time, she decided to start her own Youtube channel, which featured mostly covers and vlogs.
“I felt really inspired by them so I thought, Why not try it too and see where it goes?,” she said. Through Youtube, she was able to experiment with many different singing styles and was able to prove to her company that she was worthy of debut.
“Some would train for more than a year, maybe two to three years and some would maybe not debut at all,” she said “I think what got me to debut really fast was when I started gaining more recognition for what I’ve done in my Youtube channel. It kinda made them (the record company) see that I was ready.”
Jannine also pointed out that doing Youtube helped her understand what her audience expects of her which went a long way in developing her own style and in finding her niche.
“I definitely learned a lot and through the process I was able to find myself and have a more clear image of who I am,” she concluded.
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Just one major hit plus a couple of minor winners and “The Glow” has an inside track on Best Album of the Year honors.