'American Idol' Winner Noah Thompson Talks New EP, Reveals Zakk Wylde Inspiration (Exclusive)

'American Idol' Winner Noah Thompson Talks New EP, Reveals Zakk Wylde Inspiration (Exclusive),American Idol winner Noah Thompson just released his brand new EP, Middle of God Knows Where, which features a collection of perfect summer country tunes, including his remarkable cover of Rihanna's 'Stay' and his hit single 'One Day Tonight.' Fans will remember Thompson as the winner of American [...]

‘American Idol’ Winner Noah Thompson Talks New EP, Reveals Zakk Wylde Inspiration (Exclusive)

American Idol winner Noah Thompson just released his brand new EP, Middle of God Knows Where, which features a collection of perfect summer country tunes, including his remarkable cover of Rihanna’s “Stay” and his hit single “One Day Tonight.” Fans will remember Thompson as the winner of American Idol Season 20, where he competed against singers Leah Marlene and HunterGirl. Thompson emerged the champion, and now he’s kicking his country music career into high gear.

Recently, PopCulture.com had a chance to chat with Thompson about his new music, as well as what it was heading back to Idol earlier this year to perform a duet with HunterGirl. He also opened up about how much his life has changed since winning the show more than a year ago, and how its impacted his family. Finally, Thompson opened up about his father instilled in him a passion for music from an early age, including an affinity for Black Label Society, a heavy metal band founded by guitar legend Zakk Wylde, who is well known for his work with Ozzy Osbourne and, more recently, Pantera. Scroll down to check it out!

PopCulture.com: You got to head back to your old stomping grounds American Idol a couple of months ago, to perform “One Day Tonight” with HunterGirl, how was that experience for you?

Noah Thompson: It was really cool. Definitely weird seeing the judges’ face again. But it was cool. We recorded that duet version soon after I recorded the original. That was a Jimmy Robbins idea, because Jimmy had the idea of Hunter and I doing a duet thing. We were like, “Yeah, man, let’s do it.” So it was exciting for it to finally be out, because we’ve been waiting for it forever to come out. I love Hunter too, man. So it was cool for us to get to go back together and perform on a show as a duet also. So yeah, it was fun. We had a great time.

You just released a new EP, Middle of God Knows Where. Did you go into the process with the intention of putting together a collection of specific songs, or did you just start working on music eventually felt it all had a good flow?

Honestly, soon after the show, I knew I needed some songs. I didn’t know I what to expect. I knew I needed some songs. I knew that I have a project to start working on… And I knew that I needed them fast. So, half of the songs I did not write, half of the songs I did. It’s stuff that we got together fast.

My single’s on there, my very first single, “One Day Tonight.” That’s obviously a really important song to me, man. Then it goes into the songs that I’ve put out already, stuff that people are already familiar with like “Make You Rich.” I love that song because I felt like that song was just… I loved it because it was me. It felt like it made me think of my little boy and my family. That’s why I love that song so much. “Stay” was a really big point, a really big piece of my life, man, on the show that was a big turning point for me. So I wanted people to feel that too. Also, coming from my very first EP. Then there’s some love songs in there, breakup songs.

The title track off the EP is “Middle of God Knows Where.” That song particularly I wrote when I first came to Nashville with a couple people, man. That song was just something I was going through. Everybody loves a good breakup song anyways, but that was really something I was going through, truly. It felt like it was something that I wanted to say, I guess. It turned out being one of those songs that felt like me, production-wise also. I was like, “I definitely want this on the EP.”

My debut EP “Middle of God Knows Where” out now 🤘 pic.twitter.com/JQzEHeCLe8

— Noah Thompson (@noahthompsonmu1) June 9, 2023

“Make You Rich,” that song that you mentioned, that one really for me like, oh my gosh, really touched a note. How poignant and how just special of a message.

I know. That’s why. I heard that song… I actually heard it when I was still on Idol. I think I was in the top seven or something like that…. Once you get to that point, you’re looking for songs to cut. Everybody puts out their own single, this and that, but I ended up going with “One Day Tonight,” just because it felt like it was a perfect first hit.

I have no regrets with that whatsoever. That song’s always going to have a big piece of my heart. But, I listen back to “Make You Rich” also, and it was one of them songs that just felt real, felt authentic, and felt like me. So, I knew I still wanted to cut that song.

I wanted to ask about something I found interesting on your “Noah Thompson 101” Spotify playlist. I was listening to the songs and noticed Black Label Society’s “Spoke in the Wheel,” and I wondered, “Is Noah Thompson a metalhead?”

(Laughs) I grew up listening to that guy, man, Zakk Wylde’s like my… he’s top two man, for real. I grew up listening to him, man. I was a big, not necessarily a metalhead, But man, Zakk, after all the stuff he did with Ozzy, and he started going off on his own and doing his own thing, man. And he did stuff, “Spoke in the Wheel” and “Torn & Tattered,” songs like this and that, man, God, dude, that… I don’t know, I can listen to his, he’s the kind of guy man that I can listen to his music over and over and over and over, and it never gets old. You know what I’m saying? That’s music I like. You know what I mean? Yeah.

It was like soulful, man. It’s like soulful music, man. Man, I remember when I was a kid, I remember walking in the house and just listen, watching my dad. My dad is a, he’s a huge inspiration to me. He always has been, man, growing up. You know what I mean? Playing music, he’s in a band. But my dad’s serious, so serious about music man, and how everything goes. It’s not a joke to him, you know what I mean? It never has been, he’s always been so serious and he was a huge Zakk Wylde fan man and he would just sit and listen. I’ve never seen a grown man just sit and listen to music more than my dad, in my life, man.

I remember as a kid just walking in the house and him just had that record on. He’d just listen to it and he’d just sit there. He’d just sit there and cry, man. You know what I mean? I remember that clear as day. He would just sit there and just listen. It was like he could sit there for hours upon hours and not say a word to nobody. He would just listen. You know what I mean? And the way that song, that music made him feel, that told me that’s real music, man. That’s what is real right there. That’s how music’s supposed to make you feel.

So did that have a big impact on your sort of development of wanting to have a musical career?

One hundred percent. There was plenty of times… My dad’s always been my huge inspiration, man, since I’ve been a little boy, honest to God, man, from the time I was a little boy… He bought me his little bongos, man, when I was three. And he said I’d beat that crap out of him. You know what I mean? But it taught me how to keep rhythm and stuff, man.

And we jammed dude. And I was like 3 years old and I had a little bongo, and it barely even made it sound, but it taught me rhythm, man. But he knew, he always told me, he just knew he wanted me to do something, you know what I mean? Which we had no idea this crap was going to happen. We had no idea. We had no idea. But he, man, he’s always just told me my whole life, he’s like, “Man, you’re going to do something. I just know something’s going to happen.” You know what I mean? So when it happened, man, it was so unbelievably unreal. You know what I mean? We just couldn’t believe it. But still can’t believe it. I know I’m so blessed to be able to do this. God, I can’t even. There’s no words for it, man.

It’s a very, very fast trajectory of life. I mean, within the span of a little more than a year, you’ve gone from being a construction worker to being on American Idol, rising to the top, winning, and now you have a full-fledged country music career. It seems like it’s been a whirlwind, if there ever was a definition of it.

That’s what I’m saying, bro. Ain’t that crazy? I think about it every day, man. But like I said, man, it has changed my life. Like insanely man. It’s the reason my little boy eats food now. You know what I’m saying? It’s the reason he has clothes… This is all the reason I get to take care of my family in the first place. You know what I mean? Yeah, man, I’m blessed, dude.

I feel like a lot of people lose something that, man. How I feel like we’re all very lucky to get to do what we do. I mean, even if I was still working a regular job, man, I’d still be just as happy. You know what I mean? I would, I would still, but obviously this is my dream and dream come true, you get to play music for a life, for a living, you know what I mean? That’s a pretty cool thing, man if you ask me.

I am, I’m super excited, man. I really am. I’m super excited. It’s my very first project in general, man. It’s my very first project, so I, God, dude, I’m stoked about it. I am. I’m super excited about it. I can’t wait to see how people feel about it, you know what I mean? I want to see how people relate to it, you know what I mean? I can’t wait.

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