Features : How One Sombr Supporter Went Viral on TikTok

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MEGAN TOMASIC: Hello? Hello.

JEREMY O. HARRIS: Hi, Meg.

TOMASIC: How are you?

HARRIS: Good. Do you go by Meg or Megan?

TOMASIC: I go by Meg, I guess.

HARRIS: Fantastic. I have to say, I generally do not get involved in whatever the Twitter or the TikTok drama of the week is, but you are so charming that after the third video I was like, “Well, it’s giving click follow. This girl is going places.”

TOMASIC: You’re spectacular. Thank you. I looked you up too. So game recognizes game, I suppose.

HARRIS: That’s very sweet.

TOMASIC: I didn’t expect to blow up obviously, but there’s some pros to it.

HARRIS: I guess the main thing I’m curious about is, what happens when one becomes the main character of TikTok for a week?

TOMASIC: Nightmare fuel, for sure. It’s terrifying. I mean, I’ve had some semi-viral videos before, but most of my content is super political. I live in D.C. This is probably the first time ever that it’s been like, “Oh, we’re coming for you.” I went from like, “Oh, this is getting a lot of traction. Yay, my video’s doing well,” and then it became, “Oh no, there’s people making hate videos.” And then the worst part was when he made a response, so the whole internet’s going to talk about it. I’m seeing a lot more in my favor than I am in his, so I’m okay with it right now. 

HARRIS: Yeah.

TOMASIC: It’s fine to address it. I just think the way he addressed it was so not correct. If you’re going to take the time and address it, you can’t do it orally. You have to think about what the repercussions of what you say are going to be. So that’s the aspect of him that I think didn’t go well, not just talking about it in general.

HARRIS: Totally. Have any of the tweens that have been basically calling you “chopped” and “unc” been funny?

TOMASIC: Oh my god, yeah. And I reply back to those like, “No, this one got me.”

HARRIS: What’s been your favorite?

TOMASIC: Oh my god, that’s hard. Wait, someone said something recently, actually today. It was like, “Oh, so you need to pick out a retirement home. You need to know where your walker is.” Those are really funny. I guess the only one that really clocks me is on my first video, where a bunch of people were like, “Your first mistake was being a Sombr fan.” And I was like, “You get me there. ” 

HARRIS: The reason that I really loved it is that not only did you have passion, but you had specific passions around what you thought the ideal concert experience should be. If someone hit you up, Sombr or Sabrina Carpenter or Role Model or any of these people, and waa like, “Hey, girly pop, tell me how to run a perfect concert,” what would be your perfect experience of watching a young artist you haven’t seen before for the first time? Is the first thing like, 16 and up?

TOMASIC: No. Okay. I don’t think that. This is the problem. So many people in my first video were like, “Oh, kids can’t go to concerts anymore.” Obviously not. I was a One Direction stan when I was a kid too, screaming my head off, ready to go in case they pulled me on stage. I know that, but I think there’s a healthy, charismatic balance. Specifically with Sombr, a lot of the stuff I noticed was people who went to his shows earlier in the year loved how he handled himself. I’m not a music expert or reviewer, but they’re saying they went to a show again later in the year and suddenly it’s a comedy show in the middle. I paid for music, I didn’t pay for a comedy show. I paid to hear you sing.

HARRIS: Everyone’s doing a skit now, but not everyone is Sabrina Carpenter.

TOMASIC: Right. And you’ve got to feel out the crowd too. At my show specifically, he pulled up three people. One of them’s phone was dead, and so that was like a five-minute ordeal and then he left the stage and they pulled up another person. But if you feel like the audience is growing slow, play the song. Why are we still dragging? So I guess, just reading the room.

HARRIS: You say you normally do politics, that you’re not a music reviewer, but you did review this experience quite well. Is there a world where if someone calls you up, you would do it?

TOMASIC: Yeah, a hundred percent. I would do it too for a check. [Laughs] I don’t know. I’m going to another concert next week and I won’t be telling anyone that until after I go, but—

HARRIS: Who is it? They should be afraid.

TOMASIC: Cage The Elephant. 

HARRIS: Nice.

TOMASIC: Putting this on the internet, I learned so many new things about the music industry that I didn’t know, like their beef with different celebrities and who’s on team who. I had no realm or scope. I just like the music. So I don’t want to do it full time, I don’t think. But if somebody’s like, “Hey, come review my concert,” yeah, I’ll go. 

HARRIS: What I like about this is that we are in a moment when the live experience is becoming less necessitated. You aren’t even sure if people who are watching the concert with you are actually watching it, because there’s so many phones everywhere. So to find someone who has passion for live experiences as someone who makes live experiences made me really excited about it. Do you do any other live experiences? Do you see theater? 

TOMASIC: Not enough. If I had more time, yeah, I’d love to.

HARRIS: What can these uncs—because I am actually unc—do to get people like you to come to my shows, whether they like it or hate it? What was it about Sombr? Was it just the three songs you were waiting to hear that got you to pay the money, get the Uber, and go to the concert?

TOMASIC: Well, one is convenience, and obviously coming to my city. I’ve traveled once to see a concert and it was like in college when I was the biggest fangirl ever. I mean, I literally binged his music. I loved his songs. I hadn’t seen him on TikTok or anything. I texted my friend before I went and tickets were kind of expensive,  like a hundred bucks a piece, and I bought them three nights in advance. So it was $200 between my boyfriend and I to go. And to your point, the phones thing, no one’s dancing or anything. There’s no culture or vibe. There’s just phones in the air and people screeching in my ear and I’m like, “Okay, this is not what I expected at all.”

HARRIS: I do really like this because one of the other goals I had with this was to sort of invite you guys to have a “Girl, So Confusing” moment with each other, artist to fan. If he ever called you up to make it work out on the remix, would you answer the call?

TOMASIC: Based on my replies, I’m not sure he ever will, but I guess I would entertain it. Prior to his response video, a hundred percent. But I feel like using your really large platform to dog down on somebody who had a bad critique, however scathing it was, turned me off a lot.

HARRIS: Yeah. I mean, listen, I believe that everyone is their weirdest self on the internet. I don’t want to say best or worse, but everyone’s their weirdest self on the internet. I saw that Role Model liked one of your videos. Has anyone else really fun liked anything or slid in your DMs?

TOMASIC: Well, here’s the thing. If I’m not refreshing constantly and staring at my phone, I miss it because of the amount of notifications I’m getting… I did see Madison Beer liked my follow-up video. I’ve seen a lot of influencers that are more niche, but that I follow, now following me back. And I was like, “That’s so sick.” I grew 60K followers in a week because of this.

HARRIS: That’s crazy.

TOMASIC: Isn’t it? I mean, listen, I didn’t expect it. But here we are.

HARRIS: So you’re seeing Cage The Elephant next week. Who else would you be really excited to see because you have this sort of draw to their work?

TOMASIC: Okay, well, I think I’m going to have to wear a mustache when I go, first of all. Any concert I go to, especially in DC now, I feel like people are going to be like, “You’re that chick.”

HARRIS: “That’s the girl.”

TOMASIC: So I would love to not have that happen. Cage, I’ve seen before, but it was pouring down rain at a festival, so it’s going to be a different experience. They put on a good show the first time. I would love to see Hozier. Gaga, I would love to see. Miley Cyrus, would love to see. She would eat that up. And if she does a Hannah Montana tour, I’ll be there. I guess, they’re all pretty mainstream.

HARRIS: You like a singer, though. You like a voice.

TOMASIC: Oh, I do.

HARRIS: Well, listen, the next time you’re in New York, hit me up. I want to bring you to the theater. I want to get your reviews, scathing or otherwise, and I want us to hang and chat.

TOMASIC: I would love that.

HARRIS: I think the thing we need more is more passion. And I think you brought a Pauline Kael vibe to the Sombr concert experience. The world needs more Pauline Kaels.

TOMASIC: You’re making me feel really good because thus far the internet’s like, “You old hag.”

HARRIS: Pauline Kael was an old hag too. That’s okay.