Meet QT, the Singer and Energy Drink Phenomenon Influencing Everyone from Club Kids to Kim Kardashian West

If you haven’t heard of QT, you’re about to. The singer and energy drink sharing the same name both made headlines yesterday, when comparisons were drawn to Kim Kardashian West’s promotion of the taurine-spiked beverage, Hype—from the can design to the women’s micro bangs and iridescent skin. QT started as a rumble in nightclubs and bars in London and New York, with her (Quinnton Thomas) poppy, unquestionably bubbly electronic music matched by the fizzy pink liquid that was passed around her dancing crowds. “I was trying to put the same feeling in two different forms,” said Thomas over the phone last week. The combined uplifting effects were hard to ignore, especially considering everything from QT’s sound to her beverage and her look were designed to be deliberately surface-level appealing.

But QT the singer is more of a millennial Edie Sedgwick, a bright up-and-coming star at the forefront of PC Music’s Warhol-esque factory, led by producers A. G. Cook and musical contributor Sophie, who pair lip gloss–sporting songstresses with a kind of London-bred K-pop. The themes of their songs range from lying in bed pining for a boyfriend—“Even though you’re so far away, I feel your hands on my body every time you think of me” rings the chorus of Thomas’s song “Hey QT”—to cravings for a sip of sweet, sparkling lemonade. It’s almost ironically upbeat. “I wanted [my music] to make people feel something. I’ve always been interested in energy,” said Thomas, whose career came to pass after a fortuitous run in with Sophie in New York. “It was in a totally white space. We had both shown up wearing the same outfit in different colors. We had this sort of silent connection that ended up being really generous.” With the help of Sophie and Cook, she produced her first single, music video (which has almost 500,000 views on YouTube), and her now sold-out drink. Here, she talks to Vogue.com about the many ways she has learned to lift her mood—from the best recharging spas in the world, to the transformative power of a dye job, and, of course, her next track.

You’re on your way to Los Angeles, are you going there to record?
I’ll be working on more music, but it’s much more of a vacation. I really want to go to this spa, Wi Spa. The last time I was [in L.A.] I went to Crystal Spa, which has a mud bath, and to the Natura and Olympic spas. [After Wi Spa] I’m going to drive to Joshua Tree to Integratron. It’s a sound bath with crystal bowls. It’s a [kind of] cleansing and you lay on the floor. It’s a sensory experience.

You are something of a spa connoisseur!
I’ve done tours. Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Spain. I drove from Miami to L.A. and went to spas along the way, which included my second favorite spa in the world, Ojo Caliente, outside of Taos, New Mexico. It’s a mud spa in the middle of this rock field. You coat yourself in mud and bake in the sun. They have baths with different herbs in them that are so helpful in terms of redistributing energy and recharging. I also drove from L.A. to Washington [stopping for the] geothermal pools along the way. The first thing I do when I visit a new city is find water. For example, in Larvik, Norway, there’s this spa called Farris Bad, where it feels like you’re floating on top of the [fjord] because it’s all glass. There are different chambers for different elements. One was a cave that had cold, fresh water, another one had salt water, one had rosewater, and one had a [local] herb mixture. Through these visitations I keep learning about more plants. That has been so inspiring.

And you put the plant research into the energy drink?
Yes. Initially when I started making music, I was really interested in making a sensory experience: I wanted people listening to the song to feel higher and lighter in their bodies, the same way an energy drink might make you feel. [I designed QT to] promote personal growth and internal movement. The first meeting I had was in L.A. with Eden Batki, who was making tonics like rosewater turmeric soda that tasted good and were [made] for specific issues—like healing insomnia.

What else do you use to alter your energy?
[Beauty] products can be energizing and nourishing, influencing how you feel like conductors. I’m constantly using things like rosewater, lavender, basil, elements to help ground me or make me feel uplifted. In the mornings I use Heritage rosewater spray that I got at Flower Power in New York. It’s an herb store [that carries] all these different sprays and teas. It’s an incredible resource, really. And if I need to be woken up, I use a jade roller around my eyes that I keep in the freezer. I’m really interested in lavender at night as a calming agent. I have Ritual Union lavender oil by Brandi Perkins that I bought at SXSW in Austin. It’s phenomenal. I put it on my body before I go to bed almost like a sealant.

Do you ever wear perfume or do you just scent yourself with oils?
I’m super into fragrances actually. Right now I like B. Balenciaga. Sophie is really into fragrances, which is why I started becoming more interested in them. It’s such an incredibly fast way to communicate because it’s so sensory based.

Tell me about your makeup routine.
I like to sort of look androgynous, so I don’t wear makeup, but I use a lot of oil. If I’m going out I’ll put rosehip oil around my eyes, on my cheekbones. My skin doesn’t absorb it very quickly, so it looks almost like a glow or a soft gloss. [For the day], I’m very much into using zinc as a shield [from the sun], which is [also] really useful for makeup. I like it as an eyeshadow, because in really warm weather, it won’t melt. I also blend it on my cheekbones as a highlighter.

What about for your video or for photo shoots?
I’m interested in makeup that comes from the inside out. On the “Hey QT” video set, the makeup artist used a water spray, ice, breathing techniques, and massage movements that encouraged my skin to perform to the best of its ability. It really changed how my face felt and looked. She just walked me into this other way of feeling.

You’re a bit of a hair chameleon. I’ve seen you with short hair, long hair, bangs, and different colors. Do these changes change you?
Hair is really empowering—you can use it to transform yourself so quickly. When I shot the QT cover photo I had really short blonde hair. The [shade] was an attempt to become as close to light as possible by draining myself of color. After that, I grew it out and turned it red. The red felt so much more me. It’s difficult to synthesize when something doesn’t feel like you. One time I cut my red hair extremely short, which was really exciting but I felt like a completely different person. That was challenging. [The length of your hair] influences your sense of space. I experiment with my hair a lot. My hairstylists—Masami [Hosono] at Assort in New York and Shiori [Takahashi] in London—do so much for me. I’m so grateful.

What is next for QT?
I’ve been working really hard on the next project—something soon. I’m not sure what people will expect of the second phase. [What I can say is that it’s] going to be as uplifting as the first but in a totally different way.

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