We spoke with Bandit about how Jenny went from a slow piano ballad to a viral dance track, the social media strategy behind its success, and what up-and-coming artists can take from her journey.
When Sarah Thompson Clark—aka Bandit—released her emotional track “Jenny,” she wasn’t expecting it to blow up the way it did. Written about her late grandmother, the song is raw, vulnerable, and deeply personal. But somehow, that’s exactly what resonated.
From Grief to Dancefloor
“Jenny started really slowly,” Bandit explains. “I wrote it on the piano. It was soft, heartfelt… definitely not a dance track.” But things changed when she started working with producer Belfort. Together, they took a risk: they sped it up from 87 BPM to about 127.
“There’s often this fear that if you change the original tempo, you’ll lose the emotion. But we just went for it—and it worked.”
Interestingly, the track was originally pitched to Fred again.., who passed. “Totally fine,” Bandit laughs, “not bitter.” But Fred’s publisher loved it and ended up releasing it through his own label. That’s when things started to move fast.
Behind the Scenes of Going Viral
Contrary to the myth of the overnight success, Jenny’s virality was the result of a very intentional social media strategy.
“I had a team,” Bandit says. “We’d meet—sometimes on Zoom—and come up with ideas. Then we’d shoot a bunch of content in one day and post gradually over time.”
Her team followed a smart rule of thumb: if 1 in 10 viewers liked a video organically, then it was worth promoting with ad spend. If not? Let it go.
“Promoting too early is dangerous,” she warns. “I had a post pushed before it hit that 1-in-10 ratio, and it ended up on the wrong side of TikTok. It turned into bullying. It was awful. And because we’d paid to promote it, it couldn’t just be taken down instantly.”
The Power of Personality
Not every video was about singing. “We did what the team called ‘personality posts,’” Bandit says. “I hated the term, but I understood the value. It helped people connect with who I am—not just the music.”
Those posts added dimension to her artist profile and created space for deeper emotional connection. And that connection became even more evident when Jenny started taking off.
“We decided to use the line ‘Oh, heaven, can you hear me?’ over and over. It’s so direct—it tells you exactly what the song is about. It helped people connect fast.”
UGC: The Moment It Clicked
One day, someone from the label called and asked if she’d seen the UGCs rolling in.
“I didn’t even know what that meant,” she laughs. “It’s user-generated content—people using your song in their own videos.”
At the time, Jenny had around 2,000 UGCs. “I was told a song by Little Mix had 500 in the same window. That’s when I realized, ‘Wow—people really love this song.’”
Even Nathan Dawe was playing it in club sets before it was officially out. “That was huge for me. This was my first proper dance track, and to have people in that world responding so well—it was incredible.”
The Real Secret? Being Honest.
Looking back, Bandit says the biggest lesson wasn’t about marketing tricks—it was about honesty.
“For so long, I tried to write ‘radio pop.’ I tried to tick all the boxes. But with Jenny, I told the truth. It was about real loss, real places, real feelings.”
She thought it might be too personal. Too specific. But instead, that specificity was exactly what made people connect.
“I learned to stop trying to be someone else. People don’t want a copy of what’s already out there. They want you.”
Final Advice for Artists Trying to Go Viral
Bandit leaves us with some wise words for anyone trying to break through:
“Make the videos. Try everything. See what’s working. What makes you different from the next artist? Is it your voice? Your story? Your humor? Use that.” She adds, “You don’t need to be perfect. Just be real.”
Sarah tutors on our MA Songwriting & Production course and provides 6 month mentorship with students as part of the course.
