3L3D3P
I WAS BORN TO BE WEIRD
3L3D3P performing at Primavera Pro Barcelona. Foto: Ivan Martínez / TMN
Marina Thompson built 3L3D3P to make the music she had been carrying for years: electronic, personal, and free to follow its own instincts. After playing bass and writing in other bands, she stepped away to develop her ideas on her own. In this conversation, she talks about finding a creative community that welcomed her experiments, making art without fitting into industry expectations, and trusting the parts of herself she once learned to hide.
BARCELONA | Interview by Pablo Herrera | Photo by Ivan Martínez
TMN spoke with Marina Thompson, the artist behind 3L3D3P, during Primavera Pro Barcelona 2026. Before starting the project, Marina spent years playing bass and writing with other bands. She had always wanted to make electronic music, but the more personal and unusual elements she brought to those groups often met resistance. After leaving those projects, she took time to write on her own. The support she found in the Vada Vada community helped her bring the project into the world.
“For the first time I had some people who also create tell me that it was cool. Whereas up to that point I honestly was mostly met with animosity.”
That experience shaped what 3L3D3P stands for. Marina is drawn to work that feels unpredictable, and she wants her music to reach people who are tired of seeing artists pushed toward the same sounds, images, and ways of performing. She sees the project as an extension of herself, carrying the different emotions and contradictions that make up her life.
“I hope to create a new world and a new experience in music and art for people who need something new.”
3L3D3P performing at Primavera Pro Barcelona. Foto: Ivan Martínez / TMN
Marina has been called a weirdo since childhood. Over time, she stopped trying to make that part of herself easier for other people to accept. Now she sees her openness as a way to make room for others who feel out of place or pressured to fit a mold.
“Since I was a child, I had a lot of shit for being such a weirdo. So that got out the way really young. All right, I’m going to be fucking weird and people are going to hate it.”
Her lyrics often begin with a feeling she needs to express. Some address the rules and forces she experiences as obstacles to being herself; others start as a line in her phone notes and wait years for the right music. When the words and sound finally meet, Marina listens for the feeling that comes through.
“If it makes me feel a little bit of a spark inside, that’s it. That’s what I want to give people. I want to give them a spark. Feel something.”
For Marina, that feeling is central to why art matters. She welcomes work that unsettles or provokes her, even when the response is difficult. Art, love, and the emotions they stir up are at the center of how she understands life.
“For me, the only meaning of life is art and love and the love of art, essentially. Everything I do and everything I aspire for is for the betterment of art, for the experience and the feeling that art provokes.”
Video games have shaped how Marina experiences and imagines the world. She describes herself as a gamer, especially drawn to role-playing games, and says games influenced her sense of fashion and music. Ideas such as loading bars and life bars also appear in the way she thinks about everyday life and in the visual language of 3L3D3P.
Final Fantasy is one of her major references. Marina collects images from games, Japanese street fashion, old magazines, Renaissance art, books, political figures, and people she encounters. She brings them together in mood boards and lets patterns emerge before deciding what they mean.
“I let the subconscious win. I don’t have to analyze it. I already believe enough that it’s going to be good, just waiting for it to materialize.”
Marina speaks with conviction about continuing to make art, even when people around you doubt the idea. She believes that artists are more likely to regret holding back than taking a chance on work they care about.
“If you feel like you’re supposed to make art, you’re supposed to make art. […] You don’t want to regret your art, not doing your art. So just give it your all.”
Her ambition is to captivate the world while building a space for people who want to experience something less predictable. As Marina puts it: “If you want to change the world, do your art.”
Our full interview with Marina Thompson is now live, and you can watch it below.
Interview by Pablo Herrera / TMN. Primavera Pro Barcelona 2026. Teens Media Network®
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