We had the pleasure of speaking to TOMMY the newly turned solo artist. He was previously in a band called Arcades and had been a part of that for 10 years, which came to an end two years ago now. He is now carrying on his music career, solo. He has been very busy the last 18 months; writing at his house, moved house twice, he and his partner moved in together, “so that was all happening”. He has kicked off his solo career with a bang, a song titled “Alive”, he claims his inspiration for this was “just life influences all around him.” During lockdown he found out a lot about himself and this reflects in the directness of the debut single. The song is about “in those moments, like pinch me moments and uber moments!”
Whilst reflecting on his time in Arcades, and how it has shaped his solo career so far, he says there were some “rocky times in the band, and some really good times, we played out the Isle of White festival when we were quite young, met a few cool people through it and made a lot of friends!” Unfortunately, coming to the end one of their band members who he had actually started music with passed away. Tommy is very grateful for his times in the band as he feels like he became a man in there! “I’m really fond and proud of the things we achieved in the band!” Bass player, Jack from Arcades had a lot to do with the new solo music and is going on the road with them on tour! A couple of the songs he will be releasing, as a solo artist, he actually wrote in the band.
When we asked him what made him want to start music his mind went back to a memory of him, “when I was watching the telly on holiday in Portugal and a re-run of something The Beatles were doing and it blew my mind”. Not having an influence before that he thinks it was the haircuts and the fashion that caught his eye at first, which you can still see reflected on him today! Tommy found himself getting obsessed with John Lennon, as even when he was very young, he would go in to school on non-uniform days dressed in a full-on suit, so it is definitely fair to say that The Beatles made their mark on him... and this interview for that matter!
Therefore, it is no surprise to think that is Tommy could collab with any artist, it would be one of The Beatles, Paul McCartney in this case! He has recently just got McCartney’s new lyric book and just watched ‘Get Back’, The Beatles documentary. He now claims that he thinks Paul is his new favourite Beatle taking over from John Lennon. “Paul McCartney man he can pull melodies out of anywhere, like he making a cup of tea and he pulls a melody out the cupboard with it! I buzz off him, I think he’s great.”
Tommy found it difficult to pin point one artist which was his biggest music idol right now, as he is “one of those people who listen to so much music!” Yet... “I think Paul McCartney, it does switch around a bit. I'm kind of one of those people that gets obsessed with someone or some record, and it will change my life for like a month, Paul McCartney at the moment!”
“Modern soul and Rock ‘n’ Roll”, is what Tommy would describe his new music as in five words! “That was like “that was like rehearsed weren't it that?!” We wondered if there was even a bit of rhyme in there, which he replied with “might have to put a bit of a riff to that!” Each of his upcoming songs are very different to each other, there is a lot of different things in there like: “some horns and trumpets in there and hip-hop kind of lyricism, crazy kind of spectrum!”
The Coronavirus pandemic has affected the music industry massively; no live shows, making it difficult to rehearse. However, some artists have reflected on it, saying it had helped their creativity and stay focused. This is what Tommy had to say, “I would say that not having anything else to focus on helped as humans we get fed so much information especially on social media”, as much as he is guilty as everyone else in that sense, he kind of banned himself, and found other ways to “busy himself not with a telly, or anything like that.” He told us that he got better with playing the guitar, his vocal range changed as he can do a “hell of a lot more than he could two years ago”, vocally.
Also reviewing the end of his previous band, Arcades, “I guess it has [helped] in a way as things have come to an end with the band, and I was in lockdown when that happened. There was a lot of change.”
The pandemic helped him focus because he is “quite a scatty person and being stuck in the box helped”, but he thinks he really locked in to writing and got stuck in to how the songs felt rhythm wise and with the lyrics. Lyrically he says he did a lot of “revision” as he found himself listening to music he hadn't before, as five years ago he could say he only listened to indie rock ‘n’ roll music but now he is listening to old school hip-hop, and soul records more. “So much music out there as it's so much more accessible now, there's a lot of gems!” Tommy says. “Spotify is such a good thing for music listens, but I guess for musicians when you're trying to get a pay day it's not so good.”
Last year, Tommy performed a few warm up shows “testing out new materials.” He added that last year was getting himself set up for new few years, as he has “written like three albums worth of songs.” Going in to his solo career, whilst writing those “three albums worth of songs” he has been working and writing with many different people this has led to him feeling the best musically he has ever felt!
Tommy would tell his younger self to “not worry so much”, following it up with “I’m a bit of a worrier. Chloe would say that!”, his partner.
We asked him who some of his fashion inspirations were as he definitely has the style nailed down! Is it going to be one of The Beatles? “No, you know what Harry Styles! He is a vibe not his One Direction crap, but now I think he is an icon kind of guy, I like his solo stuff and think he’s cool. Image wise, quality wise and how he puts together his outfits. I mean if it wasn’t him probs David Bowie, or yahno Elton John, incredible iconic stuff he used to wear.”
He went on to describe that he has a friend called Ray Brown who has made clothes for Alex Turner, Miles Kane! He made Tommy a few pieces, so when they sat down and talked inspiration, he used the likes of David Bowie and Harry Styles. He now has five jumpsuits made and has taken them on tour with him. Ray Brown has made clothes for Lady Gaga in the past and Tommy tells us that “apparently she only wears things once, she’s one of them. So, she actually gave it back to him!” A multi coloured velvet suit, which Tommy has tried to put on in the past but it's too small.
… And that is TOMMY in a nutshell! ‘Alive’ is out now, and available to stream on all major platforms. It is an absolute tune, and to learn more about ‘Alive’ you can read our review on it, on our blog! Thank you to Tommy for this lovely interview, and we look forward to everything he will achieve in his solo career!
By CAITLIN
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