Hiya Thomas, thanks for joining us in the virtual RGM lounge today. Grab a brew and take a seat.
Thanks for joining us today… Tell us a bit about where you are from and how you got into music?
I’m from Sheffield, UK, and I grew up playing guitar from being five years old. In secondary school, I got into other instruments, singing, and music tech, and it basically just grew from there. I discovered my favourite bands (Takida, Periphery, Architects, Bring Me The Horizon etc. – rock and metal heroes of mine), and became absolutely obsessed with wanting to be in a band. If you were to have asked me from the ages of 14-18 what I wanted, I’d have said that I wanted to be in a band. I truly thought about nothing else.
What’s the live music scene like in Sheffield right now?
I feel lucky to have been born and raised and to still live in a city thriving with music. I’ve been easing into the grassroots scene since I started taking my music career seriously this year, and I almost feel stupid for willingly letting the community slip through my fingers for so long. I may be a Sheffield local, but I was hardly a social butterfly growing up. Music was always something I just used to enjoy in isolation. I didn’t even get good at performing until my degree days. There is no shortage of gigs or events in the city.
Anyone we should be looking out for (bar you, of course)?
My friend George, also known as GEB (@geb_on_stage on Instagram).
What are your ambitions for your music?
If I can make a living as an independent musician, I’m happy. Vastly different from 14 year old me who wanted so desperately to be a rock star. I just grew up, life got in the way, and my ambitions and music tastes shifted. Not that the dream is dead, it just changed. I realised I had the ability to write my own songs around my late teens, and it evolved into me starting my career as a solo artist at 24. Ten years later and that fire is still there. May it never fade.
We believe it’s essential to have a presence on Facebook, Instagram and X to introduce yourself to all the different types of audiences out there, what’s your thoughts on that?
Definitely. I’m new to regular content, but I can see my once negative opinion on it slowly starting to shift. I only have Instagram (and a Facebook page purely for running ads) because I’ve been using it for so long that it’s the one I’m sticking to. I couldn’t keep track of multiple accounts.
What’s your view on the Music industry today?
The music industry today is almost like an assembly line to me. You release a single/album, tour it, hope to see a return and growth during that album cycle, and then write the next one. I especially struggle with the concept of the retention factor – the idea of needing to make content all the time or regularly make songs/albums just to make sure people don’t forget about you.
Not that my attitude towards the industry is totally pessimistic. It isn’t. I’m just one man and the music industry is an ever-changing monolith. It’s hard not to feel intimidated. So I try to maintain a healthy attitude. Amazing music is made every day. You just have to go looking for it. Look for interesting playlists, go to gigs and get there for the opener you’ve never heard of.
Music means the world to me because it’s the only thing that has ever given me a sense of belonging, and a gateway to a social life that I otherwise wouldn’t have. Music to me is about community and experience, not competition. Obviously there is a balance – healthy competition between peers is fantastic for artistic growth.
What’s your thoughts on AI generated music?
It’s forced me to quickly reevaluate and adapt my approach to making music to begin with. I want to be clear: AI alone is not a cultural taboo to me. AI generated music however, is. It’s as though the walls are caving in on me sometimes, and I’ve hardly got a foot in the door.
If music, which I treasure and love with my whole being, can be so easily fabricated and churned out by algorithms to apparent mass appeal, what’s to stop the overall value of music going down? Does the process of creating and recording music by hand matter anymore when we are seemingly reduced to output rather than quality? Do all the hours I’ve spent from being 16 studying music tech and recording and honing my craft mean anything significant when the music is so streamlined now? So many questions float around in my mind, and it doesn’t help that I’m an overthinker.
But I want to remain defiant. Not out of stubbornness, but because I love music. It’s that simple. All AI generated music has done for me is make me lean into my humanity and the emotion in my music more than ever.
What’s the biggest thing you have learned recently as you progress with your music?
To trust my emotions and to trust the process. To put in the hard work, because it leads to songs that I love, and in the long run, a discography that I can be proud to call mine.
What’s currently in your ears and on rotation at the moment?
It’s mostly a mix of metal and folk at the moment – two very different extremes. I love listening to albums front to back when I have time to spare. An album I’ve been listening to a lot lately is Ghost Stories by Coldplay. It’s a real comfort record for me.
What was your worst experience on stage? Any funny stories to share?
It’s early days in my artist career right now, so the one moment that comes to mind is when I played a gig in April and forgot the lyrics mid song – I had to stretch out the music until I remembered the line. It stands to reason that I should know these songs in my sleep. They’re very lyric heavy and also on the lengthy side (around 5 minutes on average), so knowing them like the back of my hand makes performing them fun and cathartic and enjoyable, rather than unforgiving and a test of my memory.
I hear you have new music. What can you tell us about it?
My latest song Sympathy (10th July) is the song that I feel the most proud of and confident about to date, and when people ask me about my music, this will be the song I show them every time. It began as a song written in haste after I turned 24 this year, that I reworked and recorded over a period of days. It’s taken on a very different meaning to me in the last couple of months for personal reasons, but that ultimately makes the song more special. I never tire of playing it live and I don’t think I ever will.
What was the recording process like?
I converted what was my old childhood bedroom into a home studio last year. It’s the perfect creative and productive space for me. I wrote, recorded, mixed and mastered the song by myself there. But it was also tested live at open mics and gigs beforehand, to see how people reacted to it. Not having bandmates or many contacts means my work often exists in an insular bubble, which I don’t like. So the input from a casual audience was invaluable information – taking in the reactions to be informed on what works and what needs improvement, ended up shaping the final recording.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
I wouldn’t change a thing.
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