Originally from Uxbridge Ontario, Tom began his musical journey as the singer / guitar player in a slew of pop punk bands with terrible names, performing at highschool parties. It was there he fell in love with playing in bands and writing music. Tom moved to Toronto to attend Humber College’s Jazz program where he studied with musicians including Larnell Lewis and Rik Emmett. It was there Tom formed the six piece funk band JUICE. They started off playing covers by artists like The Roots and Rick James and eventually worked their way to releasing two EP’s, and a full length record which received regular play on CBC radio and charted number one in sales on Bandcamp after going viral on reddit. JUICE toured all over Eastern Canada appearing at festivals like The Burlington Sound of Music Festival, PEI Jazz and Blues Fest and NXNE. After playing with the group for eight years Tom felt like he needed to go out on his own, he knew that he had more to say and that JUICE wasn’t the right platform to do it.
Tom teamed up with songwriter producer and all around amazing guy Nixon Boyd (Hollerado, Dizzy, dad of Shelby). The duo worked hard to refine Tom’s voice and aesthetic as an artist. They even got as far as completing a five song EP that Tom never released because it just wasn’t what Tom was going for. At that point in Tom’s journey he felt like he would never find the sound he was searching for. He started gigging as a singer & guitar player in a wedding band to pay his rent. Slowly he became acclimated to performing in a suit and tie, playing “Brown Eyed Girl” over and over and enduring never ending bridesmaid speeches every weekend.
When the pandemic hit Tom and every other musician in the world took a huge hit. All of his gigs dried up and all he was left with was time and CERB. Tom was determined to use that time as an opportunity to grow and finally find his sound. Tom and Nixon met every morning on Zoom, endlessly rewriting lyrics and chords, sending voice memos back and forth. After writing over 60 songs Tom knew they had finally found the sound he had been searching for. Simple lyrics that illustrate what the young people of today are dealing with. Mental health and financial struggles, the division in our society, coming to terms with taking over the dumpster fire left behind by the previous generation. Lots of guitars, dreamy synth and vocal layers, all riding on the r&b grooves he learned from those Rick James covers he used to play.
Once the lockdowns lifted Tom hit the ground running, quitting the wedding band and went full throttle into bringing his new sound to life. Tom brought together a group of super talented Toronto session musicians and cut the nine bed tracks on his album in two days. He then went into his home studio for the better part of a year, producing, singing and performing all of the additional instruments for the album. If Youtube tutorial videos could get producer credits, they would be all over this record’s liner notes.
Honestly, there were times when Tom thought he would never finish the album. Constant questions from friends and family “Are you actually working on it?” “Wow..it’s taking you forever.” Through it all he kept sitting down and finally after months alone in the lab he was able to hand the project over to mixing engineer Braden Sauder of Marquee Sound to bring the album to the finish line. It’s been one hell of a ride for Tom, but now he is ready to share what he has been working on for the last few years. Tom’s first single “Overnight” comes out on all streaming platforms on Nov 3rd, 2023.
