Where can we find you right now and what are you up to?
@tomauton on all socials
Currently working on songs for the next EP. My latest EP It’s Lonely Here in Heaven was released back November and has opened a lot of doors and gained some really great plays on Radio X, Amazing Radio, BBC Radio Wales and a lot more. Really hoping I can build on these stats with the next EP.
Tell us a bit about your influences.
My main influences are Royal Blood, Nothing But Thieves and Queens of the Stone Age. Vocally, Connor Mason (NBT) is one of the best modern rock singers I’ve ever heard. I also love their ability to cross into different genres whilst still very much maintaining their own sound. The dirtiness of Royal Blood’s guitar/bass tones will always hold a really important place in my influence pile. They are some of the most aggressive sounds but still cut through and catch you with singable melodies. Being a full time music producer has allowed me to draw inspiration from genres outside of my usual listening space. At the moment I’ve been listening to a lot of R&B. The drum beats and percussion layers are something that really interest me and I can see myself using some of the elements in my own music going forward.
How did you start?
I taught myself guitar from YouTube videos of Green Day, when I was 9/10. They were my favourite band growing up and the first song I wanted to learn was ‘Time Of Your Life’. I then started to play open mic nights around Cardiff from the age of 12, building up confidence. Open mic nights were a crucial part of becoming a musician for me as they encourage a safe space for you to share your ideas amongst other likeminded people. Luckily the open mics in Cardiff were usually full of really supportive people.
What obstacles does an emerging artist have to face in our time?
Every emerging artist is always presented with their own personal challenges when trying to push through and make a name for themselves. Personally I feel balancing a full time job with trying to be creative is a big struggle. You need to work to be able to afford rent, bills, traveling to shows that aren’t making you any money. I think another problem is over saturation within the market. There are so many great musicians that are all trying to push through and make a career out of this. There’s so much noise online that you need to cut through. In this age you also have to be a business owner, not just a musician. You’re the manager, the social media person, the booking agent, the van driver, the director. Which can becoming incredibly draining and leaves very little enthusiasm for making the most important thing, the music.
What worked for you marketing-wise? What advice or tips would you give to new artists?
Don’t just be the person who makes good music, that’s not enough these days. You need to show personality. If you’re funny, a bit stupid, you have another talent outside of music whatever, you need to showcase this through your content. It will take a while to find the right content for you, trial and error but don’t give up with it. Try and be consistent within your own time frame. Just because somebody else is saying you need to post once a day to be relevant doesn’t mean that’s true. Be as consistent as you can be within your available time.
What are your goals? Where do you see yourself in five years?
Short term goals are just as important as your long term goals. A short term goal of me this year is to be more consistent with writing. I have spells of intense writing and then won’t write for weeks. Which may work for some people but for me, I think I constantly need to be flexing the writing muscle to keep churning out good ideas. Long term, in 5 years time I don’t see any reason why I can’t be heading out on my own headline tour across the US. Could be 5 dates, could be 50. Being able to play my music outside of the UK has always been a huge goal of mine. Music has the power to allow you to travel the world, connect with new people, new experiences and I’d love to be able to unlock that moving forward.
Tell us about your latest or upcoming release.
My new EP will be recorded at Rockfield Studios, with Jack Boston, funded by Horizons Cymru. Followed up by some headline shows around the UK.