DPS Interview Final Text

Article Text

---
In the ever-growing community of young musicians posting their tracks online, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out - yet some still manage. Tom Bridge is one of them. With his fanbase rapidly expanding, we decided to interview him to get an insight on his life and his music.

Playlist: So let’s start with a little bit about yourself for any readers that might not know you already. How would you define your music?

Tom: Right okay, so my music is quite hard to define; I suppose it’s quite retro-sounding - I saw a comment a while back where someone said I’m like a mixture of The Beatles and Pulp, with a slight hint of Oasis mixed in there too, so maybe more 90s Britpop than “retro”, I guess!

Playlist: Have you always been musical? What led to you persuing music as a career?

Tom: A lot of people are surprised whenever I say this, but until about three or four years ago, I couldn’t play any instruments had no interest in learning. I was always more of a listener than a player, but I got bored of listening to other people’s music, so I made my own. Simple. I started uploading my creations to YouTube and before I knew it, I had built up quite a following. It was only then that I saw this as a viable option for a career and decided to drop my plans of being an engineer and pursue music.

Playlist: What is your overall process for creating your music? How long does it take?

Tom: It really depends on the song. Sometimes, if I have something on my mind, I’ll just grab my guitar and have a play around until I like what I hear, and then I’ll post it online. For my more polished album tracks, I spent a good year or so trying to nail the sound. When people are paying to listen, there’s a lot more pressure to impress them, so it takes longer.

Playlist: Apart from creating music, what are your other interests? Are there any cross-overs with music?

Tom: I’d definitely consider myself to be a bit of a film buff. When I’m not writing or playing, I’m usually watching some sort of indie film, either at home or in the cinema. There was actually a cross-over between films and my music on my most recent album - the final song on the album is loosely based on Forrest Gump.

Playlist: You just released your first studio album - what’s next for you?

Tom: Currently I’m on a UK tour with a few other musicians and then I’m taking some time off to do a bit of travelling. Once I’m back, I’ll be starting work on a huge project that I can’t talk about quite yet! It’s something new for me and I’m very excited!

Continued on Page 12
---