[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ _order=”0″ style=”margin: 0px;padding: 4px 0px 45px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ class=”cs-ta-left” style=”padding: 0px;”][x_blockquote cite=”” type=”left” class=”introduction”]Rowena Field-Carter caught up with singer-songwriter Tom Walker off the back of touring with The Script.[/x_blockquote][x_image type=”none” src=”https://www.rebelessex.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/IMG_8561.jpg” alt=”” link=”false” href=”#” title=”” target=”” info=”none” info_place=”top” info_trigger=”hover” info_content=””][/cs_column][/cs_row][/cs_section][cs_section parallax=”false” separator_top_type=”none” separator_top_height=”50px” separator_top_angle_point=”50″ separator_bottom_type=”none” separator_bottom_height=”50px” separator_bottom_angle_point=”50″ style=”margin: 0px;padding: 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text]
Off the back of his most recent US Tour supporting Irish rock band The Script, we grabbed a few minutes with Tom Walker to chat about the tour, his latest release, future plans and Halloween costumes.
Rowena: Now people are finally hearing it, how does it feel to have āLeave A Light Onā finally released?
Tom: Yeah, itās good. Itās had an amazing reaction online. Weāve had a couple of new music Fridayās on Spotify which is wicked. We got a cover page in Germany which was quite unexpected. Support has been amazing; everybody seems to be liking it which is always good!
Rowena: Your new track is in Spotifyās āall-new, all nowā playlist, which includes artists like Eminem, Sam Smith, Taylor Swift and then we saw Tom Walker in there which weāre really excited about, so we had to do a follow-up interview. Itās good to hear that itās going so well.
Tom: Yeah, itās all going really well. Iāve been pretty overwhelmed by the support, especially from Spotify. Itās happy days!
Rowena: Really good to hear! Now, youāve just come off the back of a US tour with The Script, so what was that experience like?
Tom: Yeah that was absolutely amazing actually, it was really good. The Script boys are just total gents. They made us feel, you know, really welcome and at home on tour. It was just wicked.
Rowena: Do you have a favourite moment or highlight from the tour?
Tom: Ummā¦ we played in Salt Lake City which was quite strange. It was a segregated crowd based on whether you were drinking alcohol or not. One side of the crowd was drinking, and the other side wasnāt and before I went on, I didnāt know which side was which. It was actually the non-drinkers that were the best in the audience, so that was a bit of a shocker! It was a really cool gig; definitely one of my favourites. We did a mixture of seating and standing gigs, and yeah that was definitely one of my favourites.
[/cs_text][x_blockquote cite=”” type=”left” class=”quote”]”It was actually the non-drinkers that were the best in the audience”[/x_blockquote][cs_text]
Rowena: So strange, Iāve never heard of that kind of crowd segregation before!
Tom: Weird one, but an experience nonetheless.
Rowena: So, did you have a favourite song to play live; one you knew would get the crowd going, or one youād get the best reaction from?
Tom: Err, well weāve got two singles coming up and one of them was āleave a light onā and when we started the tour we hadnāt released it yet, and Iād say out of every song it got the best reaction every night. Itās always nice when youāre about to release a song, playing it live to get a reaction so you know you havenāt totally fucked up by releasing it!
Itās really good to enforce the choices that youāve made.
Rowena: Youāve said that āLeave a Light Onā is āone of the realest songs youāve ever writtenā, so could you tell us a little more about that?
Tom: Yeah, well itās aboutā¦ a couple of my mates have had a few problems with alcohol and substance abuse. One of my mates actually went missing for a little while. It didnāt seem like a huge problem, but he was off the radar for a bit, and I also lost a family member who was quite close to us as well. I just wanted to write a song ā me and my mates are quite a strong group of friends, and itās the same with my family; if somebody does go off the radar or goes missing, we spend a lot of time trying to figure out whatās going on with them and give them the support they needed, and I just wanted to write a song about that really.
Rowena: This time last year when we spoke to you, you told us youād written 80 songs in the last sort of year and a half as youāre putting together an albumā¦have you got a progress update for us on the album?
Tom: Yeah, the albumās comingā¦I donāt know when! But I do know itās coming next year, hopefully before summer. I would say probably around April if I had to guess but err, weāve not finished it yet. Weāre about to start recording soon, and Iāve got all the tracks I want for the album, but I just want to make sure they all sit together, and that they sound right and that we manage to capture the live elements that we want to get on the record.
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Rowena: Yeah, so are you working with Jim Abbiss again?
Tom: Yeah, I am! Iām going to record with him next week, so weāre going to spend 2 weeks in the studios together which I am so excited about because Iāve been away touring for ages, and I love touring, but my real thing, the thing that Iām most in to is going to the studio and really honing down on each part of the song and making the sound the best that it can. So Iām really excited to get back in. Jim is just such an amazing producer ā I phoned him up this morning, and like, heās as excited as I am! And thatās wickedā¦I donāt think you necessarily get that with every producer, so Iām really buzzing to go back in and record it!
Rowena: Awesome, weāre excited to hear it! So, when and where can fans next catch you?
Tom: Um well there is a list of UK dates coming up everywhere from Scotland, Manchester, Leeds, Brighton then finishing in London (and probably a few others Iāve forgotten). Like, Iāve literally just got back from The Script tour, and Iām still a bit bamboozled by the whole thing.
Iāve got a couple of dates in Europe with a band called Hurts, and a few in England, so that will be wicked as well.
[/cs_text][x_blockquote cite=”” type=”left” class=”quote”]”I love touring, but my real thing, the thing that Iām most in to is going to the studio and really honing down on each part of the song and making the sound the best that it can. ”
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Tomās success over the past year has put him on the path of a very bright future. Check out his new EP āLeave a Light Onā and see what you think for yourselfā¦ https://open.spotify.com/track/6lOWoTqVnAWXchddtTH31W
Before we let Tom go, we just had to knowā¦
Rowena: Just one more, bit of a stupid question: do you have plans for Halloween and if you do, whatās your Halloween costume?
Tom: I donāt know what to do actually. If I had to pick itād probably be a ghost because it would be something really last minute that I havenāt thought of, and Iāve definitely got a spare sheet going in my house somewhere!
Rowena: Thank you so much for taking the time, we look forward to seeing what youāve got for us in the future!
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