'5 Questions With': thomTide
"I believe the first day of summer, the solstice, is the longest day of the year, so the days only get shorter from there. I wanted to capture this natural decay and ephemerality that all things have. But it’s in a beautiful way that’s not disturbing."
Photo Credit: Kristina Shakht
Meet thomTide, who has been releasing tracks every two weeks since autumn last year as part of his authentic idea to create a cyclical sonic drama which coincides with the seasons. Previously, he’s gifted fans with the Fall part of his project, as well as Winter and Spring - each season shows different themes and emotions. Now, he’s delving into Summer, and to herald the season he’s just released a brand new track ‘rightBack‘. A gorgeous alt R&B song, infused with electric guitar and piano instrumentals, ‘rightBack‘ beautifully reminisces of old school soul music.
Ahead of the release, we spoke to the eclectic artist about his creative concepts and more.
Read the full interview below…
EQ: Which artists did you grow up listening to?
T: I think I could split this into 2 answers, what did my parents have playing around the house and in the car, and what did I start listening to when I first had an iPod and developed a personal relationship with music. Answer number 1 was Floetry, Amy Winehouse, Jill Scott, 50 Cent, Erykah Badu, John Legend, and Jackson 5 off the top of my head. Answer 2 would be The Strokes and Julian Casablancas, Kanye, and Kid Cudi. It depends how old “growing up” counts as but I was listening to Odd Future, A$AP Mob, and TDE in high school, in no particular order, those collectives are insane and are still leaving a huge mark on the game today.
EQ: What initially sparked the idea of starting a project alongside the seasons of year?
T: This was a convo with Dom, the visual artist. It started as the episodic project idea though. Dom was the first to make the TV show analogy and eventually that expanded into “seasons” that coincided with the actual seasons. Honestly the project evolved a lot as the year went, we didn’t have all the ideas upfront, most came later actually.
EQ: So tell us all about your new single ‘rightBack’!
T: I love rightBack. It might be one of my all time favorite songs of mine. I went into the song knowing I wanted to sample myself. So this song is actually 2 songs in 1. I was playing with this theory: if I want the final song to sound good, then the sample has to sound good by itself too. It came together so crazy. I was kinda scared I would mess it up at some point in the process, but it came out perfect. I’m a master simp so I just thought about how a bad, independent girl would make me feel, and it stayed true to that. Love this song.
Photo Credit: Kristina Shakht
“This is the last season of music for my debut project. But the visual series will continue into next Winter. That’s a very important component of the series so stay tuned.“
Photo Credit: Kristina Shakht
EQ: What else can we expect from your summer collection?
T: Summer is beautiful in my opinion. I didn’t want it to sound like a traditional summer blissful blue sky feeling. I believe the first day of summer, the solstice, is the longest day of the year, so the days only get shorter from there. I wanted to capture this natural decay and ephemerality that all things have. But it’s in a beautiful way that’s not disturbing.
EQ: Will you be continuing your seasonal projects or have you got anything else planned that you can share with us? 🙂
T: Yes I’d love to share! This is the last season of music for my debut project. But the visual series will continue into next Winter. That’s a very important component of the series so stay tuned on YouTube as well! And catch up with the Spring visual if you haven’t seen already! Directed by Giles Perkins and Jacob Lowy.
Watch the visuals to ‘rightBack’ below…
Youtube/thomTide
Stream ‘rightBack’ HERE
Follow thomTide on socials:
Instagram: @thomTide
Twitter: @thomTide
Facebook: @thomTide
