Tom Tripp

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Hailing from Cally Road, North London, Tom Tripp is a Grammy-award nominated artist and producer. Acclaimed for his release, ‘Glow’, his EP ‘Flag’ was released in September and has received love across the board. EQUATE caught up with Tripp, who was in Los Angeles working on new music, and discussed the music, the method and the meaning behind it all.

EQ: Who is “Tom Tripp” and how did you come up with your stage name?

TT: The way I came up with my name is I used to do a lot of acting before music, and I’d look at all the biggest actor’s names who were also Toms. (Tom Cruise, Tom Hardy). And I wanted something that sounded sick like those names. And I knew alliteration is important in entertainment because it easier to remember your name (Rick Rubin, Mac Miller, King Krule) then boom. I made Tom Tripp.

EQ: When did you discover music was your calling in life?

TT: When I heard the outro of Justin Timberlake ‘Love Stoned’ / ‘Think She Knows’. Do you remember the Love Stoned music video, and at the end of the song the guitar and strings come in and Justin is in that white room? That was it! I remember just thinking “why does this sound so amazing?! Why is the music making me feel this way?!” I knew I had to create music that made other people feel that way too.

EQ: Who was your biggest musical inspiration growing up?

TT: Timbaland and Kanye West. Timbaland changed the Pop/R&B game with his production. I studied his beats and now I approach production very differently. I throw in the most random sounds in my beats because of him. Kanye is simply a God – I was 15 when I heard ‘Dark Fantasy’, that album was literally musical theatre AND a movie at the same time. A classic. It changed the way I look at music.

EQ: Describe your sound and what makes it unique?

TT: My sound is pretty dark, but my melodies are the complete opposite. You’ll hear me sing about bad past experiences, but it will be over the nicest chords. It’s a Ying Yang situation with me. To make my songs stand out, I always do these distorted adlibs in my songs that make you know it’s a Tom Tripp track. You can hear it in the beginning of my song ‘GLOW’. I love doing it, it’s like a wolf version of me.

EQ: Explain your creative process to us? How do you get into the place where you create your best work?

TT: I create my best work alone. I can’t have anyone in my studio when I’m recording. Music is incredibly personal to me, so I make sure all my mood lights are on and my diffuser oils are topped up. Then I just get in that vulnerable state where anything goes and whatever is on my mind will pour out without even trying to write.

EQ: Would you say musical art is your only form of creative expression? If not, what are your other creative outlets?

TT: Music is my only form of creative expression, that’s why it’s so personal and sometimes takes a while for me to complete songs. I’ve never had another outlet to express how I feel creatively, I need to find another one soon so I’m not always so much in my head though.

EQ: What is one of your guilty pleasures?

TT: This is super random, but there’s this Russian YouTube channel called ‘stop a douchebag’ where a group of boys take the law into their own hands and stop people driving on the curb, or parking in the wrong zones. It sounds boring but they get into CRAZY fights with weapons and even Putin acknowledged their work. IT’S MAD!

EQ: What keeps you grounded in this fast-paced industry?

TT: Staying off social media. It can really mess up your mental health if you see too many things online. A lot of it is smoke and mirrors, but you can put unnecessary pressure on yourself when you see other people doing things you’re not. As long as you know you’re truly working towards what you want, you’ll be good. Just stay away from the screens from time to time.

EQ: What advice would you give to your younger self?

TT: Stop taking advice from people, everybody is winging it. You already have the answers you’re looking for…just keep working.

EQ: What can we expect to see in the next year from you? Do you have any exciting projects coming up that we can get the exclusive on?

TT: I’m currently working on my debut studio album for next year. I’m just getting the songs together now and developing the concept. The project is going to be based around ‘good pain’.

You can follow Tom Tripp on socials:

Instagram: @tomtripp

Twitter: @tomtripp

Tom Tripp credits :

Photography: Matthew Salacuse

Styling & Grooming: Self-Styled