48
INDIE
ISSUE 88 / 2016
Stood behind me a week on from our interview, a fan wept whilst Tom Odell performed “Constellations” from his new
album. It was hard to ignore the soft whimpers and the focused gazes on each fans face throughout the room.
Alice G | Guestlist
How did you realise music was the career
path you wanted to take?
I started playing the piano when I was 7. It
wasn’t really a conscious decision, I started
writing songs and from that I carried on
writing them. But I never really intended on
being a musician. It was always something I
just did.
When I was 18 I decided I definitely wanted
to get into a position where I could make my
own album and I really tried to give it a go
however I had no money so I went to work
in bars. I worked in various bars around
Brighton and Chichester and then started
commuting up to London when I was 19 to
perform.
Was music a big influence throughout your
childhood?
My immediate family weren’t that musical
but my grandmother had a piano, which
was in her house. Whenever we went over
there I would always play it. I asked for
piano lessons and from there on out I got
really into it. It was very much my own thing.
When you’re young teenager and you have
your own hobby, which no one’s forced onto
you and you just find yourself going to it
a lot. It certainly always felt it was my own
little thing.
When you realised that music was what
you desperately wanted to do, was it an
easy transition to get into?
No, I worked really hard at it and did a lot
of gigs around Brighton and in London. I
worked very hard at the song writing but
although I worked very hard at it, it didn’t
happen over night. I’d done a lot of gigs
since I was 16 so it wasn’t until I was 20/21
that I got signed. Some people have a far
longer slog, but I became very motivated
and there was this one moment where I
realised I really wanted to do it but I had to
put my all into it. I spent every waking hour
putting my all into songs.
Tell me about the process of making
your debut extended play ‘Songs From
Another Love’
The EP was songs from the album ‘Long
way down’. I had already finished the album
by the time I put the EP out. So the EP
was more in the way of putting out the first
song.
How did all of these acknowledgements
come about and represent where you
were at in your career?
Burberry had already played another love
at one of their fashion shows and I had met
Christopher a few times. We talked about
doing something together and I really liked
how they put music and fashion together.
Since then we’ve done lots of things
together, I’ve played in LA at their show
and they’ve used a few more songs at their
shows. The Brit awards were a good step
right at the start. I guess it launched my
career in some ways.
Reaching No.1 was a good achievement. I
was at Glastonbury when I found out and
never expected it. It was a lovely moment.
I’m not sure whether any of these awards
or number ones were searched for, I don’t
search for any of these gratifications, it’s
all about the music. But they’re certainly a
symbol of success I guess and I’m not sure
that it was something I was searching for
but it was nice to get the number 1.
How did the offer of performing for John
Lewis’s Christmas album arise?
They asked me to do it and I really liked
the song by John Lennon. I was always a
big fan of that. I loved the penguin visuals
and it was immediately clear to me they’d
done a beautiful piece of work and had
done a good job on it. It was very emotive.
I love the way picture and music marries
and I’ve always been obsessed with that,
even with what I’m doing on this album I’m
getting very involved in film, music and that
marriage and how they go together. It was
a nice way to soundtrack the advert, they
put a lot of effort in to it.
Strangely in the summer before they asked
me to do it, I was running around Victoria
Park, which is close to where I live, and
that was the park they were shooting the
advert. I stopped and asked what they
were shooting. They said the new John
Lewis advert. Cut to 6 months later and
they asked me do it. I felt it was this weird
energy and I felt I had to do it, as it had
been this strange weird coincidence.
fashion. Despite the fact we know he’s not
done that you still believe he’s had a sense
of that longing for freedom and longing to
escape. I think that’s where the emotion is
coming from. However he addresses it in
the way of a story but I think that whether
it’s a protagonist or first or third person
you draw from such a big pool of feelings
so it’s never without emotion. Occasionally
it’s very direct for example a new song of
mine called jealousy is a very direct song
about a certain situation but once again
it’s still with imagination. In order to write
anything I put myself in a situation almost
like a painting or a film and you imagine
every detail, drawn from an experience in
order to dramatise it.
Do you find touring strenuous on your
relationships?
I think I’m still working it out. It can be
but when you make albums and you tour
you choose to do this job, in this way it’s
a lifestyle choice not a job. If you want to
have a routine lifestyle and go back every
day and to watch TV, which is what some
people desire, and don’t get me wrong
I’ve felt myself desire it before but I’ve
always been terrified of routine. It was the
thing that killed me at school, doing the
same thing every day. It’s a double-edged
sword though at the cost of it’s difficult
to maintain relationships. But I pay a lot
of attention into keeping my private life
private and my music my music.
“I think I’m still working it out. It can
be but when you make albums and
you tour you choose to do this job, in
this way it’s a lifestyle choice not a
job.”
Would you say your songs are extremely
emotionally connected to yourself and
past experiences?
I think they have to be, I think it’s
impossible to write anything emotive
without it having some sort of emotion,
it has to come from somewhere and if
you’re writing that it’s from yourself, it
has to be a feeling you’ve had in order to
write anything of any poignancy. Anything
that’s moving has to have come from what
you’ve felt. But the way you write it is “err”
for example Springsteen’s ‘On The River’,
he writes about his brother and he writes
about characters in ‘Nebraska’.
Characters aren’t from the first person so I
guess you could argue that he’s writing not
about his own direct personal experience
but when you listen to the song you know
that despite his story telling he’s not on
the run in some sort of Bonnie and Clyde
How do your influences fall into your
music?
It naturally falls in. When I was maybe 13
or 14 and started writing songs I may of
heard a song and thought, I’d like to write
a song like that, but I very much grew out
of that and started developing your own
style. I can’t ever say I tried to make a
song sound like anything else, but I guess
subconsciously you do.
Without doing any of discredit to other
artists, Nina Simone is a huge inspiration,
as I still can’t really believe how good she
was. Her piano playing was so articulate
and her voice was one of the most soulful
you could hear. I think Springsteen for his
commitment and the way he serves the art
with such integrity. And Radiohead. I grew
up as a teenager listening to Radiohead.
How have people reacted to the new
album or new songs?
I think good, it was really important to
me to do this small tour of Europe and to
play these songs in really small venues for
the first time. We pretty much played the
whole album each night and the reaction
was really good.
Where would like to see yourself in one or
two years?
I’d like to have made another album in a
couple of years, I’m very inspired when
writing albums and I’m feeling very
energised by it, and I’ve got a lot more to
say and I hope in two years I’m still saying
it.
Tom’s highly anticipated second album
consists of a diverse set of tracks. I
was thrilled to hear such soul in the
majority of songs whilst admiring how
adventurous the new album is. Tom has so
far released ‘Magnetised’, ‘Wrong Crowd’
and ‘Constellations’. Both ‘Magnetised’
and ‘Wrong Crowd’ are dynamic with an
energetic rhythm and a tenacious base
whilst ‘Constellations’ is a delicate ballad.
When performed live the songs came to life
with a full band and range of vocals.
Just from briefly looking over my shoulder
or glancing at the fans around me I
could see how the new album has been
embraced with open arms. I must admit
I haven’t seen Tom perform before, and
following such a bold set live I had no idea
how he performs when not at the piano. Of
course I have watched videos on YouTube
but I wanted to see his charisma from being
stood with a microphone facing the crowd.
Tom performed twice with his piano aside
and to my delight he didn’t look lost at
all. In fact I was blown away by a strong
and defined presence that didn’t have to
demand the audiences attention.
The crowd were not only thrilled with
the new album but were clearly yearning
for two of Tom’s most known tracks from
his previous album. Tom obliged and
played both ‘Another Love’ and ‘Can’t
Pretend’. The room came alive with fans
of his previous album screaming the lyrics
towards him.
It would be difficult to decide on one or
two songs that shine from the new album
as it wont do the rest of the album justice,
but I will mention both ‘Concrete’ and ‘Still
Getting Used to Being On My Own” which
have a strong structure and melody. For
the majority, the song concrete is calming
whilst having both a soulful melody and
overlaying of harmonies before building
momentum into middle 8 and finishing on
with high energy.
Overall the album is extraordinary with
each song having a difference and some
form of catchy loop. Tom’s performance
was just as outstanding as his new album,
with myself finding I didn’t have enough
hands to count the teary fans.
Follow @tompeterodell