Tom Dibb
Tom Dibb has been making a name for himself on the live circuit and festival scene in the last few years but now he is back with his new EP Lost.
We caught up with the singer/songwriter to chat about the new collection of tracks and what lies ahead.
- You are about to release your new EP Lost so what can fans expect from the new collection of tracks?
I see it as a bit of a bridge between the tracks that I have been performing throughout my career so far and heading towards where I am at now.
So it is a mixture of older tracks - they haven't been released yet but they were written a while ago - heading into a... it goes from a folk sound to more of a folk reggae; which is the kind of direction we are going in now.
- That does lead me into my next question really. Many people will be coming to your music for the first time with this record so how would you describe your sound? And how have you seen your sound develop throughout your career?
I was quite heavily influenced by Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz when I was a bit young; so it was a pop/folk feel.
As I have got older my tastes in music has changed. I now listen to a lot more reggae and I think that you can start hearing that coming into the music. So I think you can expect a folk sound with reggae vibes.
- How have you found the response to the tracks so far - especially the very personal lead single?
The reviews for the track Lost have been really nice; I have had some really great feedback. It has all been pretty positive so far.
- You have worked with the likes of Matt Lawrence, Tony Platt and Oli Savill on this record so how did those collaborations come about?
It was through my management at Insomnia as they had friends of friends. Tony came along to one of the shows and he just really got where I was coming from and was like 'yeah, I would like to get involved with this'.
With Olli we gave him a call and he came along. Throughout the time making this EP and doing what I have been doing there has been a lot of people just turning up on the off chance and jumping on board; they really just get where I am coming from and get the vibe.
We have had people hopping on, hopping off for a bit and then hopping back on; it has been a fun journey and I have met some really cool people.
- Matt, Tony and Oli are hugely experienced so how did you find working with them?
It was incredible. I learnt so much about recording and writing. I am doing quite a bit of work with Graeme Pleeth at the moment and I have found him a huge inspiration into writing and where to take things.
But also it has been a really refreshing type of recording and I feel really comfortable producing and working with Graham.
So I think I have just taken parts from the experiences that I have had with everyone and it has made me more comfortable as an artist and in the studio.
- How do you find the whole producing process - is it something that you are very hands on with? And how important is it for you to get involved with that side of things?
I have got to say, when I started out I found the first hour of being in the studio a real novelty but after I had done what I needed to do I would be out on the couch.
As I have got older I have learnt a lot more and I have become more involved with the production side of things. Also I am writing a lot of the other instrument parts within the track; before I just played a little bit of acoustic and lyrics and melodies.
As time has gone on I have got a lot more involved and that is very important for me now.
- You have penned all of the tracks on the record so what inspires you to put pen to paper? As I have mentioned already the first track Lost is incredibly personal.
I have always had a bit of trouble explaining myself, getting my point across and expressing myself. I would just brush things that affected me aside and carry on the way that I was.
I hit a point in my life, which was just before writing Lost actually, where it all just went a bit pear-shaped. I had always been a happy kid with a love for life, but all of a sudden I just didn't know what to do with myself.
I think that bottling all of that up and brushing things off can catch up with you and put you in a dark place.
One morning I just woke up - this was after all of the anxiety, upset and depression that I had come into - and just pulled myself out of it, but I felt numb.
I knew what I wanted to do but I just didn't have any direction and I didn't know how to go about it. So that is how I started writing as I just wanted to get my thoughts down; that is how Lost came about as well.
- This EP is released through Little Fan Records but before you signed with them you were travelling around playing festivals and working on the circuit all of your own back. So how difficult an experience was that as you were trying to make your way into the industry?
It has been a rough old ride and it has been a long ride as well. Insomnia Music Management originally said 'we would like to make a record with you' - and that was just by going to see these guys to make a demo. But they were a small company at the time.
I was working full time in a phone shop and then I was having to get in a van and drive up Hartford to do some recording or rehearse. Trying to get a band together and then trying to hold a band together while everyone is trying to earn their bread it tough.
The last year or so has probably been the hardest but also the most inspiring. I packed in the day job and decided to commit 100% to the music. That was when I moved into the van and started to take the music to the streets; as long as I could fuel the van and fuel myself then I could get from place to place and continue doing what I love doing.
It has been rough as hell. The camper van life isn't all candy floss and pig-tails. You go through phases where you feel relaxed and free but the something might go wrong with the van and I need to get a new part and I can't afford it.
But I think it is character building and it is helping me grow as I am learning stuff all the time - such as mechanics (laughs). My musicianship is also getting better; so I am learning all of the time.
- You were spotted by Little Fan Records so what was it about this label that really appealed to you?
I liked the fact that they were quite a fresh new label and how organically it was created.
I felt that we complemented each other as we were both in similar stages of a career and we had both come from not very much. I felt that we had an awful lot in common.
- EP Lost is your first release through the label so how have you found working with them?
Great. This EP has been awesome. I had some of the best recording experiences doing a couple of the tracks on here. I have spent some time in a studio where I would be in there for hours doing something over and over again, and the creation of the record has been a really long process.
There were a couple of tracks on the EP - Whale Song and Old Man - where we everyone just knew what they were doing. We were in the studio Metropolis for a day, and that was it.
Everything got laid down and everything was that smoothly that no one was rushing around and there were some laughs. I love the way that they work.
- So where did your love of music start and what artists were you listening to as you were growing up?
I have always been a big Bob Marley fan. The around that there have been other influences that had come in and out. My first main commercial music that I did I was in a funk/rock fan - I was heavily influenced by The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Incubus; it was really quite different to what I am doing now.
Once I left that band and moved back to London my influences changed and I started doing my own thing. Paul Weller has always been a big influence along with Jeff Buckley and John Butler Trio.
There are guys kicking around now such as Ben Howard who I think is a great writer. I was at Beach Break Live last weekend and I bumped into Will And The People and they are an awesome band.
I will always have my roots of influences such as Bob Marley but then as time goes on I grow into something new and stop listening to something else so much.
I would like to think that throughout all of the tracks you can probably hear a little bit of everything; all the styles and genres that have touched me along the line.
- You have played a few live shows already but do you have any others in the pipeline this summer?
We have just done out EP launch in London and then we went on to play at the Cornbury Festival. We will also be at Bug Jam where we will be supporting The Hoosiers, so that should be good fun.
- So how have you found these tracks to be going down with a live audience?
Yeah, really cool. They have been going down really well actually. There are a couple of tracks on there that are quite dark and quite low pace and I sometimes get a bit worried.
But I will play one of these tunes and at the end wonder 'are they going to clap?' And the majority of the time it is all good.
But I will go to a venue where I am on after a couple of lively acts and Lost is perhaps not the greatest tune to thrown in there.
- Finally what is coming up for you for the rest of this year? Are you going to tour this EP for a while or are you very much thinking about the next release?
We have still got a few more VW shows to do and a few more festivals. We are going to be plugging this EP for a good couple of months, I would have thought.
We have already started thinking about the next one and we have also got another couple of videos in the pipeline.
- Is the next release going to be another EP or have you given some thought to perhaps doing a full length album?
There is definitely towards a full length album as there is a lot of material that I am dying to get down.
There's plenty of material and, as long as we have got the budget for it, it would be awesome to get a full album down.
Tom Dibb - Lost is out now.