Tom Walker, who played Trinity Ball last April (2018), has recently been nominated for a Brit Award. His track ‘Leave a Light On’ in particular reached global success, and is loved by many. Ahead of his tour and debut album release (What a Time To Be Alive), our music editor got the chance to speak with him.
Tom, congratulations – you’ve recently been nominated for a Brit Award (British Breakthrough Act)! What was it like for you when you found out about that?
There’s a video I put up on my social media – I was so shocked, plus it was first thing in the morning and I hadn’t had a coffee just yet. I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that I’m actually nominated, but also I’m getting so many messages from fans saying they’ve voted for me. It’s sick and I’d be absolutely buzzing if I actually won it.
It’s a well deserved nomination, your tracks have consistently blown us away – ‘Leave a Light On’, ‘My Way’, ‘Angels’ and now ‘Just You and I’. What is the song writing process like for you – does the melody come first, or the lyrics? How does it develop?
It’s different every time. Songwriting is kind of like therapy for me, where I just get out whatever it is I have on my chest at the time and it comes out sounding the way it does. All of those songs were wrote in different ways with different people so there’s not really a set process.
Your debut album What A Time To Be Alive is due to be released later this year (March 1st). What has that experience been like for you?
It’s been crazy. I’ve been writing the record my whole life, so when you finally have to make the decision that the record is now finished, it’s weird because it’s hard to feel like it’s ever fully finished. I worked so hard over the summer last year to get it finished, there were a lot of sleepless nights in the studio and but it’s come out sounding next level, and I can’t wait for people to hear it.
You’ve been compared to the likes of Rag’n’Bone Man, Lukas Graham and James Arthur, but who would be your own musical influences, do you think?
My main influences are AD/DC, Paolo Nutini, Muse, The Police – basically anything I listen to or listened to growing up creeps in there somehow. My dad was and still is mad into music so he brought me up on all the music he listened to and we went to so many gigs together, it’s really shaped how my music sounds.
What has your musical journey been to this point? You released your first single in 2016, has it felt like a long road to this point?
It’s been an absolute whirlwind – I’ve visited every continent across the globe playing music and meeting fans. It’s been just as crazy as you’d imagine. My music has developed over that time and I listen back to some of my early demos and can’t believe I thought that was once good, but some of that early stuff has made the album and sounds amazing.
What would be your hopes for the future? Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with in an ideal future, or any arena or location you’d love to play to?
MEN Arena in Manchester is my absolute dream. I went to so many shows there growing up with my dad like Foo Fighters and Muse, so to go back and play there would be next level.
You’ve got a number of live dates coming up, how do you feel about that?
I can’t wait to get out on the road following the album release and fans will know all the new songs we will be playing in the set. Being out on the road with my band is so much fun and the way this year is shaping up we’re going to be out on the road a lot again this year.
Lastly, what are you most looking forward to in the next year?
My album release – I’ve spent my whole life working on this record so I can wait for the world to hear it. There’s another UK Tour which has sold out, we’re going to Europe again for a headline tour and also back out to the US to do a load of cool stuff there. 2019 is probably going to be the biggest year of my life.
You can vote for Tom in the Brit Awards by following this link: smarturl.it/TomWalkerBRITs
