Tom Vek Interview

It’s been a long three years since ‘Leisure Seizure’, Tom Vek’s outstanding 2011 album. But rest assured that the British self-taught multi-instrumentalist is back and better than he’s ever been in 2014. BBM caught up with Tom ahead of the release of his eagerly anticipated album ‘Luck’, a daring, self-produced triumph dropping in June 2014.

Hi Tom. Where in the world are you right now?
I’m actually in East London at the moment.

So we haven’t heard from you since ‘Leisure Seizure’ – which we still play all the time – what have you been up to in the interim apart from working on ‘Luck’?
That’s pretty much all I’ve been doing! [Laughs] Just working on the record. It’s been my main focus.

‘Luck’ refers to modern culture and being fed constant information – how do you feel life has changed in the last three years?
Good question! Obviously there was a profound change in everybody’s life with digital culture between the time I put my first and second record out. I was dealing with that and recalibrating my opinion about how a public musician or character should act, or how you would go about being “cool” with this new set of rules. Between 2011 and now, I guess it’s just the dust settling on this new world and I think it’s getting better. People are getting a bit more used to digital culture and digital responsibility. I feel like, with mainstream Internet, it’s becoming self-policed. It’s just a reality of our daily lives now. With the second record, it took a lot of work. I had to really work it out for myself with how I wanted it to come across. Since getting past that step, it definitely gave me the confidence for it to feel like more of an easier transition.

Do you think there’s too much information out there?
I don’t think anybody could argue that there’s a lack of information on the Internet. I think it’s interesting because it’s all about what you choose to provide. The interesting thing about surveillance, and people worrying about the Big Brother mentality, is that it’s actually most people happily providing the information themselves. You kind of feel like there’s too many people to even be spied on, there’s too much CCTV footage for anyone to even watch. In terms of producing art, I think it’s just about making sure it doesn’t get swamped with external information that isn’t art. The direct relationship you have with the fan-base and those platforms, they’re incredibly useful. But it’s odd. You have that tool, but you need to use it responsibly. I think it’s always been about mainstream culture versus the underground.

So your track ‘Sherman (Animals in the Jungle)’ was inspired by Tom Wolfe’s novel, ‘The Bonfire of the Vanities’ – what drew you to use this novel as inspiration?
I’d just finished reading the book last summer and I was working on the track in the way I usually do, which is music first. I had that riff and it was roughly arranged, then I was mucking around with lyrical ideas and vocal performances. I tend to just do nonsense takes. That just kind of popped out. It immediately reminded me of the whole story and how much I enjoyed it, the story of this guy’s downfall that he can’t control. He had this kind of perfect life but managed to mess it up for himself because he was greedy, or unhappy. I found so many themes in that book to be exciting; the psychology of success and hunger, and what real happiness is. With lyrics, I try to write slogan-istic kind of lines and phrases that stand up on their own. I wanted to put the character’s name in there because I liked the book that much and it’s not often that I feel comfortable enough about really referencing something, but it seemed to work. I thought I’d even switch some people on to the book.

You’ve still got that element of Electronic Punk Rock rebellion inherent in your music; do you feel this is a signature of your sound?
Absolutely. I like music to have that kind of bombastic sound. I think it stems from growing up listening to Grunge and Rock. I think I just like the sound. I think it’s quite funny at the moment that Electronic music has kind of overtaken. What’s happening in the Dubstep and Trap world is more obnoxiously Punk than you can almost achieve with more traditional band instruments right now. So I sometimes think my little Grunge song sounds fairly pleasant, which is kind of funny. I’m still in search of some kind of melodic pay-off, you know. I’ve enjoyed the DIY aesthetic, it suits me and it’s increasingly relevant. Your production is always thoroughly layered and you have a very refined overall sound.

Do you do all the production and who have you been working with?
The new album is actually completely produced by me, which I’m proud of. The previous two records I have worked with other producers. It’s been at the point where it’s kind of having someone in the room to help you finish stuff off; I think that’s the hardest part. I find that it helps bring out the bratty-ness in me when I’ve got somebody else to argue with to tell me when everything is done. With the first record, Tom Rixton was instrumental with forming that sound and the second record, Liam Howe, who it was an honour to work with because he was originally in the Sneaker Pimps. Ultimately it’s performance, but it’s production as well. You’re sort of presenting it, cleaning it all up and brushing away the dusty bits to form a finished shape. Maybe leaving a bit of the dust in there as well. [Laughs]

‘Luck’ is out on Friday 6th June 2014 through Moshi Moshi/[Pias] Australia.

By Alana Anderson