CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 147: TOMMY SEXTON ON HIS DEBUT STUDIO RELEASES
Interview by Brooke Gibbs.
FMM: You've recently put out your debut studio releases. How does it feel to have it out there and what's your reaction been like?
Tommy: Yeah, I was thinking about this the other day that I get the side of, you know, the meaning of release as that sort of release of the bodily release. I feel nice and relaxed about it all now. There's a big sort of buildup of pressure coming up to it, bu I'm feeling pretty positive about it all. It's the first time I've sort of had my own creative project really pushed out there on the line.
I'm usually mostly a bass player and collaborator and stuff like that, so it’s been an interesting progression, getting used to putting my own creative vision in the spotlight, but I’m enjoying it. I guess being a collaborator, it can be so easy to fall into the trap of focusing on other people's projects and then having to take a break and rest for yourself, then finding it hard to find the time for your own project as well. I was used to just saying yes to everything and really loving being part of,= bringing other people's vision or like a collective vision to life. Over time, I’ve felt that I need to get my own artistic creation out into the world. I've always been writing, but it needed that time, as you say, to focus on bringing things to full fruition. It's been a big journey.
FMM: Well, I'm glad it's out there and congratulations. I'm curious too because this is your first studio release, but not your first release. You released a live EP in 2023, so why did you decide to release a live EP before a studio one?
Tommy: That was a decision that we sort of made basically after having recorded a gig and felt pretty happy with how it was sounding and wanting something out there. We were trying to get more gigs and we just had absolutely no presence. I wanted something to be out into the world, but on reflection, I really love the studio process. I love playing it live as well, but I’m really hopeful people can listen to the studio stuff because we’ve got more that’s in the bag to come out in the future and that people come with fresh ears and experience that as it’s own thing.
FMM: Do you think you'll eventually release studio versions of the songs on the live EP or do you think they've already played their part in your journey?
Tommy: Yeah, definitely. Quite a few of them, if not all of those ones we've sort of been working on. I think actually these two [Start Again and La La La] are not on the live release, but I think most of the others that we're sort of working on at the moment have already been released live.
FMM: That's good because there's a couple on the live EP that I was really liking, so it'd be cool to hear studio versions of them too. Though, what I like about the live recordings is that it captures that rawness of it and some of them have that audience engagement in it as well that you can hear.
Tommy: Yeah, it was a really fun experience to get a desk recording, but I also had an old friend from primary school who I'm sort of reconnected with and he came along to the gig and unbeknownst to me got a field recording of the gig which was perfect for adding the sort of liveness of the people in the audience. When I showed the mixer, the audio engineer, that we had this field recording to add to it, we were putting this together in November or something. Christmas has come early. It was such a great, great addition. It's a fun process.
FMM: This current release is a two-part. You’ve got the single, but you’ve also got the B side. Can you give a quick rundown of what both songs are about and what they represent for you?
Tommy: Well, I would start with actually… the sort of process was quite different because we sort of had two approaches coming into that we've been using this recording. One has been sort of focused on building up sort of layer by layer in the studio. Mostly me, putting down layers of keys and my bandmates and producer working on the drum side of things and layering up all of the instruments and then getting other bandmates in on the act. That's how we approached Start Again.
La La La represents the other side of the recording process which was where we as a band all went into the studio together, laid it down and that’s sort of from recollection, a single take. We're all sort of just there kind of ready to drop it down. They both have, I think, their own benefits to the process and bring something different to it, but I really love both sides of it.
In terms of the lyrical content, Start Again is a bit more heavy. It's about that sort of feeling of rising above and releasing out dark times and finding your spark. I sort of deliberated a lot more on the lyrics of that one then La La La’s a bit more irreverent and light-hearted. I guess a bit of a love song. The idea sort of was contrasting… in a way I was sort of thinking about singers in front people who are a bit more polished and present really well and I'm sort of more like the kind of bit rough around the edges kind of fella trying to kind of compete for the love interest. I guess that was the idea behind that one. It's a bit more tongue in cheek and fun to write.
FMM: I read the inspiration came to you when you were washing the dishes. Do you find the inspiration comes to you more when you are just doing everyday stuff as opposed to when you're like, I'm going to dedicate half an hour to working on this.
Tommy: Yeah, it's definitely a bit of both. I kind of have to live my creative life into the stolen moments, whether it's sort of late at night or doing their household chores and stuff. Those moments are good because the things you have deliberately spent time on can kind of swirl around and come out in a fresh way when you’re minds focused on something else. A lot of ideas come to me when I’m humming away, so it kind of works against me because it takes three times as long to do the chores because I’ll go and pick up a guitar and then go work on something. But, I love that this creative spark can come at any kind of moment. It’s been just the last few years I’ve realised how much the follow up is important to spend the solid hard work of turning that into something that’s a finished product.
FMM: Your sound has been described as the love child of Stevie Wonder and Steely Dan, who in their own right, are great musicians. How does that comparison or description fit with you? Are they people you draw inspiration from?
Tommy: Yeah, definitely. Stevie Wonder I would definitely identify with. I was, I would say, like in the contrast too, between the two approaches, even though there's a lot of sort of similarities. But the Steely Dan is a bit more kind of biting, incisive and sort of like, I guess, measured. And the Stevie Wonder, which is like the kind of total heart vulnerability going there. I kind of identify with that sort of contrast and tension within myself and my songwriting process.
FMM: It’s great to hear that sound come back and still be so successful in today's age.
Tommy: I'm sort of at the age where I don't really give a shit too much anymore. I think that's the beautiful thing is when you end up doing what you love doing, you sort of find your people who like that sort of thing too. A real eye opener for me was was not necessarily paying tribute to it, but sort of drawing inspiration from it as will with more contemporary stuff. But, to find that there are other people out there that are really into it too, it sort of just keeps me going and I’m super stoked to be making this kind of music.
I also love to listen to a lot of hip hop and things like that and sample music where it's drawing on the music that I really love. I would love to be sampled or be seen as part of they interplay with more contemporary sources of those styles.
FMM: Is there anyone in particular that you have in mind who you would love to have your work sampled by?
Tommy: Oh yeah, I should be prepared for that question.
FMM: I didn't mean to throw you under the bus there.
Tommy: Oh yeah, no, not at all. I mean, what came immediately to mind is Anderson Paak, for example. There's a lot out there. I'm sure afterwards I'll think, ah, somebody else that I would love. But, yeah, that's what jumps out at me.
FMM: I love your band name, Tommy Sexton & The Suggestions. How did that come about?
Tommy: Well, so the Tommy Sexton.. I guess I am Tommy. It’s a bit of a persona and allows me to be a different person to who I am in my everyday life which is a bit more introverted and whatnot. Sexton is actually my Mum’s maiden name, so it’s a connection to my mum, her sisters and her mother, who are all musical inspirations for me. Growing up they were singing together in harmony and could play the 60s and 70s folk and folk-rock music, so it’s bit of tribute to them and a chance for me to put on a mask.
The Suggestions, I feel like it’s a bit suggestive and just playing around what that. I was a bit tongue-in-cheek because I was asking my bandmates for name ideas and they weren’t coming up with many, so the suggestions didn’t have many.
FMM: That’s all my questions. Did you have anything else you wanted to add?
Tommy: I would say if you haven't checked out the film clip, that's been a really fun thing that we've put together quite quickly and with a very, very minimal budget, but with the community coming together and really sort of making something really, really fun. I'm super stoked with how that came together, so I would love for people to check it out.