Underrated is a widely thrown-around term, typically implying "underestimated" or
"unrecognized". Often I've stumbled upon artists where after extensive listening, I've had
to ask myself "Is everyone insane? Why is this so underrated?", which usually leaves me
feeling frustrated at the state of the music world today. I imagine this has happened to
many of us, and these days it seems that the most effective way to get these artists the
appreciation they deserve is either by word of mouth among friends, or at least general
forum interaction between music lovers alike.
One of these very situations has stuck with me for years now; an artist who has yet to
achieve the international acknowledgement he deserves, but has remained a prominent part of
the local Cambridge live-scene..
Tom Adams is an artist from Cambridge,UK, taking influence from a wide variety of genres
including post-rock, electronica, ambient and classical. Since 2007 he has released 2
full-length albums and 1 EP under the moniker Toma. He has also managed to maintain
numerous other bands and projects such as The Mountaineering Club, The Mountaineering Club
Orchestra, and more recently, the eerie Hollow Mountain.
I got a chance to speak with Tom about his time in University and his personal influence
during writing:
1) The first time I heard Toma, I was stunned, never before had I encountered music so
therapeutic and profound. Where did you find most of your inspiration during the conceptive
stages of Toma?
TA: I never really made a conscious decision for Toma to sound the way it did, the sound sort
of emerged in quite an organic way. At the time I was just starting to get into
ambient/post rock bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Explosions In The Sky, Sigur Ros
and M83, and I remember I was on the bus to college when some chords and a sound came in to
my head that were (I thought) like these new bands I was listening to. Fortunately I had my
laptop with me, so I sequenced out the chords in Garage Band whilst sitting on
the bus. That idea turned in to the track '5 Weeks' and from there I just started to write
and record more and more tracks in a similar style, experimenting with layering synths,
guitars and vocals.
2) You released your debut album 'From Ruins' in 2007, and gained air-play on a local
2) You released your debut album 'From Ruins' in 2007, and gained air-play on a local
radio-station, what kind of a response did you recieve from this release?
TA: I got a very positive response online. I posted the album on a forum called
'afterthepostrock' and a guy called Jim Phillips got in touch with me, saying he wanted to
release the album on his netlabel WiseOwl (RIP). Through that I got a lot of listeners and
also discovered a number of awesome bands that were also on Wise Owl, that were also doing
the whole 'bedroom production' thing.
3) York University has been like a second home to you for a while now, how has this
progressed your creativity? And do you feel that your production skills have improved since
this step?
TA: At York University, I was doing a music degree, so I was writing/playing music every day
with some really good musicians. Two important things happened to me at University: 1) I
got into minimalist classical music and 2) I got into electronica/dance music. I discovered
composers such as Johann Johannsson, Olafur Arnalds, Gavin Bryars and Clint Mansell, as
well as electronica artists like Mount Kimbie, Gold Panda, Flying Lotus and Bonobo. These
influences had a big affect on the music I was making, mainly because I stopped being so
focussed on Post-Rock and started to write in other genres. I started using hardware as
well as software and out of this came a live project called 'The Mountaineering Club'
(http://themountaineeringclub.co.uk) which is a 4 piece consisting of 2 electronic
performers and 2 guitarists (as well as some vocals, trumpets and saxophones). I also
recorded and released a completely instrumental classical/electronica album as 'The
Mountaineering Club Orchestra'. With regards to production, although on the course no
production was taught, you can't spend three years recording tracks without getting at least
a bit better! I now use Logic Pro 9 for most of my tracks and although I am improving, I
still have a long way to go before I am even half as good as someone like Jon Hopkins or
Nils Frahm!
4) Dakota Took To Wing And History Was Made was the 2008 follow-up EP to From Ruins, would you say that this release is more conclusive or rather a companion to From Ruins?
TA: I think of it as more of a companion to From Ruins. It features a series of tracks that I
wrote at the same time as when I was writing From Ruins, but didnt get a chance to properly
record until the following year. The production values are very similar and it was all done
in Garage Band or Logic Express. I dont think either From Ruins or Dakota have actually had
any mastering on them at all... As I didnt learn what mastering was until I got to York!
Still, I got some great feedback from Dakota, particularly the track 'Watchtower of the
Universe' which is based on a live take I did in my bedroom with just me and a guitar.
5) I believe that you're somewhat of a multi-instrumentalist, all kinds of sounds can be
heard throughout your catalogue (guitar, bass, strings, piano, synthesizers, trumpet etc),
are there any other instruments that you're interested in or are currently learning?
TA: I mostly play piano, guitar and sing. All of the drums for Toma are sequenced and most
other sounds are either synths or from sample banks. I am learning the trumpet at the
moment, and I'm also learning to perform on hardware. I currently have an Electribe and two
Kaoss Pads, but am looking to upgrade to some Elektron hardware, perhaps a Machinedrum or
Octatrack. I love making music on hardware because it is so immediate, there is none of the
hassle of turning on your computer, opening logic, loading some synths and setting up some
audio tracks, by which time the idea has probably gone. Hardware is very limited though, so
I now find myself sketching out ideas on hardware before taking them to the software level
and making use of the better production values and greater flexibility that computers have
to offer.
6) Even though Toma is mainly a "studio-only" project, did you ever take it live? If so,
how was the audience reception?
TA: I have never taken Toma live, though I would love to! I have played several of the more
solo orientated songs (such as 'Watchtower of the Universe') at acoustic gigs with just my
guitar and me singing, but i think it would work better as a full band.
7) In December 2009, you released your third effort, 'As We Fall Into Static Our Hearts
Sing', which was outstanding to say the least, songs like 'Terrorforming' and 'Fallback
Lighthorsemen' swim with lush textures and infectious melodies. Where did you take
influence from during the writing of this album?
TA: I like to do a lot of hiking and outdoors stuff, and often tunes will just pop into my head
fully formed, or I find I have been humming something for the last few miles and suddenly
become aware of it. When this happens I record a video on my camera of me singing whatever
the idea is pointing at whatever I am looking at. When I watch the videos back, the
combination of the visuals and the audio help me to get back into whatever frame of mind I
was in at the time. I wrote 'As We Fall...' in a year I took out before going to
university, and as part of this year out I traveled a lot. I have a series of videos of
random bits of landscape, particularly in Iceland and Scotland, where I'm singing a hook or
a drum beat that later became part of the album.
8) For a while now, you've been working with The Mountaineering Club, taking
roles such as guitarist, pianist and vocalist among other fellow friends and musicians. How
does The Mountaineering Club's songwriting process differ to that of Toma?
TA: The main difference is that The Mountaineering Club is a live band, and Toma is a
recording project. When writing for The Mountaineering Club, we initially set up some synth
sounds and beat layers, then improvise together and build the song that way. With Toma,
often I have a very clear idea of what the song is going to be like on the outset, so it's
much more a case of working towards the sound I have in my head. This often involves
layering way more synth and guitar lines than is really practical for live situations, and
it is massively time consuming! More and more, I am getting in to the idea of making music
fast, and not spending hours and hours automating and layering tracks. In the end it is
about having fun, and I have a lot more fun when im making music than when I'm editing it!
Even though Toma has not been a very active part of Tom's life for the past while, he still
continues to work with his friends in The Mountaineering Club. He has a number of exciting
things lined up for the future, maybe they'll include Toma, maybe they won't. But for now,
all we can do is keep up with him HERE.
