EDM the way to go for Tomay

Drummer, 17, produces first electronic dance music album in lockdown

NEWBURY teenager Thomas Moores has just released his first album Trip.P under his stage name Tomay.

The 17-year-old drummer is currently studying A-levels at St Bart’s School and has been balancing homework with the production of this album in his bedroom during the lockdown. The album includes a vast mix of different kinds of electronic dance music. Earlier in the year, he released an EP and single to experiment and find out what genre suited his production style best.

In these earlier tracks, he wrote and sang about current affairs such as Covid-19. After gaining feedback from friends, Thomas has decided EDM was the way forward.

Tom began his musical journey in 2015 when he began taking drum lessons at Hogan Music. Since then, he has performed in numerous shows at both Trinity and St Bart’s and is currently preparing to take his Grade 7 exam once lockdown ends and, at some point, would like to teach. His rapid progression meant that he discovered many different kinds of genres that he had not previously listened to, including the more niche genre of drum and bass.

As a result of his acceptance into the music technology A-level course last summer, Tom thought he would get a head start and begin teaching himself the basics of digital music production. On April 5, he released his first EDM track Canjuna. Having been listened to in over 30 countries and racking up almost 3,000 streams on Spotify alone, it has been his most successful track to date.

Sticking to this theme, his new album explores the world of EDM even further. Each song tells another story and reflects how he was feeling at the time of writing it. Tom says he sees music as a way of channelling his emotions and loves to get lost in what he creates. Despite it only being a hobby, he is hoping to gain some more traction in the industry over time and is looking to work in collaboration with a female singer in future.

Unlike professionals, he cannot afford a mastering engineer and so he has to mix and master his songs himself. This can be quite a challenge, however, as he does not own studio-quality speakers and is working with basic software. The character on his latest album cover was drawn by Daniel Jackson of Trinity School.

You can find his music on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Youtube, Bandcamp and many other streaming platforms.