Tell us about yourself and your music
My name is Tommy Thomas, I grew up in a the same small towns that I have been producing out of lately. I just graduated high school and I have been making music for 5 years without any help really. I’ve learned all I know about music on my own, and I love everything about it. At an early age I knew I wanted to be a musician but I didn’t find rap until it found me. As a kid, my mother would watch Michael Jackson singing and dancing on stage and I used to tell her that I wanted to be the next Michael Jackson. My mom is proud of me now, making moves as a rapper in our small area. I have already passed a few goals of my own such as: getting tracks on Spotify and Apple Music. I also created a group of other local artists that I collaborate with and we use our group name as a sort of movement in the underground, we call it “Stay Triggered.”
Talk to us more about your latest release
My latest release was a song that I ended up making a music video for on YouTube after uploading it to SoundCloud and it got over 100 hits that night. It is called “Hydroplane” and it less Hip Hop than a few of my other songs. I was expressing all the feelings I was having during that time, it was raining hard and I thought to myself, if I drove away right now I’d probably hydroplane. So I took a drive and freestyled a few of the lyrics. “Hydroplane, Novacane, numb the pain baby.” And later that night I got home and wrote the rest of the hook right away.
What inspired you to write this release?
I was going through a bad breakup, and the girl called me crazy. I guess you could say I was acting a little out of the ordinary. But that’s what love does to young people like us. I drove to the store during a rainstorm, and freestyled a lot of the lyrics, spent a lot of money on snacks because I was feeling a little jolt of uselessness. I got home and devoured all the snacks, and then wrote the rest of the song. I sent it to her before I sent it to anybody else. I haven’t really spoken to her since.
Describe the writing and recording process
It all started off as a simple freestyle, then I decided the flow should be two lines; the first line would end with a baby, and the second would end with maybe every time. It was a pretty open-minded song talks about a lot of topics aside from love, but more about the crazy things love makes us do. So I got in the studio and recorded it a few different times to get it the way I wanted it to sound. I finally finished it and uploaded it that night.
Any plans to release a video?
There is a music video on YouTube for this song, due to a lot of requests I got from friends and family to make a video for it.
Any plans to hit the road?
I don’t really have a say in when or where I go on tour, but I have a few labels interested in setting up some stuff for me. More news will be released when everything is set in stone!
As an indie artist, how do you brand yourself and your music to stand out from the rest of the artists out there?
I include phrases and names that are significant to me. I try to tell stories through music and every once and a while listeners might hear me say, “Stay Triggered.” That is the name I want to grow closest to the association of my name. I want people to ask their friends “Have you heard of Tommy G.T?” And their friends to reply “Oh yeah! Stay Triggered!”
Who have you been listening to lately?
I listen to a lot of Travis Scott and Shakewell. But I don’t only listen to Hip Hop due to the subconscious thoughts of ripping off of flows or lyrics. I love to bump to Post Malone, but I’ll also drive and listen to Slipknot or Bring Me The Horizon.
Who are your biggest influences?
I first heard G-Eazy’s song “I Mean It” and it inspired me big time. Not long before that, I was listening to “White Iverson” by Post Malone and I was still trying to find my rap voice and style, so the mixture of these artists is what I’d like to be.
Tell us about your passions
I love food and clothes. Just knowing that the next day I have a fresh outfit planned out, gets me plenty excited to get out of bed.
What else is happening next in your world?
I am hoping to save up some money to cop some new pieces of clothing and a new car, and hopefully, I’ll save enough to get out of New York State. I feel like there isn’t much left for me. I also feel like maybe if I leave, it will give someone else from here the opportunity to blow up and get noticed, maybe gain some more followers.
Thanks for an awesome interview, Tommy
Connect with Tommy G.T
Website: https://www.facebook.com/TommyG.TRapFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/TommyG.TRapTwitter: https://twitter.com/TommyGT24Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-341254535Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo344cW0gStUOkP3a_eAJmA?view_as=subscriber
