What have been your musical epiphany moments?
Tom: My biggest epiphany came the first time I head Black Sabbath’s Reunion album. My friend got it from his folks and he gave it to me to listen to while we drove to a Mets game. That record blew my mind, and that started my slow descent into heavy music.
Talk to us about the song-writing process for you. What comes first, the idea? A riff? The lyrics? How does it all fall into place?
Tom: The songs almost always generate from a jam. Someone will come in with an idea and we’ll just come up with some ideas to compliment it.
Who has influenced you the most?
Tom: Sabbath, Zeppelin, Can, Tool….
Where do you look for continuing inspiration? New ideas, new motivation?
Tom: The most inspiring thing to me is seeing bands or artists live. Seeing either a friend’s band or a touring band killing it on stage always inspires me to start writing.
We're all a product of our environment. Tell us about the band's hometown and how that reflects in the music?
Tom: Boston is a great music town and we have a really strong heavy music scene. That combined with cold, bleak winters makes for some really interesting and (a lot of the time) dark music. I think we kind of wanted to come up with something that was different from that attitude, heavy yet exciting and fun.
You have one chance, what movie are you going to write the soundtrack for?
Tom: Any Quentin Tarantino film or spaghetti western would be awesome.
You now write for a music publication (The Ripple Effect?). You're going to write a 1,000 word essay on one song. Which would it be and why?
Tom: Yob’s “Burning the Altar”. That main riff is able to do so many thing at once. It’s both innovative and familiar, groovy yet weird, atonal yet completely memorable and melodic. I could listen to that riff until the end of time.
Tom: We want to take people on a psychedelic riff journey!
Come on, share with us a couple of your great, Spinal Tap, rock and roll moments?
Tom: Rozamov opened for Slayer at a special show at The Sinclair last year. Obviously this is huge and we’re all a little nervous. So we get on stage together and tune up. Right before our guitarist addresses the crowd, I notice that our drummer is nowhere to be found. He yells into the mic “What’s up everyone we’re Rozamov!” hits a chord and turns towards me. I’m just standing there pointing at the drum riser laughing my ass off. He smiled, shrugged and we just made a bunch of feedback for a minute before the drummer appeared and we started our set. Turns out he had forgotten his sticks or something.
Tell us about playing live and the live experience for you and for your fans?
Tom: Playing live is an absolute blast with KIND. Total positivity, tons of improvisation and lots of riffs.
What makes a great song?
Tom: A great song is able to take you to a different place or make you think or feel in some way. Great music moves people to either dance, cry or think.
Tell us about the first song you ever wrote?
Tom: The first song I wrote was a crappy thrash tune with my high school band, nothing notable haha.
What piece of your music are particularly proud of?
Tom: This entire record and the new Rozamov album.
Who today, writes great songs? Who just kicks your ass? Why?
Tom: If you are talking just straight pop songs I gotta say whoever wrote the new Bruno Mars record is killin it. But when it comes to heavy stuff my boys Elder are at the top of their game right now.
Vinyl, CD, or digital? What's your format of choice?
Tom: Vinyl is by far my favorite.
Whiskey or beer? And defend your choice
Tom: Lately I’ve been on a bourbon kick. You just look way cooler with a whiskey neat in your hand.
We, at the Ripple Effect, are constantly looking for new music. What's your home town, and when we get there, what's the best record store to lose ourselves in?
Tom: Armageddon Records. Best place in town.
Any final comments or thoughts you'd like to share with our readers, the waveriders?
Tom: Thanks for digging the music!