Local artist profile: Tom Harrington

THIS week we chat with indie-folk singer and songwriter Tom Harrington

What motivated you to become a musician and why do you choose to be based in Bendigo?

Growing up I was super fortunate to be surrounded by instruments in the house. Random guitars laying around, an old, out of tune piano. I always had a lot of opportunities to learn instruments and my parents had a fair bit of experience performing in the Goulburn Valley and really encouraged it.

I grew up near Shepparton (on a farm near Dookie) and moved over to Bendigo to get my education degree at La Trobe. I started playing gigs in the student union and slowly got better with a lot of hard work, finished my degree but decided I could always teach so put it aside. I wanted to take music seriously and give it my all, so I did.

How would you describe your music/performance style?

I mostly fit into the indie-folk genre, with a strong coastal influence from other artists in that Byron-style scene. I try to keep my sound reasonably stripped back and let the lyrical story take focus. I do also use a loop pedal and various stomp pedals for more dynamics and build up in moments where it’s needed.

Which other musicians inspire you?

I grew up loving Chet Faker, Jet, Matt Corby, Ball Park Music, Simon and Garfunkel, the Beatles, etc, so a really mixed bag from all genres. Ultimately now, I would say Kim Churchill, the Dreggs and Jack Botts would be my biggest influences as they are all doing amazing things in my genre.

What are some fond memories you have from your career so far?

I was lucky enough to open for a duo called Alivan Blu in December at the Wesley Anne in Melbourne. This was such a big career steppingstone for me as a very new artist in the original music scene and has put me on the radar of other similar artists and opened up other support opportunities which I’m excited to announce soon!

How has your practice been affected by COVID?

Personally I spent months without any income and was forced to find random casual jobs. I have had to seriously restructure and financial goals I wanted to achieve, because they just became impossible.

On the flip side of all that, it has given me some great opportunities for my music via social media. I was lucky enough to have my song Before You Go selected by Tones and I in a comp she ran on Instagram in 2020 designed to help musicians struggling with lockdowns, which ultimately gave me the platform to pursue original music to begin with. That was pretty wild! It did also give me a lot of spare time, which I used to write my EP due for release on 11 February.

What do you have on the go at the moment?

I have just released two singles in the lead up to releasing my debut EP Be There Soon, out on streaming platforms 11 February. It features local musicians Harry Godfrey on sax and Tammy Bonazza on violin and was recorded in July last year. There’s so much work involved behind the scenes releasing music, it’s crazy. It’s something I’m still learning so much about as an independent artist in an increasingly digital world.