Thomas White: man of many sounds

The name Thomas White might not mean much to the mainstream music-loving public, but mention his two bands -- Electric Soft Parade and Brakes -- and the penny will soon drop. Alan Wilson catches up with the Brighton musician ahead of his gig at Duke's Corner in Dundee on Friday night.

By Alan Wilson, Rocktalk writer
Published in the Courier : 25.03.10
Published online : 25.03.10 @ 02.55pm

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After the best part of a decade with the two bands, White is using their downtime productively, working with a host of other artists whilst launching his own solo career.

His second album The Maximalist was released last week on Cooking Vinyl and he's also out on tour with his backing band to showcase tracks from that complex and ambitious record -- which was inspired by his hometown, Brighton.

The Maximalist also includes his versions of songs by Warren Zevon, Guided By Voices and Mission Of Burma.

This latest effort has already accrued top reviews from the likes of Q Magazine, Mojo and Music Week for its "kaleidoscopic, yet finely nuanced, psych-pop . . . 70s soft rock and heavy riffing."

Inspired by his time spent backing up the flamboyant Patrick Wolf on guitar last year, White's recent gigs feature a backdrop of psychedelic visuals in keeping with the spirit of his new album.

No more the indie shoegazer, he's up the front of the stage now rattling his tambourine as much as his vocal chords and engaging with the audiences.

"Playing live is the one area where things have changed for me," Thomas explained.

"I used to be quite reticent, quite nervous and I used to just get up on stage and play until I worked with Patrick. He completely puts on a show with his costumes, and he has massively influenced how I play gigs now.

"I concentrate on the show now. Obviously there's a balance to be had but I really want our live shows to be good and I want to whack people in the face when they see us.

"I don't even play anything now -- I just whack a tambourine and sing."

Multi-instrumentalist

Thomas also used his "quiet spell" to lend his considerable talents as a multi-instrumentalist to a variety of bands, from British Sea Power to Sparks.

But putting together his own band to tour the new album, he reached all the way up to Dundee to secure his favoured guitarist, Andrew Mitchell of The Hazey Janes.

"I got to know him after we toured with The Hazey Janes," Thomas said.

"They're a band we really liked and my initial plan was to ask them to be my backing band, but after discussing it with my manager we decided it would just be too expensive to do.

"But I still wanted to work with Andrew -- he's a great guitarist, one of the best in that style, he's got a really pure sound, really reliable and he's also a great singer and a great guy.

"I was very keen to get him in the band because he's super-talented.

"Friday is a homecoming gig for him and I'm very much looking forward to playing at Duke's Corner. I hear it's a great venue and hopefully we'll have a nice fun night.

"I know Dundee a bit because we played the Westport Bar with Electric Soft Parade and Brakes, and Fat Sams."