After an absence from music over the past couple of years, Wave Racer returns with gusto, releasing two massive new tracks and preparing for the next chapter of his career.
Also known as Tom Purcell, Wave Racer broke his silence in June with 'Auto', which featured Tom on vocals and guitar for the first time, and was quickly followed up by 'Summer Rain' featuring Kwame. “It's absolutely amazing for me to be back,” Tom beams.
“I'm actually very lucky I think to be putting out music again and I'm so grateful for the reception I've had on those two songs. Those two songs that have come out are probably two of the songs that I'm most proud that I made, so it's really great to see that people are loving it.
“It's work that I'm proud of and that I put a lot of work into, and it's great to see that people are still responsive to it. I think it goes to show that no matter how long it's been since I've put music out it's good to know that I can still be honest and work on music, and people will still be receptive to that.”
Tom has most certainly been honest, particularly about where he's been since 2017. After the immense success of his initial work, which took him around the world, Tom struggled with anxiety and other mental health issues that affected how he was able to work.
Upon his return, Tom has had no qualms or concerns in being totally open and honest about what he went through. “I think it's something that affects a lot of people and I found the fact that I had the opportunity to talk about that openly and be honest with people was something that I was really grateful for.
“I didn't want to lie to people, I didn't want to pretend there was nothing wrong, I didn't want to make up some story to tell people about where I'd been or what I'd been up to,” he says.
“The other thing is that it's relevant to the music that I was putting out as well, not only the stuff I've put out but also the stuff I'll be putting out for the rest of the year and next year.
"A lot of that is reflective of the experiences that I was going through, and to tell people that story will give them a good context about me as an artist and what I'm creating as well.”
Wave Racer's musical return goes hand-in-hand with his return to live performance, with a series of shows including Falls Festival where he'll premiere a brand new show to prove he's back in earnest. “This is going to be my proper live show, I'm premiering a new live show that we're currently working on and building,” Tom says.
“It's been a huge amount of work. . . we're going to have a proper live band and we're going to have a proper live setup – I'm going to be on guitar and there's going to be a whole lot of cool stuff I've never done before on stage, and Falls Festival is going to be the first time that's seen.”
2019/2020 Falls Festival Dates
28-31 Dec - Lorne (VIC)29-31 Dec - Marion Bay (TAS)
31 Dec & 1-2 Jan - Byron Bay
4-5 Jan - Fremantle
