Tom Thum rose to prominence on the music scene during his formative years, and is now one of Australia's most recognised and respected beat boxers.
He and singer-songwriter Jamie MacDowell are hitting the road with their latest EP release, 'Sum Of It All'. This is the duo's fourth EP, and their successful tours and growing reputation suggest they may have longevity as a musical pairing. “I don't see anything slowing down. Definitely some more bits and pieces in the pipeline.”
Having being voted Australia's best beat boxer at the Ozhiphop awards from 2005-2009, Tom's interest in the art was sparked by his musical preferences in his youth. “I listened to a lot of hip hop when I was younger, and with beat boxing it was all kind of part of the parcel really. I listened to a lot of old school beat boxers like Doug E. Fresh and Rahzel, and got into it from there.”
Beginning his working relationship with Tom as an acrobat, Jamie soon showed the beat boxer his abilities with a guitar which ignited the idea of becoming a musical duo. “We met in 2009, I was performing with a circus group and Jamie was an acrobat. We did a lot of gigs together in that context, but never playing music. Once that whole circus thing disbanded we eventually started playing gigs together just by ourselves.”
Tom's abilities were once described by 'The Guardian' as being so prolific, that he “appears to have swallowed an entire orchestra.” This skill is is complimented by Jamie’s brand of heartfelt songwriting and melodic finger-work to create their sound.
Since working with Jamie as a duo, Tom believes his musical horizons have expanded. On top of this, their friendship and shared sense of humour has helped them develop a witty and charming stage presence. “One of the highlights of the collaboration for me is being exposed to different concepts of music. Before I started doing stuff with Jay, I was very much locked inside my little hip hop box. It kind of taught me a lot about song writing. I think also in general we get along pretty well because we've spent a lot of time together on tour buses. The banter is just A-class really, we know how to make each other laugh so I think that all translates a lot on stage. We don't ever script anything, we just hope it works out.”Tom and Jamie are returning to Australia for the Adelaide Fringe after an international tour that saw them share their music with UK, European and South African audiences. “For us to be playing music internationally is kind of awesome, so the fact the shows went well is an added bonus. I think my favourite show of the run was in Basel, Switzerland. We weren't really expecting it to be that awesome either, so it was like one of the ones where you were really pleasantly surprised by how fresh it was.”
Written by Liam Steers
Jamie MacDowell and Tom Thum perform The Royal Croquet Club 9-13 March as part of Adelaide Fringe Festival which runs 12 February - 14 March.
