By Keith Walsh
Tom Cridland and Nick Whitehead of The Tomicks spent four days in 2018 recording an album at the world-renowned Abbey Road studio two –an album that took some time to be completed, as “Jailbound Fool” was held up due to “mixing difficulties.” Not one to let circumstances hold him back, Cridland, a native of London England, spent the next two years embarking on a solo career, an effort that included the release of 20 singles and a tour of 48 U.S. States with a different backing band.
As is often the case, the impasse came to and end due to the intervention of a great personality, in this case, Whitehead’s friend Justin Woodward, who expertly mixed the album to the satisfaction of everyone involved. The ten track “Jailbound Fool,” – the second by The Tomicks –who released their self titled debut in 2018– was released in late July.
“Jailbound Fool” is a confident album, centered around songs using fictional devices as well as deeply personal stories from Cridland’s life. The main band is Tom Cridland, drums and vocals, Nick Whitehead on piano and organ, and Debs Marx on backing vocals (and keyboards when the band played live). Session work by Robbie Blake on guitars, and John Wright on bass guitar fill out the sonic palette. Additional guitar work was performed by the legendary Earl Slick. All of these players turn in solid performances worthy of Abbey Road.
The album features heartfelt tributes to Cridland’s true love Deborah Marx, to his parents, and to the concept of loyalty, among songs from the point of view of a three time loser and a violent mobster, all wrapped up in a classic rock sound. That the album was recorded over four intense days in the studio shows in the passionate performances. The pressures of recording and mixing that led to Cridland and Whitehead taking a two year break from The Tomicks (after recording album number three, more on that later) aren’t audible in the finished product.
There’s a sincere quality to Cridland’s vocals, even when he’s portraying unlikeable characters such as those on the title track and “Confessions Of A Mobster.” A few songs are deeply intimate, including his playful ode to the love of his life, “Debs,” on which Whitehead plays the famous Steinway upright known as Mrs. Mills, that features on Beatles tracks “Lady Madonna” and “Penny Lane,” among others. And though Cridland is a well established fashion designer, he’s also a young rock and roller at heart, for whom recording at Abbey Road was akin to a childhood dream come true.
“It was great,” Cridland says, “and we were with Earl Slick, the Bowie guy. He was nice. Nice guy. But really I enjoyed Abbey Road. I’m a Beatles fanatic – I really am Beatles obsessed. I love watching the anthologies, they really are my best childhood memory.”
Two Of Us
Cridland told me he is very pleased to be working again with Whitehead. “It’s really nice to be back in touch to continue our friendship,” he says, “which is an important friendship, and to have a great spirit of musical collaboration.” I asked Cridland if perhaps Whitehead, whom he met backstage at an Elton John show in 2016, might join his solo efforts. “I wouldn’t mind him being as a music director or something like that in the solo stuff,” Cridland says, “if he wants to at some stage… I don’t know a better keyboard player than Nick and he’s got attention to detail, so there would be a door open. It could be that he would rather stay with us collaborating on The Tomicks.”
In 2019 and early 2020, Cridland embarked on a tour of the 48 continental United States with his solo project, and a top notch band. For a while he released a single a week. And was just the beginning. Cridland has about 80 new songs ready to release. “It won’t be singles,” he says. “I’m to bunch them up as albums. I could continue doing one a week, but it was becoming a bit rote, I thought.” In the meantime he’s been studying piano, an instrument which he intends to use to in his solo career and to expand his songwriting capabilities.
After releasing two Tomicks albums, 18 singles (and a compilation of those singles) Cridland has come to understand the current state of the music industry. “The problem is,” he says, “we live in an era when there are so many talented, creative people, and there are only so many hours in the day, and so much content being thrown at us all the time. So actually staying on the promotional treadmill or even having a marketing budget, you know, you can do a fair amount of promo, we need to step that up, we need to do more… and really to cut through you need to have some sort of budget, for social media ads. We haven’t invested yet, but I’m sure we will at some point.” All of Cridland’s marketing for his music projects and his clothing line are handled by Deborah Marx, his life partner.
There’s a third unreleased Tomick’s album, recorded in 2019 at Pink Satellite Studio in Joshua Tree, California. “Album three is really great,” Cridland says. “This year I want to get everything released. I’ve got these 80 solo tracks, that some stuff’s a bit more similar to The Tomicks. I’ve got an album worth of material that’s more heavy rock, kind of like ‘I’m Inadequate.’ I’ve started off in kind of a pop disco-y vein, that’s most of the material that I’ve got off, so I’m going to, whatever the 80 tunes are, I’m going to break them up into four records, I’m going to release them quite soon. And I guess the next thing after that will be The Tomicks record number three. And it will be good to have this stuff out so we can promote it, so we can get licensing opportunities.”
In the age of COVID-19 Cridland is aware that it may take some time before live gigs can be played. But that’s the thing he looks forward to the most. I asked him what his priority was, among his varied responsibilities of running a fashion brand, interviewing musicians at www.greatestmusicofalltime.com and being in two bands.
“I mean, my priority is to just keep going on all of them, and keep inspired and keep dividing time. My major priority is to get out there and play solo. Even if it means going of to Jamaica or Bali or something, playing in a beach bar.”
