Thomas White (musician)


Thomas White is an English, Brighton-based songwriter, singer, musician, producer and visual artist. Educated at Davigdor Infants, Somerhill Juniors and Hove Park schools, he began learning the piano at the age of five, picking up the violin a year later and teaching himself guitar, drums and clarinet in his early teens. White formed his first band at the age of 13, with his brother, Alex, and school-friend Alistair Gavan. He signed his first record deal whilst still 16 and studying for his GCSEs.
Along with his brother, Alex, he forms the nucleus of psych-pop band The Electric Soft Parade. To date, they have released four albums and a six-track EP. He also contributes vocals and guitar to cult Brighton super-group Brakes, and drums and bass to Restlesslist and Clowns respectively.
In 10 years of playing professionally, White has performed in over 20 countries across the globe, including Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Japan, Australia, Egypt, Canada, United States and Turkey.
Besides performing solo and in his own groups, White regularly appears as a session player for, among others, Patrick Wolf, British Sea Power, Levellers and Sparks.

"I Dream of Black"

June 2008 saw the release of his debut solo album, I Dream of Black. Recorded entirely on cassette four-track, the album was considered extremely lo-fi by both fans and critics alike.

"The Maximalist"

A follow-up, 'The Maximalist' arrived in March 2010. Whilst still played, recorded and mixed by White himself, the album features a markedly more complex, hi-fi sound, and a sleeve designed by the American artist, Keith Boadwee. The album was released to generally positive reviews, with Uncut magazine awarding four stars, stating:
"The Maximalist opens the dam of ostensibly conflicting styles and releases the deluge in all its' crazily self-confident, so-wrong-it's-right glory. White fuses elements of The Who, Chicago, My Bloody Valentine, Queens Of The Stone Age, Badalamenti and Badfinger, which is not just a feat of cut-and-paste engineering, but also proof of his verve, vivid imagination and fervent love of music."
Tour dates to support the album have varied from full-on rock shows with a five-piece band, intimate cabaret performances, often featuring a number of cover versions to festival dates with an expanded 13-piece line-up, featuring a choir dressed in psychedelic robes.

"Yalla!"

On 26 March 2011, White streamed his third solo album for free via YouTube. Entitled 'Yalla!" the album was written and recorded over two weeks in the small town of Dahab, South Sinai. Featuring only acoustic guitar and vocal, the album details the limbo at the end of a long relationship compared to that of moving to a foreign country, making myriad references to the sea, shorelines, water, the sun, colours, the weather, travel and nature. All accompanying videos feature footage taken in Brighton, Dahab and Cairo. "Yalla!" was released physically in the UK and digitally worldwide by Bleeding Heart Recordings in March 2012.

Selected discography (1997–2010)

Albums

;Fixed Ascent
;The Feltro Media
;The Electric Soft Parade
;Brakes
;Restlesslist
;Thomas White
;Patrick Wolf
;Milk And Biscuits
;The Electric Soft Parade
;Brakes
;Restlesslist
;Thomas White
;Patrick Wolf