It’s time for another instalment of Quick-Fire Questions
You’ve heard of Ten Tonnes, haven’t you? He’s the precocious twenty-one-year-old who writes the kind of infectious indie-pop anthems that’ll make your inner teenager want to run down to their nearest indie disco and bop their head like there’s no tomorrow. Or, to put it more precisely, he sounds quite a bit like this:
We feel like we crammed a lot in to this one
Now, in case you don’t remember, the whole idea of Quick-Fire Questions is that we find out as much as we possibly can about some of our favourite musicians, in as short a period of time as possible. So, when we found out that we could grab Ten Tonnes for ten minutes backstage at this year’s Barn On The Farm Festival, we couldn’t turn down the opportunity to turn it into another instalment of our ace Quick-Fire Questions feature.
We didn’t have much time with him, but we like to think that we made the most of it; so, dear reader, why don’t you sit back, relax, and prepare to hear Ten Tonnes‘ thoughts on everything from supporting Stereophonics at Wembley Arena to Dylan, debut albums, and comparing himself to Jesus:
You’ve just come off a teensy-weensy arena tour supporting a little band called the Stereophonics – how was that…?
‘Oh, man, it was nuts. It was just absolutely insane. We played Wembley Arena twice, which was… yeah, just insane. It wasn’t even on my radar to ever play there, so to be able to come out and say “oh, yeah, we’ve done it now” is just crazy.
‘I’m from around London, too, so it was something of a home-town show for me. All my family and friends were meant to be coming down to the first Wembley show, but that was the night when the snow was falling heavily, and all the trains got cancelled, so none of them were able to make it! They managed to get down to the second show, though, thank goodness.
‘The band were lovely, as well. I’ve always been a fan of them – after all, who isn’t? – but I didn’t realise how many songs of theirs I knew until they played them all live.
You’ve toured with Tom Grennan and Rat Boy over the last year, too – does the dynamic differ for you as a performer, playing these support slots on stages of such varying sizes?
‘Not really, to be honest. They’re all far bigger than any stages I’d ever play myself, so it’s all the same in the scheme of things! I think that support tours are always a win-win situation. If people don’t like you, then fine; if they do, then you’ve won some new fans. Rat Boy’s crowds were particularly nuts: they were all super-young,, super up for it, and they were going absolutely mental.
Any of your own live dates coming up?
‘Not that I know of, which is quite bad really… I’m doing a support tour later this year, which hasn’t been announced yet, and then next year is when it all starts to step up a notch in terms of my own touring. I should probably find out what’s happening, shouldn’t I?
And, most importantly – when’s the album dropping?
‘Well, there’ve been many different options for when it’s going to come out, so it’s been up in the air for a while now. Originally it was going to come out a few months ago, but then that didn’t make sense; so now, at this moment, it’s coming out early next year. Don’t hold me to that, though!
‘There’s a new single coming out on August 3rd, too. The band don’t actually know it yet, so I should probably get around to teaching it to them…
Let’s bring it right back to the beginning. What made you want to make music in the first place?
‘The Beatles were the big catalyst for me. I was learning drums when I was a kid, but I got a bit bored of it – after all, unless you play with other people, it’s kinda hard to make it sound good as a standalone instrument. So, I started playing guitar, and that sparked my enthusiasm for it.
‘I did a Music Production course at uni. for a year but dropped out after that. I think the only reason I did that course was because I didn’t want to say that I wanted to be a musician; but, after that year, I was just like ‘yeah, let’s give this a try’. Fortunately, my parents understood…
Out of every song ever recorded, which do you wish you’d written?
‘Ooh… Do I have to pick one? I’d pretty much go with anything by The Beatles. My favourite Beatles songs are Girl, and In My Life, and maybe then I’d have to go with Like A Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan.
Do you think Dylan knew that he’d written a classic when he wrote that?
‘I think so! It’s cool, because he released an album of bootlegs and rarities a few years ago, and it was full of all the alternate takes – they did everything one-take – of all his classics. There are different versions of Like A Rolling Stone on there, and although they’re still great, they just don’t sound right. There’s something about that final take that just works.
If you could be in any other band, which would it be, and which instrument would you want to play?
‘I feel like maybe Stereophonics, actually. I’d want to do the least amount of work possible, and just enjoy being on stage with them – so, I’d have to go for playing the maracas or something in the Stereophonics. For me, though, the best live band to have ever existed is Queen; so, to play in Queen, in any capacity, would be incredible.
Describe yourself in three words?
‘Oh, Jesus…
…Is that your final answer?
‘Ha! No. I’m not going full Lennon yet. You’ve sent me down a little existential spiral here! WHO AM I?!
‘I’d say that I’m a mildly funny, quite laid-back, musician.
