Southport indie rock quintet Gomez stormed onto the UK scene back in 1998, winning the Mercury Prize (album of the year) for their debut Bring It On. Now 20 years later and with 7 studio albums, the band are back to celebrate their revolutionary debut with a remastered 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (that includes 35 unreleased tracks and demos) and a sold out UK 20th Anniversary Tour. The Bring It On 20th Anniversary Tour has now made its way to the US for 17 dates, including a stop at Variety Playhouse here in Atlanta tomorrow (6/12/18), a chance to celebrate with US fans that embraced the band throughout their career.
Bring It On was a massive success in the UK, something the band never quite expected themselves. Just how impactful was this album across the pond from us? Bring It On topped a 2016 BBC 6 Music poll of listeners’ favorite Mercury Prize winners. That’s over albums from Portishead, Pulp, Primal Scream, PJ Harvey, Arctic Monkeys, and more recent winners such as The xx, alt-J, and James Blake.
Here in the US, the album never reached the fever pitch it did over there, instead eventually serving as an introduction for many US fans to a band they would really come to love. While Bring It On may have been a little slower to take hold in the US, for any true Mezhead (is that a thing?), this is one of the most memorable albums you’ve ever heard.
Gomez continued on to release further exceptional albums such as Liquid Skin and In Our Gun, though those albums never quite reached the critical acclaim and sales of Bring It On. Here in America though it was 2006’s How We Operate that saw the band really crossover behind the radio play of singles such as “See The World”. By that point, Gomez had built a strong relationship with their US fans.
It all comes back to Bring It On though. That was the catalyst for Gomez’s career that left such an impact on so many fans around the globe. Like many, Gomez is a band that for me personally, helped changed the way that I listened to music. When I finally got turned onto Bring It On (a few years behind) by some friends, it was like a light switched on and opened me up to so many different types of music.
When I heard that Gomez would be touring North America for the first time in 6 years, and playing Bring It On all the way through, I knew I would have to catch them live again, this time at Variety Playhouse. The bonus was when the opportunity arose to chat with Gomez’s Tom Gray before the show. While our phone conversation wasn’t real long, we reminisced about the impact of Bring It On, and what I found was a guy that’s truly loving having the boys of Gomez back together. With the band selling out the UK dates, Tom is definitely enjoying the moment of reliving these songs with his fans, songs that were from such a different era in his and the band’s life. You can tell it’s a joyful moment to be in, which is sure to make for some special shows on this US tour.
Check out my conversation with Tom Gray from Gomez, and be sure to catch them on tour now (tour dates below):
OE: Hey Tom how’s it going?
Tom Gray: Good man. How are you?
OE: Good good. I appreciate you taking the time. Let’s say I’m a big fan.
Tom Gray: Oh wonderful.
OE: I think it was “Tijuana Lady” (from Bring It On ) that actually I kind of fell in love with first. It was weird because you know, a song called “Tijuana Lady” by a band named Gomez, sounding like that? I remember thinking, aren’t they supposed to be from the UK, what’s going on here. (Laughs) I know that you guys actually didn’t play “Tijuana Lady” live all that often. I found that interesting going through some of your background.
Tom Gray: Well were definitely playing “Tijuana Lady” in Atlanta, don’t be worrying about that.
I was never expecting to have such a successful album with that record at all. We thought we might sell a few thousand, that will be a bit of fun.
OE: I’m looking forward to it. You know I’ve been listening to Bring It On a lot lately, and perhaps it’s that I caught on to the album a few years after it came out but I don’t really think of Bring It On as a 90’s record. It’s nostalgic, and it’s experimental, I feel like it could still fit into the indie rock of today and find it’s niche. If the album was released today, how would you think it would be taken?
Tom Gray: I have no idea, I mean music is so, I have no idea. I mean I had no idea then either, so I suppose nothing much has changed really. I was never expecting to have such a successful album with that record at all. We thought we might sell a few thousand, that will be a bit of fun. I didn’t realize it was going to sell like a million copies. It was one of those weird things. I think you’re right, the album kind of wasn’t of its time then, so hopefully it’s not of it’s time now. If you make music that’s not led by trends and by prevailing production techniques and sonics, and you just do your own thing, hopefully it stands a better chance of not sounding outmoded.
OE: I think a lot of people really attached to it then, it was different. The album didn’t sound like everything else at the time. The album has the bluesy sound that everyone could latch onto but the experimental aspect I feel like changed the way that I listened to music.
Tom Gray: That’s nice to hear. You know, that’s what you’re trying to do. Right? You don’t push things forward by doing something no one has heard in anyway, you kind of have to bring people along. (Laughs)
OE: With Bring It On winning the Mercury Prize, well you wouldn’t really compare the Mercury Prize to the Grammys in America, but it also holds a lot of significance…
Tom Gray: In the UK we have a series of prizes that are kind of just unique to their art forms. We have the Booker Prize, which is literature and we have the Turner Prize, which is for art. So it’s more comparable to if you had a Pulitzer Prize for music. It fancies itself a bit as being more special. Although it does go to some big records, it doesn’t really recognize sales like a lot of those prizes. A lot of award ceremonies are just a way of rubber stamping the thing that sold the most. Hurray for the thing that everybody already bought (laughs).
The fact that it captured people’s imaginations to the level it did was like, shit, well, maybe we can keep doing this.
OE: I also wanted to ask you about the ‘Mercury Curse’, and if you ever considered what if you guys didn’t win that your first year, how would things be different?
Tom Gray: Well, I think there probably wouldn’t be a Gomez still. Gomez was such a hobby. It was kind of just fun. It wasn’t what I thought I was going to do in my life. It was just what I did with my buddies for fun. Although you know I was completely devoted to it. I don’t want to make it sound like it was done without any kind of love. It was absolutely a labor of love more so than it was a career decision. I think (if we hadn’t won) we probably would have just gone back to what we were doing, other things. The fact that it captured people’s imaginations to the level it did was like, shit, well, maybe we can keep doing this.
OE: Well there’s a heck of a lot of bands out there today that don’t get the initial push they need, and then quit.
Tom Gray: Yeah, well, that’s it exactly, that level of sort of affirmation is really important. It was crazy. Okay wicked, things were going well anyway, but that (Mercury) just sent things completely over the top. It opened so many doors.
OE: Now you guys are on tour over here in the States playing Bring It On, and all the way through the full album, but I feel like here in the States, it was How We Operate that took you guys to the next level of popularity here.
Tom Gray: Yeah, absolutely, that’s when we got radio, like radio, that’s the simple fact of it, isn’t it? People heard How We Operate and “See The World” on the radio. And that’s a different thing. “Oh shit. We’ve got songs that people are listening to on the radio? Look at us.” Yeah, so we’re playing those songs too, of course we are. We are not idiots. (Laughs)
I mean Bring It On was an absolutely massive record in the UK, like a seriously big record. Whereas in the US, I guess it was the record that got a lot of fans into us.
OE: Does it seem like the reception is different for Bring It On over here verses in the UK?
Tom Gray: Oh, absolutely. Of course, it’s different. Yeah, I mean Bring It On was an absolutely massive record in the UK, like a seriously big record. Whereas in the US, I guess it was the record that got a lot of fans into us. So it’s more fan driven in the US. Even though obviously we are going to be playing the stuff that’s more popular over here as well.
The thing is it kind of works out anyway, because in America people like longer sets. People like bands to play for more like 2 hours, whereas in the UK it’s closer to an hour. So in the US it works because we do Bring It On, but then we’ve got a shit ton of other stuff we can play as well, and we can keep playing. So that takes a little bit of the pressure off the having to build it around Bring It On.
We played the Royal Albert Hall and it sold out in like four minutes. That is not what we’re dealing with it over here (in the US). If we were playing How We Operate, maybe, if that was kind of what we were building around. But that’s just a different thing. We didn’t want to not do it over here because America became such an important part of our touring world. For us to put these gigs on and then not commonplace the American fans would have felt like a bit of a betrayal.
Every Gomez fan believes that they know what the best Gomez song is and it’s a hilarious and a joyful thing to see
OE: I’m for one excited.
Tom Gray: Oh shit, well, that’s the thing. It doesn’t matter whether there is two people in the room or 20,000, the people who love this record get so fucking excited. It’s really great. It’s really lovely being able to just play these songs, that every single one of these songs people love so much.
Actually, we just went on social media the other day. I don’t know who did it, probably a member of the band or management. They said, “hey we are playing Bring It On, but what other songs would you like us to play?” This question was asked on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and then what ensued was Gomez fans naming literally every song we have ever recorded. Like every single fucking song. You know, it’s so fun. It’s kind of hilarious, I guess that’s what kind of band that we are. It’s just a pleasing thing to see that.
It wasn’t like 50 people saying play “See The World”, it was people saying play “Drench” and play “Rosalita” and play all these songs from all over the place. Play “Airstream Driver”, play “Whatever’s On Your Mind”. Like literally everyone’s got a different favorite song. Every Gomez fan believes that they know what the best Gomez song is and it’s a hilarious and a joyful thing to see. People shouting like “how can you not fucking play “Sweet Virginia” asshole”. We get that kind of stuff all the time. Literally the people who believe that that’s your greatest song, you can not convince them otherwise.
OE: And they will be pissed if you don’t play their one song…
Tom Gray: Exactly. And the number of emails we get. “It is my birthday. My wife really loves “Detroit Swing 66”, or we get “it’s our 20th wedding anniversary that night and it’d be really great if you could play “We Haven’t Turned Around”. We see so much of that. It’s just fun. I love it. I really love the enthusiasm that our fans have for the whole catalog.
It’s interesting playing these songs from a very different more innocent and naïve time in my life.
OE: Bring It On is obviously a youthful record, and now 20 years later with you guys all in different stages of life, are there any songs off the record that you would say has taken on a different meaning for you today than maybe what you remember writing?
Tom Gray: There’s only one for me. Every night I have to get up and play a song called “Bubble Gum Years”. That was a song that we never played live ever. It was just like a little orphan of a thing that I wrote that that somehow ended up on the album because it was kind of different to everything else. That was part of the schema of the record if you will. It’s not a song that I have any particular love for but I’ve kind of had to relearn it. I sing it every night and I have to embody this thing, which it’s weird because it’s such a strange, world weary song. It’s just really odd being 41 now. I must have written it when I was like 20. It’s weird singing these words about a whiskey bottle and a 45, drinking whiskey and listening to records. Which is pretty uniformly what I’ve done for the past 20 years (laughs), but it’s interesting because this whole thing is about loss of innocence. It’s interesting playing these songs from a very different more innocent and naive time in my life. So that’s the only reason why it kind of strikes me differently. It’s just kind of become poignant, I think is the word I am looking for.
We are thinking about making new music. So I think whether or not that’s informed by what we’ve done in the past or not, I don’t know.
OE: What about the box set (Bring It On 20th Anniversary Deluxe) that just came out, you have a bunch of different demos and listening to them, it’s really an interesting look into what you guys were playing around with at that time. Were there any of those demos that after going through them, and putting this box set together that you would want to remake, or make it into a new song?
Tom Gray: Not really. It’s just all of that orphaned music, it’s a decision to not put it on a record because it doesn’t go, and once you’ve made that decision you just have to move on. Otherwise you get stuck. Sometimes old ideas come back and become new ideas, but you can never be sure when that’s going to feel exciting to do. Sometimes you hear things and you can’t even remember writing them. I don’t remember those notes. I don’t remember those words. I don’t remember anything about that, and that’s a really strange thing. I mean sometimes even listening back to the albums themselves, it feels like it’s just a different person.
We are thinking about making new music. So I think whether or not that’s informed by what we’ve done in the past or not, I don’t know. We have to muddle through and figure that out.
The album was kind of our artform, that’s kind of what we specialized in was making albums. That’s why it was so surprising when we had hits, because we were so album orientated.
OE: I imagine being all together on this tour, that that is getting the juices flowing now and looking forward to Gomez in the future. That was actually going to be one of my questions is where we stand with Gomez as a band.
Tom Gray: Well it’s definitely part of the conversation mate. We have to figure out the best way of doing it, the world has changed in almighty ways since we started. People are barely releasing albums now. The album was kind of our artform, that’s kind of what we specialized in was making albums. That’s why it was so surprising when we had hits, because we were so album orientated. In terms of giving people an experience that was different and distinct from other listening experiences, that’s kind of our thing. So having to approach the world where the album isn’t the thing is… I mean it was getting that way towards the end anyway of what we were doing like seven years ago, but now it’s so pronounced. People are just throwing songs at Spotify and seeing how they go, and then try and get a different one up and seeing how that goes, just trying to get on playlists. It’s a completely different spot.
OE: It’s changing the way music is made.
Tom Gray: Exactly. So figuring out whether we want to work with a label. That’s almost the harder part of it and than just writing songs, which is easy. Which is just what we’ve never stopped doing every day, anyway. The song is the thing.
I think that the key that usually people don’t talk about enough is that most bands need Champions, someone to champion their work and to champion them.
OE: So one last question before you have to go. Our website, the purpose is to help up-and-coming artists and be a platform for them. Is there any advice you would give to a young artist? Looking back throughout your career if you were a new artist today, is there anything in particular you would want to know?
Tom Gray: The only important thing is to be lucky (laughs) and the only two things that you can do to increase the level of luck that you experience is to be good (laughs), and to be in the right place at the right time.
You’ve got to be in it to win it. You’ve got to be in the way of the right person. I think that the key that usually people don’t talk about enough is that most bands need Champions, someone to champion their work and to champion them.
Finding that person is often the hardest thing to do. Being lucky to find someone who’s not trying to exploit you, who just believes in what you’re doing, and wants to take you as far as they can. Lift you up. Finding those people is hard and finding them is almost entirely key to success.
OE: Yeah, and I’m sure it’s hard to decipher whether these people are for real and what they’re trying to tell you is the right path.
Tom Gray: Exactly. You need to have a very strong sense of bullshit. And I think for these young artists these days, they have to be able to understand spreadsheets more than we had to back in the day. So there’s more work there. But yeah, I mean, it’s about meeting as many people as you can through your art and and smoking out the good ones. That’s the trick.
OE: Well I really appreciate the time and I am really looking forward to the show next week here in Atlanta. Hopefully, you will play my list of favorite Gomez songs!
Tom Gray: Haha, just tweet me! Good chat mate, take care.
Gomez Online:
Website // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram
Upcoming Gomez US Tour Dates:
6/12/18 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse (BONUS: Neighbor Lady opens the show!)
6/13/18 Nashville, TN – Cannery Ballroom
6/15-16 /18 Chicago, IL – Vic Theatre- 2 nights
6/17/18 Apple Valley, MN – Minnesota Zoo
6/19/18 Aspen, CO – Belly Up Aspen
6/20/18 Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre
6/21/18 Salt Lake City, UT – Utah Arts Festival
6/23/18 Pasadena, CA – Arroya Seco Weekend
6/24/18 Oakland, CA – Fox Theatre
6/26/18 Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
6/27/18 Vancouver, BC, Canada – Commodore Ballroom
6/28/18 Seattle, WA – The Showbox
