Emotion Maketh The Music, Says J. Tomic

The Australian musician is working on Rainbow Beach, his fifth project.

J. Tomic is an electronic musician from Australia. When he was a young kid (a young mass of atoms, in his own words), playing with pots and pans, he got struck by ‘What’s Up?’, a cool song by 4 Non Blondes. It made they young kid want to hear more.

That’s how he got into music, way before he was making makeshift sounds with his parents’ pots and pans.                                                                                                                                                          To J., emotion makes the music. Surprising that he’s into instrumental music whereas the song that got him into music is anchored by its lyrics.

His strength, he says, is his ability to ‘harmonise gritty tones and sweeter tones in some strange way that seems to work’; his weakness being repetitive, which I take to mean making similar music.

The muso, whose favourite musicians are Toto, Nirvana, and Queen, just to mention three, is working on Rainbow Beach, an extended play that serves part of his series of related albums. Rainbow Beach is project number five.

L. SOJINI: Can you tell us about yourself? Where you’re from and what kind of musician you are.

J. TOMIC: My name is J. Tomic, I'm in Australia and living close to my hometown.

I'm an electronic musician, mostly instrumental but working on featuring other artists for future song works.

Typically you can expect chill vibe tracks, vance tracks with a chill vibe and heavy, bassy music.

L. SOJINI: How did you get into music?

J. TOMIC: When I was a young mass of atoms I was always playing with musical instruments, had no idea what I was doing but I liked making the sounds, harmonicas, guitars, keyboards, pots and pans as a makeshift drum set and recorders.

But even before that, the first song I remember hearing when I was around two-years-old, would have to be what got me into music.

‘What's Up?’ by 4 Non Blondes, such a powerful song to hear at a young age, but it made me want to hear more than the usual kids music, that's for sure!

L. SOJINI: What do you think makes good music?

J. TOMIC: Emotion is the core of good music. I haven't heard a good song that hasn't been formed from an emotion, whether it's joy, sadness, rage or a blend of them, emotion is what puts the soul into music, it's humanity. But that's just my opinion.

L. SOJINI: What are your strengths and weaknesses as a musician?

J. TOMIC: My strength is being able to harmonise gritty tones and sweeter tones in some strange way that seems to work, another being able to make do with what little I have to work with.

My weakness is definitely my inability to understand things that would be basic to other musicians that know what they're doing, and repetitiveness. I just can't seem to get this one, it's not all of them but some can be considered repetitive definitely.

His strength, he says, is his ability to ‘harmonise gritty tones and sweeter tones in some strange way that seems to work’; his weakness being repetitive, which I take to mean making similar music.

L. SOJINI: What are you currently working on?

J. TOMIC: A new EP, Rainbow Beach, my fifth release in the storyline of albums.
Hoping for this to be the one that opens up a whole new chapter and new opportunities for the future of my work.

L. SOJINI: How do you approach music? As in, what’s your philosophy when it comes to making music?

J. TOMIC: Had a thought about this the other day and came up with a few that I tend to follow:

·         Create from experiences felt and emulate the emotion of that memory or event through electronic music.

·         Find balance and harmony between sounds of high and low tones

·         Effects are the seasoning to the sound, not the main dish

·         Never make music you wouldn’t listen to yourself.

I think those would be the main philosophies I follow.

L. SOJINI: What are you most proud of to have achieved as a musician?

J. TOMIC: Honestly, getting as far as I have come so far with the handicaps given to me, the friends and fans along the way, I think I can be proud of those most of all.

L. SOJINI: How do you promote your music?

J. TOMIC: I usually just put the track out there with the appropriate tags and hope for the best, word-of-mouth is another way but it's still rough to get fans or followers.
It really makes me appreciate every single person that follows the progress, shows support and gives the work a listen when they can.

L. SOJINI: Favourite musician? Why?

J. TOMIC: So damn many to choose from. I have favourite artists or bands all the way from rock to hip-hop and everything in between.

Nirvana, Gorillaz, Metallica, Sex Pistols, Scooter, Headhunterz, S3RL, Nick Skitz, Toto, A Flock of Seaguls, Queen.

The list goes on and on. All for the same reason, their unique sound and ways they create their art.

L. SOJINI: What’s your advice or message to fellow musicians?

J. TOMIC: Find your flow, your way of doing, and keep on with it, you know.

L. SOJINI: Can you recommend one musician you’ve worked with that The Musician can interview next? You can share their Twitter handle.

J. TOMIC: I'd like to recommend two: @RogerStankovic and @breck_stewart
Haven't worked with either of these guys completely just yet, but there are a couple projects in the works with them individually.

L. SOJINI: Thank you for talking to The Musician. Remember this is your home. Whenever you have something new to share, hit us up anytime. You can even drop your links here.


J. TOMIC: Thanks so much for reaching out. Super-awesome to have my first interview with you!
If readers would like to find me elsewhere, I'm on:

Spotify: https://sptfy.com/JTomic
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JTomic
Twitter: @_JTomic