When Tom King experienced heartbreak at boarding school, he instinctively turned to his music to process the pain. He sat at the piano and poured all his raw emotions into his third single, “Be That For Me.”
This new single showcases King’s stirring vocals and a falsetto that rivals Sam Smith, as it narrates the intimate details of King’s loss.
We sat down with the 18 year old Guildford, England native to talk about the single, the track’s music video and more.
How did you first get interested in music?
I’ve been singing and performing since I was a toddler, I used to put on shows for my grandparents. The first time I remember really getting into music was when I joined the choir, it was made up of the boys at my school and we would sing at Guildford Cathedral. I would be singing 3-5 services a week and doing rehearsals early every morning before school. We would learn music theory as well, I feel like this really helped me in understanding how to compose and write music.
How would you describe your sound?
I like to base my songs around my voice. I usually focus on an emotional lead vocal surrounded by a multitude of backing vocals. It’s sometimes sad, sometimes uplifting but always focused on emotion.
Who did you listen to growing up and do you feel they had an influence on your sound?
I listened to loads of different things growing up. I had an iPod nano, I remember loading it up with some ABBA, a bit of Lady Gaga and loads of Katy Perry. I think some of the influences on my music now are from people I’ve listened to during my teenage years. People like Adele and Sam Smith, they’re massive influences for me.
Do you think growing up in Guildford had any influence on your music?
It’s pretty mellow here in Guildford, not a lot goes on. However, I guess being able to be in the choir has surrounded me in music from a very young age and taught me a lot about it.
Your music has a lot of raw emotion. I’m curious to know where and what in life do you pull from to express that amount of vulnerability?
I feel as a person I don’t share emotion very freely, I don’t often cry and if I’m in a grump I usually snap out of it pretty quick or I just don’t really show it. When it comes to writing a song I’m able to let loose and write however I feel. I think it helps me to deal with things as well.
What was the inspiration behind your new single “Be That for Me”?
I wrote this song when I was very upset in year 11 (I think I was 15), that year was pretty shit for me. The song is about a certain someone who was very misleading but was also confused in themselves. I was frustrated that things couldn’t be the way I wanted them to be.
What did the writing process look like?
At the time I was at boarding school and in the evenings I would sometimes go to the music school (a block of music classrooms) and write songs. This night, I went by myself into one of the rooms and sat down at the piano, I wrote the song there and then. Then a couple years later I decided I wanted to re-work the song so I brought it to Paul Aiden (A guy I was writing with at the time) and we created a version of it that I really love.
If you could set fans up in the perfect environment to listen to “ Be That for Me,” what do you imagine it looking like?
I sat at a piano singing it live (maybe back at the music school where I wrote it) I feel that’s the best way to hear the song and really get into the lyrics.
What was the inspiration behind the music video?
I wanted to do it around the ‘Frensham area’ as that’s where I went to school and I liked the way it all tied in together. Me and my friend, Caitlin, scouted out the area in Frensham Ponds and thought it was perfect especially at sunset. We had some amazing advice from Pedro Rohmanyi who showed us this Coldplay video where they recorded the whole thing in slomo just walking along the beach, we loved this idea and used it.
You worked with your friend, Caitlin Payne on the video. How did you two get connected and what was it like working together on the video?
Me and Caitlin have been best friends for years now so it was just a fun day out for us. It was cool working on the video together and I think it came out really well!
What can fans look forward to next?
I’m releasing songs every month and keeping active on all my socials, I’ve got loads of fun videos coming up.
What is one quote that you have heard or that you go by that you want to ECHO out to the world?
My favourite quote at the moment is from Bobby Berk at Queer Eye, he said, ‘I heard a preacher once say, “sometimes when you’re feeling buried, you’re actually just planted.’