No.1 for Interviews - Sandi Tom
Sandi Tom

Sandi Thom burst onto the music scene in the summer of 2006 with the instantly catchy hit I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker. She quickly became the darling of the music industry but once the initial craze calmed down, she was met with some controversy and criticism.

Sandi had launched her own career through live web casts from her basement flat in Tooting, London and critics were dubious as to the authenticity of her status as ‘starving artist’, claiming that she hadn’t launched herself but had the help of a PR agency.

Showing the critics her resilience and talent, Sandi has gone on to have two successful albums. The latest - the pink & the lily, is in the shops now. Demonstrating her ability to change and grow as an artist, Sandi is leaving her Tooting studio and basement, which has been her home for the past six years, and is moving to Brighton with her boyfriend. We catch up with her as she takes a break from packing those boxes and discover that she won’t be gone forever as Scotland is still her home.

London is where your career started. Will you miss it?
It’s going to be a bit weird because I’ve always been so used to being in London and not worrying about how I’m going to get home at the end of a night out! But I’m really looking forward to being in Brighton permanently because it’s such a lovely place and it’s by the seaside – it’s really chilled out. I’ve been in London for six years now so I need a little step out of it I think. It can consume you a little too much so it’s time for a change.

Do you think you will ever move back up to Scotland?
I think I will eventually, when I’m at that point in life where I want to get into the country. I’m really into horses and I can see myself in the future moving out to the country and having some horses and having a really cool studio – a converted barn perhaps. So when that time in life comes I will absolutely go back to Scotland. I’ve pretty much always envisioned that will happen anyway. I never envisioned living in Brighton, it’s just something that randomly happened but I really like it there.

Scotland’s music scene is really thriving. Do you think it’s important for artists to stay up here to be a part of that?
I think it is growing in so many ways: Scotland as a country and what that reflects in its culture and its arts. I think it’s becoming more and more of a global scene. I think that it’s good to spread your music around the world like I’ve done but I think that, from what I gather, so many of the artists who have come out of Glasgow in the last few years have been so successful in Glasgow. And there have been so many more – music is becoming one of those careers that is becoming so much more popular with younger people and it’s more accessible because of technology.

Is your Scottishness important to your music?
Yes and a lot of people remark on it. I hear it myself, that growing up in Scotland and having Scottish parents – who are musicians as well and quite traditionally minded in the music they play – has had an effect. I’m sure it’s had an impact on the way I’ve ended up musically.

A lot of other artists have started their careers online like you - such as Kate Nash. Do you think it’s a good way to get into the industry?
I think that, like myself and those other artists, we were at the beginning of a trend and it’s now becoming more and more popular. It’s become integrated into our society to the point were it’s just normal but we came out at a time when there was a new avenue to explore. But the cool thing about it is that it doesn’t have to dictate what kind of music you do. You can be any kind of artist and use the web to get yourself out there.

Now you’re famous, do you think your life is quite unrecognisable from how it was before?
I think in a lot of ways it’s actually really similar. I think the one thing that has changed the most is me. I guess all the material things that people associate with fame don’t matter in the end anymore than they did when you didn’t have them. Being in this position I’ve had such amazing opportunities and seen so many different things in the world so I think it’s made me realise what’s important in life.

How do you feel about your experience of the music industry?
I don’t think there is anything that will prepare you for it. I went to performing art school for three years and still didn’t know anything about it. I was introduced to it so fast and was doing things I had never done before in my life like giving interviews and being on TV! I definitely went in with rose-tinted glasses and everybody just mollycoddled me because I was just this huge thing that just erupted and everyone was falling over themselves. That would go to anyone’s head and I think it did got to mine for a while. Then you experience the negative side and your perception totally changes. I definitely look back on the last three years and still can’t believe that all these things have happened. I think after it settled and it calmed down that as long you work hard, as long as music’s the most important thing, then you’re okay because you’re going to be happy.

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