Tom Hickox - The Angel Of The North

Tom Hickox is a serious talent for serious times. His music inspires strong reactions. The Daily Telegraph hailed his “depth and intensity” calling him “a true original”. The Sunday Times described Tom arriving on the music scene “as if from a different planet, and certainly from a different age.” Fuse magazine swooned over his “outrageously daring lyrics” and the “deathly beauty” of his arrangements.

Repeated comparisons have been made to such masters as Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Randy Newman but all agree that Tom’s particular take on the art of the singer-songwriter is unique. Tom’s late father Richard Hickox CBE was one of Britain’s most renowned conductors, a Grammy award winner with over 280 recordings to his credit. Tom’s mother was an orchestral timpanist. Tom, however, rejected music completely and never had formal lessons. “I knew as a kid I couldn’t possibly compete with my dad, and I didn’t want to. My parents let me doodle on instruments around the house. Really, I am untrained musician but I have a lot in my guts and in my ears that I picked up by osmosis.”

During his teenage years Tom sought solace in literature getting into Beckett, Pinter and Orton. As his passion for literature became more prevalent he joined a school rock band and began writing his own music. “I wrote my first song using a poem in the back of the Big Issue and I got a lot of joy out of that.” After studying English at Manchester University Tom went on to do an M.A in sound recording and self-released a DIY album, Fear In A Handful of Dust, mixing strings and electronica that won him many admirers. He picked up a management and publishing deal with Warner Chappell.

He has been gigging extensively, performing at the SXSW festival in Austin, Glastonbury and the Big Chill. “It has been a long journey to identify my own unique space,” says Tom. “I need to write hundreds of songs to get to the point where I am consistently delivering material that resonates on more than just a simple level, and that I care deeply about.”