Tommy Genesis

As we near the end of the year one can’t help but look back and reflect on the music that come out this year. If you ask me its been a strong year of music across the board. While they have been some strong entries in terms of debuts, they have also been some strong returns.

Tommy Genesis the Canadian artist who released her self-titled debut album back in 2018 returned with its follow up goldilocks x last month. Dropping the first single peppermint shortly followed by its follow up a woman is a god Tommy gave fans a bit of a sneak peek as to what we could expect from her sophomore album. 

Now back with goldilocks x which introduces a different kind of Tommy the album from what we heard back in 2018 the album introduces a new vibe which Tommy describes as “fetish rap”. It is not something that can be necessarily pinpoint to a specific genre than more so a blend of different sounds and fusions going on.

Between the various sounds and lyrical content Tommy has made an album that continues to push herself and demonstrates her as an artist to watch. Speak to Tommy we discussed making the album, the expectations vs reality, female empowerment, her upcoming tour and more. 

 

 

I know that the album has been out for about a month now, so what has that been like for you and just everything since then? 

It feels so good to finally have music out because it had been so long for me since I obviously put out my last project, so I feel really good that it’s just out and I have like, no, no pressure with it, but like the love that I’ve been getting has been really cool. It’s definitely been fun and just seeing the way people have been responding to it has been great.

 

When you started making the album was it something that happened because you said its time to make a new album or it just so happened to come together as you’ve been making music?

It was the last album in my deal, so I definitely knew that I was going to be putting together an album. But in the beginning, I just let myself be creative and make whatever I wanted. After a while, I started to go through things and see what fit on an album. So for me, the process was more just get in the studio, make music about what I’m feeling or what I’m in the mood to make and then the putting together of the album came later. 

 

When you hear this album compared to your last one it is very different from what we heard sonically, lyrically everything. Was there a plan you had going into this with the sound you wanted compared to the last one? 

I think when you compare this album to my last one so much time has passed. I made the first project when I made it and then I moved on from that. The specific sounds and everything on this project were the things that I was into. Whenever I am making music, I don’t plant it. It’s almost like the song is just, you know, like a moment in time when you make it and then you sort of have it. And when you put it together with other sounds, they all fit together because they were all made around the same time. I don’t really ever have a plan, that’s not how I make art or make music. I kind of just go into it with my feelings and with whatever I have in me that day. I think they all just fit together because my voice is the one thing that ties everything together, and then I definitely made certain production decisions after the fact to be like, okay lets keep everything a little bit minimal. So, I did go in and take away sometimes. But other than that, it kind of just happened. 

 

How did you put together the tracklisting and sequencing of the album?

I definitely had certain songs that felt like they should be more in the beginning, like peppermint and a woman is a god. I was like, I like to keep the energy really high as long as I can. And so I kept the energy really high up until wet. And then when mmm it drops, I feel like the energy in the flow of the album kind of gets cut in half just for like a little bit, because for me, it’s about sound, but it’s also about energy, like what am I feeling when I listen to it? Like, where does it take me and where do I want to go next? And so I think I did try a few different arrangements with the tracklist, but this one stuck because I really felt like you go on a journey and you go up, you go down, you go up again and then you go down a bit, you know, it felt a really good, a really good hot trip. 

 

 

And as for the title of the project how did we land on the name goldilocks x?

I think I wanted something new. I had self-titled my last album because I couldn’t think of a title. and it just worked with the concept of the album anyway. Then for this one, I just want something brand new. I want to create something. I want to create a character, I want to create an era, I want to create a phase. By this time, the music was like 80 per cent done when I was deciding on the title, and I was like, I didn’t know what to name it, but I would just, like, come up with a different idea every day and try it out in my mind. And I think for that one. I came up with the goldilocks concept because I was looking for something to flip, I was looking up storytime things like nursery rhymes, just anything that I could like kind of resonate with that I could flip that I felt like hadn’t been done before. And then when I came across Goldilocks and Three Bears, I was like, Oh, I kind of like the word goldilocks. Like, I feel like Goldilocks could be a word that fits in like a more underground sense, because it’s kind of like, why would you use that word? What does it all mean? And then when I started looking at it more, it was like, Oh, there’s yeah, there’s the story Goldilocks. But then there’s the Goldilocks effect, which is like a whole theory across like astronomy, mathematics, and there’s so many different things it’s applied to. And basically, it just means like when something’s in the sweet spot. So that was really interesting and I liked it and I was like, Oh, I love that. Then I added the x, First of all, because I just like the way it sounded, but also I like that x represents the unknown, like the experimental, the value in the equation that you’re just not sure about, that can just fuck things up. So that’s how I named it. 

 

There is an element of female empowerment that comes through in the album in a number of different ways across the songs. What was that like channelling it for yourself when making the songs? How did you want that to come across specifically on the project?

I think when it comes to things like female empowerment and feeling like you’re a boss ass powerful woman, obviously, not everyone has that feeling on a daily basis. Even me, I have days where I’m not, you know, feeling as powerful, but I think for me, when I make a song, it’s almost like I make it as a message to myself as well. So if I’m really feeling myself or on the flip side, if I really feel like I need some sort of like empowerment, I make music, I naturally go there and go to a place where I seek to find ideas of power and ideas of self-love, actually and it’s so equally empowering for me to hear that other people are inspired by my music because that just makes me feel like I’m able to relay a message. I think it’s important to love yourself and it’s important to gas yourself up and hype yourself up and be your number one fan and if you have all this love for yourself, it’s so much easier to love other people and to have a beautiful life. In my music, I just always want people to listen to it and then walk away feeling better about anything, you know, whatever it is, because that’s what music is for me. You know, it makes me feel better about everything. 

 

As the album has been out for some time now. What has it been in terms of the expectations you had for it versus what it has been like?

Its been pretty good, obviously, when you’re making something and before you put it out, there is a lot of nerves. And just like it’s kind of scary, it’s like you’re about to jump, you know? And then once you have the music out, you’re kind of like, OK, now this is good. I think it’s just been really nice to see the response of, you know, my fans that have been waiting and then also just new fans and seeing certain songs like peppermint and a woman is a god get like so much love and just continuing to work out ideas surrounding the album, like what video am I going to do next? You know, like, what? What am I going to do next with this project? Still, but also looking forward to just getting back in the studio and making new shit to like. I think for me, I waited so long before this project that I don’t want to do that again, I want to be making music right away. 

 

So, with the album then comes a tour which you announced for next year, how do you feel and what can we expect?

I’m really excited. I want to definitely rehearse the shit out of it and get it to the point where each song feels really raw but feels a lot like itself. I want it to feel like you’re experiencing the songs live and maybe give a little bit more elements that are just for the live set. And visually, I’m still figuring it out like what it all looks like. But I mean, that’s the fun part. And I think, yeah, I’m excited. I mean, you can expect a lot of energy, I think the same kind of like punk energy I like to bring to my shows, I’m just going to make sure each song really is an experience. 

 

In terms of the journey you’ve had from your first album till now, how do you feel like you have grown as an artist?

Honestly, I have no idea. I think I just always sort of like choose things that come easy to me in the best way, you know, like in life, I’ll just choose things that feel good and I kind of just play with where I want to be and where I want to go. I think any artist, any musician, you go through phases because you’re human, you go through emotions and you go through different lives as an artist. I might wake up and want to make something else the next day. I’m never fixed or set somewhere, and I don’t have any rules for myself when I make things. So, I don’t even know. I’m the type of person where I don’t really think about where I’ve been honestly. I’ll make things and move on very quickly because I’m constantly making stuff, I love to draw, I love to write, I love to make, you know, I like to do so many things. I think I’m just now in a place where I have the power to do all those things, and so that’s really exciting, but I literally couldn’t tell you how I got here. 

 

goldilocks x is out now, follow Tommy Genesis via @tommygenesis

 

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