The Supersonic Army

Now at the age of 24, Tom Waddington a.k.a. 'tomlad' has been writing and producing his own music since the young age of 16 under the alias 'The Supersonic Army'. The earliest and most profound electronic influences came via the output of such stellar acts as; 'The Prodigy', 'The Chemical Brothers' & 'Leftfield'. Idolizing the works from these three bands shaped the sound from which 'The Supersonic Army' built its base upon. A lot of those early influences can still be heard in Waddington's music to this day. The early years were spent experimenting with various genres, sounds and styles. Eventually finding a path in 2006 & 2007, 'The Supersonic Army' became something of a feature in the fledgling 'Nu-hardcore breaks' scene that was popular at the time. After receiving various airplay via 'Remaniss Radio', 'Fantazia Radio', 'OldSkoolBreaks Radio' amongst others, a deal was put forth to Waddington to have one of his more popular songs released on a small underground label. Due to various factors the release never materialized, although the track was mastered by the label and was by all intents and purposes ready to go. Shortly thereafter Waddington faced some quite difficult health issues and his music and mind-set took on a darker, harsher edge.

It was during this time that the 'HCB' scene started to lose its appeal to Waddington and disillusioned with the music surrounding him both online and on the radio, 'The Supersonic Army' began working toward a sound which incorporated the 'FU' attitude of a 'fist in the air' punk band, the snarl and venom of a pissed off pack of dogs and the weight, power and bass that permeated the works of 'The Prodigy' & 'Leftfield'. The resulting tracks were the aptly titled 'Aggression', 'Thrill Kill' and 'Bombsquad'. It could be argued that those 3 tracks helped shape the future sound of the ‘SSA’. They were vastly different to any of the upbeat, ravey, almost cartoon like ‘HCB’ tracks being produced by the same artist just months previous. These tracks were darker, heavier, angrier, dirtier, and sleazier than previous artist output. Waddington felt he was onto something more representative sonically of himself as a person, and it formed a solid base in which to build future records around. Not to mention the fact it kicked down the walls in which a specific genre of music encapsulates an artist within. These tracks have stood the test of time and continue to be regular appendix rattlers in the live show to this day.

This attitude and fire that was born in the aforementioned tracks carried on over to the first serious E.P. release by Waddington in late 2008. Entitled 'The Heavy Duty E.P.' it was a simple yet effective free download that clearly set the stall out for the rapidly maturing 19 year old from Blackburn. Soon thereafter, the potentially risky yet calculated decision to take 'The Supersonic Army' live began to come to fruition. Having dreamed of performing a p.a. live one day, Waddington was both incredibly excited yet rather hesitant to take the leap due to the complicated nature of playing such complex music live. With careful consideration, and a lot of logistical planning, 'The Supersonic Army' took to the stage for the very first time in front of 150 people at the 'Soundhouse' in Bolton Lancashire on the 1st of August 2009.

The gig was a success and what followed in the following 6-8 months were gigs up and down the country in such varied venues as 'The Revolver' in Birkenhead, 'The Forum' in Aberdeen, 'The Crauford Arms' in Milton Keynes, a charity fundraiser for paratroopers on holiday leave from Afghanistan, 'Spayce' in Lemington Spa, 'The Golden Cross' in Coventry and finally two return gigs at the 'Soundhouse' in Bolton; one of which was a slot supporting 'The Utah Saints'.

More bookings followed throughout the duration of 2010 and with a rapidly growing confidence, an intangible passion and consistent, varied and exciting live show being pieced together, work began in mid-2010 on the next record release for 'The Supersonic Army'.

Entitled 'Sunset'; it was Waddington's most mature and daring material to date. Not one to stand still in one place for too long, the decision was taken to write something akin to a concept album. It strayed from the now hard and heavy writing formula that powered the live shows. It was a much more melodic, cerebral record that took the listener on a 40 minute long odyssey. From the joys of a sunset on a sunny beach to the harrowing depths of a bad drugs trip; Sunset offered something totally different to the growing fan base that had populating over the course of the past 5 or so years. However it must be noted that the very idea of an album is something 'tomlad' has always shrugged off;
"I don't get it when unsigned artists start putting out all these 'albums'. To me, an album is the culmination of 2 or 3 years’ worth of solid, hard work in the studio. But more-over it represents the work of an artist signe