Tomn
Boston, Massachusetts, United States | SELF
Music
Press
A new artist has emerged from the streets of Boston with an absolutely amazing debut EP. Tomn (Tony Maiella) has put together 6 tracks with an incredibly unique sound. Haven’t heard anything like this in a long while.
Tomn (name inspired by the master Tom Jobim) seamlessly combines a mix of Brazilian pop and American rock into a blend that were a match made from the gods. The dynamics, the changes, the songwriting, and the production are all top notch.
There is an all star lineup put together to create this record that was recorded in Boston and Rio de Janeiro. The songs stand on their own but it doesn’t hurt that LEGENDS (and Grammy winners) Tchad Blake and Bob Ludwig mixed and mastered the record.
The voice of Tomn is one I have to rave about lyrically and sonically. Sonically it’s strong yet mellow with an incredible timbre that fits right in with the bed of music it lays on. I can only imagine how he sounds live.
Normally I get frustrated when I can’t understand lyrics. But it doesn’t bother me on this EP, probably because I look forward to when he switches over to Portuguese. It’s not his native language but he picked it up from friends and Brazilian pop music. Lyrically he sings about love and politics but never mixes the two. The songs and lyrical topics match each other extremely well.
I could go on and on about the production but I’ll leave that up to you to enjoy. Sonically this album is incredible. In the day and age of DIY recordings (which I still love) it’s good to hear a record that was crafted with songwriting and production meeting together to result in an amazing listening experience.
If you’re in the Boston area on August 27th, be sure to try and make it to the CD release at Johnny D’s. - Dyson on Sound
Tony Maiella, American-born singer and guitarist who performs under the name Tomn – in honour of bossa nova pioneer Tom Jobim – fell in love with Rio de Janeiro when backpacking across South America in 2005. Since then, he has adapted Brazilian elements into his music and learned to speak Portuguese. In late 2009, he teamed up with a group of musicians in Boston and in Rio to record a bilingual EP of musical exploration.
The songs are both in English and Portuguese, and feature Tomn’s soothing vocals over complex instrumental arrangements and electronic ambience. This, combined with the mild dissonance of bossa nova minor keys, gives the tracks a dreamy, surreal feel – like the music that might be playing in your head when you’re alone in a rainforest. Altogether, the EP sounds like a love affair between a man and Brazil expressed through music.
The EP, mixed by Tchad Blake and mastered by Bob Ludwig, will be released on August 27th. Going to be in Somerville, MA then? Check out the release party. - RIDE THE TEMPO Blog
Discography
Tomn - 2010
Photos
Bio
Tomn (pronounced “tome”) aka Tony Maiella is a North American musician based in Boston who fuses rock and Brazilian music, creating lush pop arrangements that are both dream-like and rhythmically intense. Tomn’s musical explorations in South America stem from his Italo-Argentine background. His maternal grandparents moved from Italy to Argentina in 1948 where his mother was born. Awaiting U.S. visas, the family lived in Buenos Aires for ten years before moving to Boston. In 2005, Tomn left a stable job to backpack for half a year with his guitar. He visited Argentina first and continued to explore other countries in South America, but ended up being most drawn to Brazil and Rio de Janeiro in particular. Since then, Tomn has revisited Brazil seven times, most recently in August 2009. Through patience and observation, he learned from Brazilian culture, adopted elements from the musical tradition, and now speaks and sings in Portuguese fluently.
The beginnings of Tomn’s music occurred in Visconde de Mauá, a small hilltop town in the middle of the Atlantic Brazilian rain-forest. The sounds of the forest inspired him to experiment with unorthodox tunings on his acoustic guitar and craft pop songs that feature organic instruments combined with electronic ambience.
Upon returning to Boston in the Fall of 2009, Tomn assembled a group of over 20 gifted musicians and collaborators for the studio recording, including but not limited to Colin Sapp (electric guitar), Neil Taylor (bass), Dan Shure (keys), Mike Daillak (drums), and Luis Maurette (programming). The music was recorded at Q Division Studios with Rafi Sofer and at Estudio 304 in Rio de Janeiro with Latin Grammy award winning producer Chico Neves (Los Hermanos, Skank, O Rappa). Mixed by Grammy award winning producer Tchad Blake (Peter Gabriel, Sia, Pearl Jam, Elvis Costello) and mastered by Bob Ludwig (The Rolling Stones, Beck, Coldplay), Tomn’s recording is a unique, complex combination of MPB (Brazilian pop) and rock. Most of the songs on the recording have about 80 tracks interacting inside the music.
An ex-member of the pop rock band Delhill, Tomn has also performed locally at the Middle East, The Paradise, and Great Scott, and also at CBGB and the Dubai Media Center with Naree as an opener for Pink. This past August marked the debut of Tomn’s live show attended by a nearly sold out crowd at Johnny D’s , a nationally recognized venue for world music shows in Somerville, MA.
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