We recently connected with ThomTide and have shared our conversation below.

ThomTide, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I think the thomTide project in and of itself was a meaningful year. 27 songs biweekly, episodically. With seasons coinciding with the literal seasons, and no beginning or end to the series. The concept brought a lot of things together for me. thomTide meant one thing to me and that’s what helped me even execute so much. It was deep but it didn’t have to be to the listener or viewer. I felt like people could take it at surface level and I love that just as much as the people who though deeply about what I did with that series. I always want that option with my art, that it can be whatever you want as the recipient.

From others, I think some of the biggest inspirations to this series might have been G.O.O.D. Fridays and Queen’s Gambit or Avatar the Last Airbender. I love series that are finite and follow a concept.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Thank you so much for sharing your platform with me.

I want to give people inspiration. I want to challenge how we think about things and offer a new perspective. I don’t attach that mission to one product in my mind but I’ve worked in varying degrees on music, film, fashion and tech, and I wanna get into fragrances. But the most mature products that are out there are my music and film. Over the last few years my philosophy has evolved to just building a little bit everyday. I’ve diversified my creative outlets (stole that wording from my mentor Spence) and just want to grow in all the above outlets I mentioned. I’m also going to run a few marketing experiments soon. I just want to be hands on with everything from the product to the presentation.

I feel like I always had fun doing whatever I was excited about. I always had a sense of creativity that I would make the most of what I had. If I was interested in something I would find a way to try it out even if it was super DIY like filming action figures with a webcam when I was a kid or downloading the free trial of Fruity Loops in High School. But I started music seriously first when I was composing classical music in middle school and self-teaching music theory. And Spence was the flyest kid I knew and I’d be tryna get fly in high school, so fashion was always there as well. Tech came next and film was pretty much last. But film really put everything together, it can involve all the above.

My only product so far is my music and visuals which you can find on all streaming and YouTube. I make 1 of 1 clothing designs as well. I think what sets me apart is my way of thinking. I think that I’m energized by what no one has done before, and I trust my taste enough to present that never-before done stuff in a way that is familiar and pleasant. There’s this balance you have to strike with all the ingredients and the preparation and presentation. It’s all important. I think this year I started to explicitly think of myself as an “integrator”. I can take a bunch of separate things and see how they can fit together. And I can understand the parts pretty deeply as well because in a lot of cases I’ve taken the 1 on 1 time to get to know each component that I am putting together. The unifying “dimension” might not be obvious until you hear it all together and it works and doesn’t feel forced. I might put sounds together based on “texture” (got that idea from Shayan at lettermans.co) or I might mix human touch with technology driven sounds. And this same process inspires how I approach film and fashion.

I am most proud of the last thing I did. I always want to be able to say that. Everyday I’m doing something new and I love that. My brother bought me a perfumer’s kit for Christmas which is one of the most thoughtful and timely gifts I’ve ever received. I just started sewing this past weekend and my mom taught me how to sew. Music is always on my heart too and that will come at the right time as well. I’m staying inspired and I’m proud of that. Living the dream every day.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think being an artist or creative for me develops faith. I think as long as I create I have hope and faith. The most rewarding aspect of creating is when no signs are pointing to a great song or art piece or film, and then one thing reveals itself that makes you fall in love with what you’re making. If I never had faith that these songs existed but hadn’t been made, I don’t think I could be a channel for those songs to be “found”. That’s how it feels when I create, is that I’m finding these works. It doesn’t feel like I’m “creating” them per se. I don’t feel like any of this belongs to me. But without faith and hope I feel like I wouldn’t even try to search, or if they found me I might not even recognize them since I wouldn’t be receptive to them.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Every day haha. I think that is the beauty of life. I think everything happens when it is supposed to. Things shape me everyday and I adjust the plan accordingly. I used to plan out down to the week, and thomTide would not have been possible without that. But life took me through a few experiences that made me less of a planner. I still plan, but planning was starting to put pressure on me that I had to find a great idea in a certain time constraint.

So I think for my pivot, nowadays I’m following wherever my interests take me. I’m not fighting the moment. Music is still my love but I’m indulging in more film scoring (for a film Dom directed and wrote with me and my brother) and fashion and fragrances. And I’m so excited to get back to writing, but pivoting to follow my excitement feels like it’s helping me, based on the way I think. I’ll find a way to return to music with the perspective of a perfumer, or a film producer, or a seamster. And I think that will be some of the most interesting music, because the perspective will be a bit more foreign.

But I think that was the pivot. Changing my mindset to be more present where I am, but still plan enough to move forward in the right general direction.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/thomtide
• Facebook: facebook.com/kakuyon1
• Twitter: twitter.com/thomtide
• Youtube: youtube.com/@kakuyon
• Other: https://soundcloud.com/kakuyon

Image Credits
All photos by Dominique Mills shot on film behind the scenes of “thomTide Season 4: Summer” visuals.