We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tommy Capps. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tommy below.

Tommy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

As a musician, I had been in bands or collaborated with other artists most of my life, usually as the drummer. In 2015, I realized I wanted more control of the artistic direction of the music I worked on and began composing myself. The foundation of work was with the piano and started branching out from there. I started playing as a jazz pianist in town at restaurants and bars, but my passion was recording piano-based, atmospheric, soundtrack-esque compositions . I released a couple of albums and I continued solo work and playing as jazz pianist until I met Dirk Liebert in early 2019. Dirk and I are both multi-instrumentalists/songwriters and we started collaborating and tossing songs around, eventually co-founding our band The Talking Trees. I released another full-length instrumental album in 2020 ‘Observations,’ but the focus of my musical efforts have turned to the band.

The Talking Trees is an indie rock trio. Early on, Dirk brought in Graham Stone to play drums and we immediately had great chemistry as a band. In a six-month span, we had a full setlist of original material and booked our first show by the end of 2019. Despite the setback of the pandemic, we have released a series of singles and EPs, splitting recording time at our home studio and Element Recording Studios with engineer/producer Joel Nanos. The Talking Trees has become my main vessel for songwriting, the collaborative process is something I truly enjoy, and missed. The other guys are incredible at what they do and have really helped me evolve as a musician and bring an idea into fruition in its best possible form. I realized that working on a goal together made the project much more meaningful. With the strange tempo the world has been marching to, it is important to have a goal and something fulfilling to work on. Music can be transcendental, an incredible way to express one’s self or escape of the regular grind of life. Having that powerful connection with a group and being able to share that is an incredible thing. I am truly grateful to have The Talking Trees and to be able to do what we love to do and to be able to share it with others as well.

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?

I have been around music most of my life, I played drums/percussion in school. My mother is a band director and a musician herself. My younger brother is a musician as well and we grew up playing music together in different settings over the years. When I was 13, I got a drum set for Christmas and naturally started a terrible garage rock band with friends. I played drums in several bands, sometimes at the same time, throughout high school and college. I had a guitar that mostly collected dust and I fiddled with occasionally when my brother was trying to teach me how it was done. Music was something that I loved to do, but it was just something I did more recreationally than passionately. I ended up graduating with a degree in philosophy and moving to Kansas City to attend UMKC School of Law. During my first semester, I got engaged and joined another band for the first time in a several years. By the end of the semester, I realized that I was on the wrong path, dropped out of law school, and started tinkering with my instruments again. I began working at a Montessori school the next spring in 2013, where I am still currently an assistant teacher. The school has a baby grand piano in their sanctuary and I started sitting down and teaching myself how to play on my lunch breaks. Something clicked and inspiration just took off on the piano. By the end of the year, I was working on what would become my first solo album. In 2015 with the birth of my daughter, although inspired with a new perspective, going out and playing shows became something of the past. I began experimenting with recording my music and directly focusing on how to improve doing so. With the encouragement of my family and friends, I started looking out to promoting, playing out, and really pursuing a career as a musician. I played at a friend’s wedding first and then started playing open mic nights with different friend’s groups. In 2017 I landed a gig at Anton’s Steakhouse two nights a week as a house jazz pianist, off and on for a year and a half. That year I was featured on the EIGHTONESIXTY on 90.9 the Bridge for my second album, ‘It Was Only A Dream.’ I continued working on solo projects and my third album ‘Observations.’ This album, I started really getting more experimental with synthesizers and working towards more robust and expansive compositions. This path ultimately leading to the forming of the band The Talking Trees, in which now funnels most of my musical efforts.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think non-creatives might not totally understand the urge to create, wanting to dedicate the time it takes to do so, the effect it can have in distracting you from doing anything else. Especially, for most of us with day jobs, it can be hard NOT to think about a melody you want to record, or when you feel like you need to write while you are inspired, but you are still at work. I think artists have this feeling that to other people, you are just jamming on a guitar in your room instead of doing something purposeful, missing that the art is the person’s purpose. I mean that, metaphorically, I don’t really think we ‘have’ a purpose, but finding a purpose in your own life is meaningful. I have felt like I am wasting time as a father, or should be investing time elsewhere, or sleeping, but instead really feeling the need to finish recording a track. I think all artists should hear that it is ok to dive into your art and to do whatever you need to do to be happy with your art, your process, and where you stand as an artist.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think the best thing to do for supporting artists is just to show up. Go to local music venues, go to art galleries, go to art fairs, share the links, etc.. Buying t-shirts goes a long way for local bands, spending 20 dollars at an artists booth can really help. These things help immensely. Not only, financially but also providing the sense of support and community.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thetalkingtreesmusic.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thetalkingtreesmusic
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thetalkingtreesmusic
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCjQ2EHOJ9K0ueUrHEqtWVbg
• Other: www.thetalkingtrees.bandcamp.com

Image Credits
Photo credits Todd Zimmer