Tommy Cash Dropped a New Single, but Who Really Gives a Shit?
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Dimes Square's Pop Princess
Singles such as “Make it Work for Me” take a refreshing and rightfully-demanding stand asserting sexual autonomy, while “Suburban Mall Jewelry” is haunting, stirring a loneliness only describable through floating sounds of ouds and neys, through airy vocals, and through the image of being reduced to nothing but your earrings.
The “Suburban Mall Jewelry” music video, however, adds a level of complexity and tells a story of consumption. Comparing snapping dogs to the jaws of objectification, Thoom’s campy and provoking visual language subverts and reappropriates the male gaze, reducing men to marble and muscle. From dancing on top of cars, to running through the woods, to finally collapsing in the grass, Thoom portrays desire - the desire to be desired, the manic lengths one will go to, and the inevitable exhaustion at the end of the entire ordeal.
Watch the music video to "Suburban Mall Jewelry" now and get to know Thoom in our exclusive interview below.
Tell me about the evolution of your music — when you started, how you started, and how your vision / style has changed since the beginning.
My first band was in high school. We were a four piece, all girl punk band called Deepthroat and I was the drummer. This was in Beirut and there was a punk/metal scene around this bar called American Dream. After high school I moved back to America for college and was studying film and fiction writing. I was writing a lot of stories and poetry, stuff I still use in my music now and was involved in the music scene, putting on small shows. Where I really started making music was in Chicago, I was going to Smartbar a lot and listening to a lot of music on Soundcloud. I convinced this guy who was a booker to let me DJ one night and a lot of people were into it and I just felt like, I can do this, I have a lot to say and I want to make my own music, videos, the whole thing. Then I had my boyfriend at the time crack ableton on my computer. I didn’t know what kind of music I wanted to make and I have so many influences from Arabic and English music so I just tried a lot of different things before anything stuck.
You’ve been to Beirut, Chicago, and Berlin — what made you want to set roots in New York (even if only for the meantime)?
Because New York is the closest I’ve felt to home in America. It’s chaotic and fun like a video game. And I find that a lot of people here just have similar ambition as me.
Why did you choose suburban mall jewelry as an item both of inspiration and of residue and wreckage? Why do you specifically call on suburban mall jewelry as something that is “all that’s left?”
There was one night in high school when me and my friends were smoking on a bridge and the cops came because we were smoking weed. I was wearing really heavy earrings and I just remembered the feeling of running on this gravel road with my heavy earrings bouncing up and down and it was all I was focusing on. I felt like I was the earrings. You know when you stub your toe and all you can think about is toe toe toe. It was like that.
I know you had a bit of difficulty filming the “Make It Work For Me” video in Amman — how was the production process for filming “Suburban Mall Jewelry?” (I personally love a nice frolicking-eerily-at-night moment).
It was the first time I’ve worked with producers and a crew that big and I loved it but I usually just make videos with a few other people helping me out so I learned a lot. I came to Ramzi and Rayan and Anthony with the idea to film a folk inspired erotica. With a lot of dogs. We scouted all the locations together. We filmed in the Lebanese mountains from 7pm to 7am. I almost passed out during the car scene fog because the guy showed up with a fog machine that only uses gasoline. So he was pumping clouds of burning gas on us. It was hard work being sexy in that moment but I did it. Anyway, I was just so happy that we got this car, because it's exactly the car I envisioned.
"Fantasy for Danger" is -– in part — about the desperation to overcome the incredible loneliness that is ironically a trademark of New York — where everyone seems to be on top of each other but no one is really with each other. Has your music helped you overcome the loneliness? Has it highlighted it instead?
Not really, music can be really isolating honestly. The only way I feel less lonely in music is when I’m making music with other people or during my performances. Sometimes it takes a stage.
You have a story in which you impulsively decided to share a ride with a stranger, then ended up genuinely bonding because of your shared history of growing up in the middle east. What advice do you have for people waiting to get picked up by their own man-from-Palestine?
Stop going to the gay bars.
Who would you like to work with in the future?
I’m working with Ike, my best friend and artist and producer who’s based in London. He’s like a Malcolm McLaren type. We’re making some of my favorite music ever. I’ve never worked with anyone I’m so compatible with so I’m really excited about what we’re making this year… Oh, and Noah Goldstein. I’d love to work with him.
What’s a question you wish someone would ask you? What would your answer be?
I want my crush to ask me out on a date and my answer would be yes.
Sometimes it takes a stage.
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Don't Be So Serious
Little Big’s front people Ilya "Ilich" Prusikin and Sonya Tayurskaya are eager to bring their live shows to the US, considering the US has been home to them the past year. On March 3rd, 2022, Little Big left their Moscow homes and moved to Los Angeles, due to their position against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Despite the change, the group has been able to build a team they think is "excellent, assembled of mega-professionals: Russians, Ukrainians, and Americans altogether."
Ilya Prusikin elaborated that they treat life in a fun manner rather than being distraught with unnecessary obstacles. As a group, the five members agree that life should be fun because there is no meaning to life, except for what you choose. This song is about just that, that we all can be "Pendejo" and that be okay. "People can be dumb and act stupid — nothing is wrong with that. There is no meaning in life — we have fun and wish everyone the same." A lighthearted message follows through this song in hopes that listeners and fans are influenced to stop caring and have fun.
Just make fun and do whatever you want to (whatever is legal, of course).
Watch the new music video below.
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Daniel Caesar's Leap of Faith
Shirt ACNE STUDIOS, pants WILLY CHAVARRIA, shoes CAMPERLAB, jewelry TALENT'S OWN.
While much of Never Enough was created during Caesar's isolation on a remote farm in Canada amid the pandemic, the creative framework came to him while on a boat in the south of France. During that boat trip, he overheard a conversation where someone uttered the two-word phrase. Its meaning was already echoing in his head before he could articulate it. "Never enough," he says, sitting across from me on the velvet slate-gray wrap-around couch in the center of his studio.
He recalls feeling frustrated on that boat, grappling with the idea that something was never enough, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what. The yearning to understand the meaning of these two words and what "enough" meant to him eventually revealed itself as the central drive of this album.
As an independent artist, intuition has always been integral to his music, both sonically and emotionally. Even though he is now signed to a record label, this aspect of his craft remains true. "It has to sound like me," he says, very seriously, before bursting into laughter about the album's naming. The tracklist evolved through three iterations in Canada, Los Angeles, and New York City before Caesar realized that he could continue to perfect the album or put a stop to his nitpicking, close this chapter, and move on. Never Enough is an ode to human insatiability, the innate human desire for more, and the realization that exactly where you're at is just as fine.
Get to know the Toronto native a little better below.
It’s been a while since you released a full studio album. How are you? What have you been up to the last few years?
It's been really great. Kind of like a roller coaster, but fun overall. I traveled a lot, saw a lot of places, met a lot of people.
Where did you go?
Majorca, Sudan, Jamaica, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Paris, Berlin — so many places.
When during that time did you start working on Never Enough?
2019 as soon as the world locked down, I was like, I got to do something, so I built a semi-studio in my house, and I just started cooking away.
This also feels like a new chapter for you in terms of tone, subject matter and production. What would you say defined this shift?
Joining a new label; heartbreak; breakups. I went through a lot of cycles before I settled somewhere that I felt was fair — moving forward but also giving people what I feel they want from me — to not alienate anybody.
How did lockdown impact your creative process?
A lot, because I was isolated, so in the beginning there’s definitely this hopeless feeling to the album. I’d have to look again but it feels as if it starts out hopeless with moments of despair throughout that lead into a gradual optimism at the end.
The title seems to evoke that initial hopelessness, which I, and I'm sure many others, experienced as well. How did you decide on those two words as the name for such a monumental project?
I think I was on a boat in Saint-Tropez at the time, doing mushrooms, and I was complaining about something, I don't know. I said, “It's never enough for this person or these people.” I can’t remember what it was, but a boat floated by, and it was called Never Enough. Then we started talking with the people on the boat, and they said they were from North York, which is basically Toronto. It's down the street from me, part of the GTA area, so that was just this full-circle moment.
Almost like synchronicity?
Yeah, exactly.
Aside from France, were there any other significant places you visited that influenced your perspective over the last couple of years?
Jamaica, New York, and probably Stockholm.
Part of your family's from Jamaica right? What about being there?
I love Jamaica. My father's side is from Jamaica. The first time I got to go, I'd only gone as a child, and then probably three or four years ago, I started going as an adult by myself. I brought my girlfriend at the time, and we just kind of did whatever we wanted — it was a completely different experience.
I understood myself, you know what I mean? I love it so much. They're so honest and emotional.
Jacket and jeans CALVIN KLEIN, gloves AIREI, sunglasses GENTLE MONSTER, shoes UGG, jewelry TALENT'S OWN.
When you feel inspired, do you immediately write a song down or let it play in your head until you find the right words?
Sometimes. Usually, if it's a strong inclination, I'll stop everything and grab a pen, or I'll pull up my Notes app. But usually, I'll have something slow cooking. Music is always flowing in my mind, which is why I was in my producer bag for a minute, but I also had writer’s block for a while. I think because of my lifestyle, being on my phone all the time… listening to podcasts. It's like, ugh. My inner monologue has been a little corrupted, so I'm trying to clean it up. It's either negative, “You're not doing enough, you're not doing this, you're not doing that… they want you to do this, they want you to do that” or reminding myself to stay focused. I pontificate too much all the time. I think that the lyrics are finally coming back to me.
How much of this album did you produce?
All of it. I played 80% of the instruments, all the bass on the album, most of the guitars, and most of the keys, but I also had Dylan Wiggins in there with me. I needed his guidance for sure. Although I know what I'm doing, sometimes my confidence isn't all the way there in that sphere. He's a better musician than me by far, but I have a clear vision, and I know how I want all the parts to sound. It helped to have someone else in that seat though. I’d ask “Yo, you want to play this?” Then he’d be like, “Nah man, you got this. Just sit and figure it out.” When he does make a decision that I don’t agree with, that's when I finally start to understand what I imagined. I definitely needed that push. Just someone to be there and believe in me.
Was the creative process more intuitive or collaborative?
It started out intuitive then turned more collaborative. I think that's important, especially working with a label. I woke up to that over time.
How do you make sure that what you create still feels like you?
I fight for myself, I’ve got to, but I also believe in compromise within reason. I'm pretty self-aware so I know I'm difficult naturally. What I create does still feel like me though, but like a packaged version, or else things would be even more chaotic than they sometimes already can be. Still, I fight to be myself every day.
Do you ever ask yourself, “Does this fit?”
I try to stay open-minded, but it's more like, “Is this me?” Am I telling the truth, or am I lying?
Is that what you think makes your music so relatable — the honesty?
I think so. Part of making songs people can relate to is accepting that you’re not special despite wanting so badly to be. I'm singing about my own personal experience, trying to be unashamed of getting specific because everyone has felt what I feel. Although I feel like the only one, that's not true.
Jacket and pants HOMME PLISSÉ ISSEY MIYAKE, shirt CALVIN KLEIN, shoes DRIES VAN NOTEN, gloves, AIREI, jewelry TALENT'S OWN.
As someone who has been in the music industry for a while now and transitioned from being an independent artist to being with a label, has there been an underlying pressure to create?
I put the pressure on myself, honestly. There is a pull to put things out, but there’s more of a pull to get things together I guess because making the music is not difficult. It's everything else around it. It's marketing and presenting it to the world in a package that becomes stressful because sometimes I have to change what I like. My musical tastes are stable, but so broad, and what I like aesthetically and visually changes so much because I'm around so many cool people that are into cool things.
Do you ever struggle with perfection?
Yes, and fear.
How do you get away from it?
I jump. When I finally close a chapter on something I'm never quite happy with it. You know what I mean? For example, I could keep perfecting this album for another five years, but I’ve accepted that it’s time to let it be. It’s also so different from anything you’ve put out.
Do you ever worry that your audience is expecting something similar from you?
Yeah, I do and I rebel against it of course as with all things, but I also try to accept it. I oscillate between the two and try to land somewhere in the middle. But yeah it's very different. That's why I love that Jay-Z line. He's like, "N—s want my old shit, buy my old albums." You know what I mean?
For sure. CASE STUDY 01 and Freudian will always be there, even if people listen to this new one, they can always go back. When did you finally say, “All right, this is done; I can't do anything to it”?
I want to say six to eight months ago at this point. I basically knew I was done and agreed to a date. That was a battle because I have personally always thought that an album should never have more than 10 songs, but I just end up with so many – I'm at 15 now.
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You mentioned heartbreak earlier, which comes through especially in your singles “Valentina” and “Let Me Go,” with their general sense of longing. How would you describe heartbreak?
It’s not always so happy-go-lucky all the time. I guess that explains the nihilistic tone throughout the album. It’s like you get hurt, and then you're like, “All right, how am I going to operate in the world now? I believed in things I don’t believe in anymore.”
Would you say Never Enough brings us through that reflection?
Exactly. Yeah, it's a whole story for sure. When sequencing an album, I try and tell a story. I think that's the most important thing, but it always has to end optimistically, because I have a superstition that I kind of live out what I write. You know what I mean? Maybe not always literally, but for the most part.
Oh, really? Which comes first? The song or the lived experience?
It's like there are moments all the time when I will—it's so fucking corny. I do this in my head; I don't do this out in the world, but I’ll live through a moment and quote something I wrote in a previous album to myself, kind of like, oh. And then I realize it's kind of like everything's just cyclical, and I probably find myself in similar situations all the time because of my habits.
For sure, I feel like it’s the same with all things, just like love and heartbreak is part of the same cycle.
Yeah, it’s definitely cycles, which is what the last album was about. It’s all things always, but as an individual, singular being, you can only exist as one thing at a time, although all things are always simultaneously happening. You just go through seasons.
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Do you see yourself ever going back to writing love songs?
Recently, I found myself in another crush. I haven't had a crush like this in a long time. People were trying to push me into writing love songs for this last album, and I couldn't because I wasn’t in love. At least not new love. I was in a post-honeymoon phase of love, like, oh, I love this person but at the same time, I can't stand them.
That pull toward being close to what you desire and then once you get there, the excitement’s over.
Exactly. Yeah, this pedestal thing. It especially comes through with my first album, it's like I idealized the person that I was with. I treated them as if they were God, which is so unhealthy, but it is what I do. I feel like a lot of people can relate to that, the initial infatuation especially. Yeah for sure. And it’s like I felt this feeling before, I’m addicted to it so I try to find it again.
Are you already writing songs based on this new love?
I literally wrote a song this morning. I could see myself making another great love song honestly… I think I'm doing that right now. And I don't want to say I’m over this album, but I'm already onto the next thing and I'm excited for what's to come. I changed so much, so fast, so it's like I'm already over this. What's the next sound? What's the next aesthetic?
I feel that, I mean there’s the album, the pre-tour you just announced, the actual tour, what else is coming?
Definitely more of everything. More production, more songs. I want to go through a period of high output, so I'm going to do the whole thing — drop the album, the tour, TV performances, but I also want to do mixtapes and other albums. I was gone for a while, but I don't want to do that again. I have a lot to say. I just have to divide it all up to have complete, coherent thoughts and stay focused.
Are you looking forward to going on tour this time around?
Extremely excited. I think it’s going to be sick. I’m really excited to just be on the move again. It's like an adventure. It's really the kicker for tours — adventure. The performances are great, but it's waking up in a new city, meeting new people, doing new things.
In the end, always keep trying to impress yourself.
What's your favorite part?
In the beginning, all of it. At the end of every tour, I always say, "I'll never do it again," but for the first three quarters, I love it. My favorite has to be the little romances. I’m always looking for inspiration.
If there's a lesson in all of this, what do you hope your people ultimately take away from your output this year?
That life keeps going and if you really love something, keep doing it, and take everything seriously, but also not too seriously. Live in the moment, and if you're not happy with something, it doesn't help you or anybody else to let that get you off what you're meant to do. You have to accept that there’s something you aren’t pleased with, and you're very capable of doing something you are pleased with. In the end, always keep trying to impress yourself.
