Creative London: TOMMY D
We got up close and personal with Tommy D, producer, DJ, Songwriter and recently the creator of 808 Whisky!
1. What are you up to these days?
Currently we are working on building a brand new whisky brand, called 8O8 Whisky and named after the famous Roland TR-808 Drum Machine. The 808’s sounds underpin pretty much all electronic music, from House to Hiphop, Trap to Grime. The kick drum has this mad sub bass to it and it’s this sub that I want to draw a comparison with 8O8. A lot of people don’t like whisky because of the smell or the burn. Our whisky is a grain so it’s a lot smoother, the smoothest on the market! It’s the sub bass of drinks. In music I’m working on a project with Jordan from Rizzle Kicks, it’s called Wildhood. It’s his dry, dark humour with my fucked up blues guitar playing over 808 beats. I’m also working on a new advert with Raleigh Ritchie but can’t say to much about that.
2. Any exciting plans coming up?
Currently we are taking 8O8 Whisky back over to Ibiza for another season, we are hosting a number of Villa parties, which has already included Maceo Plex’s after party! He played the opening night at Pacha the other day so we did the villa party after. Other than hosting amazing events in some incredible locations, you can see us and 8O8 Whisky at festivals all over the country, we were at Junction 2 Festival last weekend and X Fest. As the festival season draws in we are aiming to do more events abroad, recently we did a national tour through some of the UK’s best underground clubs, DJ Harvey at SubClub in Glasgow was a particular favourite. He completely smashed it!
4. Best piece advice you’ve been given throughout your career?
Although short and simple, the best piece of advice I was ever given was by my Dad, he told me to “Just create“. He wanted me to make something different and do things for myself I guess. In the studio I would tell all those that are creating music on computers to really listen to what they are creating, listen to it with your eyes closed. Music is for listening to, not looking at.
5. You have strong links to Ministry of Sound, would you go back and change anything you did when you were the resident DJ?
Ha! I probably wouldn’t play a whole bunch of records but, other than that, I probably wouldn’t change a thing. I loved the late night sessions, there was always such strong energy coming from the dance floor, it was an amazing place and I loved being in control of it, playing the records. Back then every one was asking for what the next punk-rock would be and no one actually realised that we were the new punk-rock. We were sonically changing the musical landscape one record at a time. The parties were amazing and it was usually good times all round.
6. Describe your ideal day out in London?
London has so much to offer, what I love about London is exploring any street and exploring the multicultural side London has to offer. Every street in London is different and all full of people from all over the world, look down a street and see every one from all backgrounds and ethnicities. London is so great at integrating different cultures, there isn’t many western cities that have a Muslim mayor and personally I think that can only help make London to be one of the best cities in the World. It’s a great example to the World. Beyond exploring and people watching, I do like a good pub with great food, if they have 8O8 Whisky then even better.
7. Any words for people leaving London because of over crowding?
Once you leave you cant come back. I have personally wanted to leave many times but I have never actually managed it. There is always a great energy with London, I can’t find it any where else in the World. Well, maybe New York, but for me it’s different, probably because London is my home town and this is where I grew up. I can see why people are leaving because of various reasons, it can’t be for everyone but it’s definitely for me.
Portrait by Nyla Sammons
