Gomez’s Tom Gray – HuffPost 6.15.11

Mike Ragogna: Do you have any advice for new artists?

Tom Gray: Be lucky. (laughs) That’s about it, really.

TG: I don’t know. I think you’re looking at a smaller and more mercenary industry. With all the talk about avenues of self-promotion, the truth is that most things are still controlled by corporations whether we like it or not. So, for a new artist to break through, I don’t know what to suggest apart from being highly original. Even then, you’re going to need to catch someone’s attention. I don’t see how it can happen. I don’t mean to be cynical or dark about it, but I just can’t see it. I have pity for the generation that came after the Internet in that respect. People like us, who really had a career before the Internet, blew up and still have a career, in a way, whereas, now it’s a lot more difficult.

MR: Do you think that’s because of the saturation, via the Internet, of everyone having music out there?

TG: Well, there’s always been a saturation of music out there. I think, now more than ever, it has to do with the instant availability of it–the wealth of music. (laughs) It’s funny, in the UK, we have Spotify. I’m sure you have similar things in America, and I can listen to what I want whenever I want. At the same time, I can skip over anything I want. It seems that there’s no sense of occasion getting an album out anymore.

MR: True. It’s a musical attention deficit disorder where you run the risk of being someone’s favorite for only a minute, even if your music is fantastic, because there is so much of it about and readily available.

TG: Sure, that’s it. We’re living in an era where it’s hard to be a gentle artist anymore. You’ve got to be a pretty tough cookie these days to stick it out.