Thomas Headon has had a big weekend.
He’s just back from Glastonbury, where he caught — among others — fan and former stage-mate Elton John headline the final night. “Doesn’t compare to Splendour in the Grass, let me tell you this,” he quips on the call. “Kidding, it was just as good!” The festivities were short-lived: on Monday, having made a mad dash back to London, a dusty Thomas was courting the title of ‘Hottest Record of the Week’ with Clara Amfo. “I had to run into the BBC and give a live on-air interview, which was amazing, but I mentally was not prepared,” he says with a laugh. “It was a bit of a starstruck thing, but it was great, I had a lot of fun!”
It might sound like a whirlwind trip, but Thomas is firmly in his element. The British-Australian singer-songwriter is sharp, charismatic and disarmingly frank, never at risk of taking things too seriously. At the time of our conversation, he’d debuted his new single, ‘W4NNA DO’, the night before; in a couple of days following our chat, he’ll have released his fourth EP, six songs that thomas headon likes and thinks you would like too. “I’ve played them on live streams, I’ve played them for fans, I’ve played them live,” he says of the six tracks within, “and there was a point where I was just like, ‘I’m fed up, and I want this to come out!’”
Thomas Headon’s Sick Of Being Too Serious
The EP’s title — candid, wordy and winking — speaks not only to Thomas’ sensibilities, but also his fresh approach. “I spent my last EP being like, every song was super serious and personal and related to me,” he says, recalling tracks like rebound anthem ‘Nobody Has To Know’ and love drunk meditation ‘How Do I Know?’ “The way I make those projects is like, I write all these songs and then I figure out what they all fit into, and how they work between each other,” explains Thomas. “These six songs are literally six random songs that I’ve written either about myself or other people, or about nothing at all, and I’ve just really liked them and wanted to put them into a project.”
That novel attitude, while easing pressure, also helped Thomas exercise his creativity in new and exciting ways. During a week-long stint in Sydney last year, Thomas and producer Taka Perry adopted a more freewheeling workflow. “We got to our last session together, and we just wanted to write something upbeat and fun,” he says, revealing the origin of single ‘2009 TOYOTA’. “Those lyrics — the gold plate on my 2009 Toyota — it’s just bullshit,” admits Thomas with a laugh. “It’s just straight-up word vomit! I think the best thing about that song is we were like, ‘it sounds cool!’” Flashes of rooftop hangouts and lazy nights in pair with one of Thomas’ catchiest choruses. “Catch me a year ago, I would have been like, ‘No, it has to mean something to my soul,’ but no, not anymore,” he says, excitedly. “I love that I got to do that, and I think I’ll keep doing it, because it’s fun.”
Why Text When You Can Call?
It’s not all word associations and Matty Healy-esque nonsense, though. Thomas finds a familiar resonance on ‘i loved a boy’, a tender recollection of a story told to him by an old friend. Caught somewhere between unrequited and uncertain, Thomas’ oft-autobiographic pen sees him comfortably slip into the shoes of another. It also finds him once again waiting on a text — a familiar hallmark of the situationships that thread through his tracks.
“I have to call my Mum this week,” says Thomas with a laugh, admitting to being “the world’s worst replier.” The image is no less powerful, and a yearning love makes a hanging text all the more painful. “When I was single, I was probably much better at replying to people, but even then…,” he trails off. “It’s nothing personal, ever,” adds Thomas, “I’m super lucky that I think everyone in my life who I’m closest with, we’re all on the same communication wavelength… we’ll reply to each other’s Instagram stories, or like, we’ll randomly send each other a fucking meme.”
Texting is a chore, but face-to-face conversations inspires Thomas in oft-surprising ways. “When we do see each other, it’s really fun,” he says of his friends, deriving artistry from both sweeping stories and minor turns of phrase. “A lot of the time it’s like, someone will say something — and it’s such a shitty, ‘I’m an artist’ thing to do — but someone will say something and I’ll be like, ‘That’s a great lyric.’” It makes sense: there’s a musicality that you only get from hearing another’s voice. “I think I take that to sessions and vomit out a song,” he says, complete with a retch. The self-effacing joke undercuts that process, which interests Thomas greatly. “I’m reading Rick Rubin, The Creative Act, right now,” he admits. “That’s really good.”
Seeing Your Idols In Real Life
Even as the EP arrives, Thomas is busy preparing for a long-awaited US tour alongside Long Beach outfit Half Alive. “I’m very excited to meet the Half Alive guys,” he gushes, keeping the same energy for the chance to “eat hot dogs”. It’s been a minute since he hit the States, and in loose preparation, Thomas has just recently caught a personal idol — and reigning popstar — in arena mode. “He’s real! It’s so weird,” jokes Thomas, comparing Harry Styles himself to the famed cardboard cutout that once haunted his bedroom. “He’s much cooler in real life, actually, than the photo that’s on my wall,” he says, leaning back and pointing at the picture that hangs on the far wall.
“I’ve now seen him at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney; saw him at like… I think it was Hisense or something in Melbourne; and then when I moved over here, I was super lucky, I got to see him in the BRIT Awards, and then now I’ve seen him twice at Wembley Stadium.” It’s an enviable show diary, even for a superfan. That step-by-step ascension from the world’s biggest boyband to something even larger is awe-inspiring, but to Thomas, it’s also simply an inspiration. “Even though he just came off the back of One Direction, he couldn’t have done Wembley Stadium,” he muses. “One can only hope.”
The road to Wembley is long and paved with dues, and though Thomas has his eye on stadium status, you might just be able to catch him strolling through London Underground stations with a mic in hand. “They hate it! They absolutely hate it,” he laughs, reflecting on the grumpy commuters. “A woman got really annoyed at me being in her way on the train itself, because she was getting off, which makes total sense… it was one of those ones where I was just like, ‘I need a minute’ because… I feel so embarrassed by it!”
It’s an inspired take on suffering for one’s art, but Thomas’ troubadour TikToks are just one of the ways he’s managed to cultivate a devoted online fanbase. “I don’t think people realise in the videos, they can’t hear the music,” he adds. “It’s only my headphones!” He’s ambling, mic in hand, through foyers, down escalators and across carriages, inviting perplexed looks and milk frustrations. “London commuters aren’t known for being the friendliest people, anyway,” he generously understates. “Usually, it’s really off key… I feel for them, I really do.”
It’s been a big weekend for Thomas Headon, but with a big week stretching out before him — and a big few months chasing that — he might just be living a big life. “I’m just excited to get my band over, and my crew and everything, and we’ll have a big old fun time,” he says about the tour. It’s an approach that permeates everything Thomas does, from music to media and on-stage banter. Effortlessly comfortable in the fast lane, and powered by a drive that would rival a 2009 Toyota itself, it’s safe to say that for Thomas, the best is yet to come.
Thomas Headon’s new EP six songs that thomas headon likes and thinks you would like too is out now.
Conor is a Melbourne-based writer who splits his time between listening to music, thinking about music, and writing about music. You can follow him on Twitter at @s_connoisseur2 or on Instagram at @conorherbert.