Tommy Scott (English musician)

Thomas Scott (born 18 February 1964) is an English musician and the lead singer, principal songwriter and guitarist of the Liverpool indie band Space. He started out as the band's bassist, but switched to guitar after David "Yorkie" Palmer joined in 1997, partly so that he could concentrate on vocals.

Tommy Scott
Birth nameThomas Scott
Born (1964-02-18) 18 February 1964
Liverpool, England
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
InstrumentsGuitar, bass guitar
Years active1984–present
LabelsAntipop Records
Associated actsSpace, the Drellas, Tommy Scott & the Red Scare, Hello Sunset, The Australians
Websitespacetheband.com

Before Space, he played in various Liverpool bands, such as the Substitutes (with Jamie Murphy), Hello Sunset and the Australians (with Franny Griffiths, who later became Space's keyboardist).

Biography

Scott was born in Liverpool and grew up on the Cantril Farm Estate, now Stockbridge Village.[1] Scott's father, a former Ford factory worker, died of cancer in 1995, an event which would later inspire "Avenging Angels". Scott grew up with a love of films, rock and roll and punk, all of which has informed his writing.

Around the early 1980s, Scott enrolled on a course for unemployed musicians in Northern England, alongside Mike Badger, John Power and Lee Mavers, all of whom would later become members of The La's. In 1984, Scott formed his first group, Hello Sunset, whose lineup included keyboard player Franny Griffiths. By 1987, Hello Sunset had morphed into The Australians, and their songs "Sadie" and "The Girl Who Loved Her Man Enough Too Kill Him" were included on the Vinyl Virgins and Hit the North compilations, respectively.

In 1993, Scott formed Space with Jamie Murphy and Andy Parle in 1993, with Griffiths joining a year later.[2] When the band toured the United States for the first time in 1997, Scott lost his voice for two months due to stress, and the band subsequently had to cancel their tour. Scott stated that after trying numerous kinds of therapies and cures, he saw a psychic, Billy Roberts, who was able to predict the exact date his voice would come back.[3]

Space split in 2005, and Scott formed the Drellas,[4] the original line-up of which included Space's then drummer Leon Caffrey, and Phil Hartley — who had previously worked with Space as a producer and technician — on bass. The Drellas then morphed into Tommy Scott & the Red Scare, featuring Scott, Hartley and two new members, Allan Jones (drums) and Ryan Clarke (keyboards), as well as a saxophone player. Hartley, Jones and Clarke would all later join the new line-up of Space, when the band reformed in 2011, following the death of Andy Parle two years earlier. Both Scott[5] and Murphy[6] admitted to having fallen out with each other, but were on amicable terms by the time the band reunited.

Influences

Although Scott cites films and cartoons such as Speedy Gonzales as his main influences,[7] musically, his influences include Cypress Hill, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley – as referenced in 'A Liddle Biddy Help From Elvis', from Tin Planet – and the Slits.[8] As a teenager, he frequented Eric's[8] and saw several bands that would go on to influence him, such as the Au Pairs and Spizz Energi.

Equipment

Scott has used the following equipment:[9]

  • Framus bass
  • Vox Teardrop bass
  • Fender Coronado guitar
  • 1972 Tiesco guitar
  • 1969 Audition Sunburst guitar
  • 1976 Starway Sunburst guitar
  • Farida GNA-80 guitar
  • 1965 EKO 500/4V guitar
  • Vox AC30 amplifier
  • Fender Pro Reverb amplifier
  • Echoman Delay pedal
  • Ibanez Tube Screamer pedal
  • VHT Combo amplifier
  • Danelectro Tape Echo pedal

References
  1. "Tommy was brought up in Cantril Farm." 'The Scouse', Melody Maker, 7 December 1996.
  2. "Biography – A Short History of Space the Band from Liverpool UK". Spacetheband.com. 26 January 2002. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  3. "Interviews - Press - 1998 Top Magazine Tommy Franny Jamie - Space the Band". Spacetheband.com. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  4. Barr, Gordon (17 March 2014). "Interview: Gordon Barr chats to Tommy Scott from Space". Chroniclelive.co.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  5. Jonny Abrams (29 November 2011). "Interview: Space (Part 1)". Rocksucker. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  6. Jonny Abrams (6 November 2009). "Interview: Jamie Murphy (Dust, Space)". Rocksucker. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  7. Tommy Scott: "I'm into films and telly. What song I write depends what film I'm into at the time. Some days I'm Noël Coward, some days I think I'm Quentin Tarantino, some days it's Speedy Gonzales." Stuart Maconie, '99 With A Bullet!', Q Magazine, November 1996.
  8. Phil Newall (31 March 2013). "My Top Ten Albums: Tommy Scott (Space)". Louder Than War. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  9. "Interviews – Press – 1998 Total Guitar Tommy Franny Jamie". Space the Band. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
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