Who would Thomas Oliver like to collaborate with in the future, and why?

We’ve been informed that your new single ‘Roses’ is about your personal experience of being Catfished!
Tell us all about it?

It's funny hearing you say that, because initially I never wanted anyone to know the truth behind the song, because I wrote the song before I knew that her identity was false! And I guess I was a bit embarrassed. But, with a little help from my managers, I've come to embrace what an interesting tale it is, and it turns out that far more people relate to this than I would have known.

I started talking (on Insta) to a girl named Daniella at the start of lockdown. She was fascinating, and she spoke really eloquently (which I find really attractive), and she was full of interesting life stories. I guess the songwriter in me is drawn to that, and one particular story was a song waiting to be written. I wrote it, and it's called 'Roses', and now it's out! I won't go into too much detail because it would take up too much space in this interview, haha, but we released an interview video on YouTube for anyone who wants to know the full story of my catfish scenario. I'm so grateful I had this experience, because I love the song.

You were born in Australia, but now call New Zealand home. When did you move to NZ, and how has living there influenced your songwriting?

My mum is Australian and my dad is a kiwi. We all moved to NZ when I was about 4. If anything I'd say New Zealand has shown me how to write music from a perspective other than “songwriting”, but songwriting will always be my first language in music.

Great news about your NZ tour coming up later this month, what can audiences expect to see and hear?

My band and I have been rehearsing a lot and putting together a pretty new set. It's bigger and harder-hitting than our last tour (which was in Europe, cut short by COVID), but there are, of course, still some tender moments, like 'Roses' and 'The Time In Tokyo'.

Over the years you’ve played at various international festivals and shared stages with such legends as Joe Cocker, Fat Freddy's Drop, Eric Clapton and Xavier Rudd, have you got any funny tour stories that you would like to share?

When I was touring with Xavier Rudd, we were chilling backstage afterwards and I handed him a joint, and then became irrationally paranoid that I'd given him a joint which severely needed to be ashed, and that was the height of rudeness and I should feel ashamed of myself. Hahaha. The reality was that he wouldn't have even thought twice about it, but I was just greening out. My manager at the time was great; she talked me through it later on without judging me for thinking irrationally. It's funny how we can create entire scenarios in our heads, and subsequently suffer through them for no real reason.

Who would you like to collaborate with in the future, and why?

I have a side-identity as a drum & bass vocalist, and I have always wanted to write a tune with London Elektricity, the head of Hospital Records. I feel we could create something crazy and special.