Barlow

Hey, this is Tom Barlow. My label asked me to write a bio to introduce myself and my new record. They told me to include things like the fact that I won the 2001 MIX 99.9 Songwriting Competition in Toronto; once opened for Pearl Jam; am about to put out my Sony Music Canada debut...but I'd rather defer to the following quotation:

"To reveal art and conceal the artist is art's aim"
Oscar Wilde

Instead of a bio, here are a few words about my songs...

"Cruise"

"Cruise, never check the rearview mirror/ cruise, watch the future getting clearer...With a nametag and a bright blue vest/ they put the handcuffs on your wrist."

A teenager driving in his first car with his first love feels equal parts Christopher Columbus and James Bond. Ten years later, check in with him at his McJob and he'll feel equalparts Hurricane Carter and the Count of Monte Cristo.

"Walk Away"

"Doesn't matter that you're lying in the gutter/ It doesn't matter that your brain's all cluttered/ It doesn't matter that you're covered in scars/ You're never in the gutter with your eyes on the stars."

There are millions of remarkable dramas happening around us at every second. Of these tales, the ones I find most interesting are those of overwhelming events that occur in an instant and irrevocably alter a person's life. These types of stories, and a liberal dose of Oscar Wilde plagiarism, are what shaped this song.

"Billion Dollar Rockets"

"Down at Union Station we watch the open hand Parade/you see the purple hearts and the shopping carts and "sorry man I got no change"/Billion dollar rockets and Star Wars fantasies/guess there's just no money left for the kids out on the street."

Conservative estimates on the cost of the Star Wars Missile Defense Program are one TRILLION dollars...how very Dr. Evil. Most scientists insist it will never work and the rest of us know that there are far more insidious ways of attacking the U.S.A. than launching ICBMS. One TRILLION dollars could virtually eliminate homelessness and give every American health insurance and provide rehab for every drug addict and develop a viable alternative to the combustion engine. Some evils are clearly more profitable to fight than others. One TRILLION dollars.

"Perfect Wave"

"I'm just living on a perfect day riding on a perfect wave waiting for the end to come/enjoy your visit no one gets to stay..."

People tell me you can "Curse the darkness or light a candle." My personal version of the adage replaces the part about the candle with "get a band and turn the guitars up and sing about booze and sex."

The following is brought to you by your friends at Sony Music Canada.

GET TO KNOW BARLOW!

We are now at the halfway point of this biography, personally written by the artist, and have come to the conclusion that it may be a little too 'artsy' for the masses. We know you're sick and tired of the effort it takes to listen to an entire album or read a lengthy bio. Who has the time with the hectic pace of the modern lifestyle? Not you! Prepare to enjoy the ease and comfort provided by this ultra-concentrated dose of extreme insider Barlow information.

Where are you from?

Toronto, ON.

Have you put out any records?

Yes, four indie albums.

Were you in a group?

I was in a political ska punk band called Thinktank Fish. The albums were produced by Mladen, who produced and co-wrote this new record with me.

What would you say are the four highlights of your career to date?

I performed for the Sandanista Army in Nicaragua as part of a social justice brigade. We were the first Canadian band to perform in China back in 1989. I once had coffee with Dave Grohl in LA (well, we were in the same coffee shop and he shot me a knowing glance or two). On one occasion, Eddie Vedder drove me home - I have no memory of this but my bandmates assure me I had a great time. He signed my jacket "YOU LIVE, E.V."
Did you work with any other producers on this album? I hooked up with the young wiz producer Tawgs, who ended up co-writing the song "LA."

We want to know more about this record. What was the recording process like? This album is like a sausage - you'll probably enjoy it more if you don't know the details of how it was made.

How did you end up signing with Sony Music Canada? You guys came sniffin' after our indie song "Married By Elvis" went Top 10 and after the band won the 'Rising Star' award at the 2001 Canadian Indie Music Awards.

THANK YOU BARLOW! NOW, LET'S TAKE A BREAK FROM SELLING RECORDS AND RETURN TO THE "ART"...

"Married By Elvis"

"I think tonight they'll both wear white.../They want to drive down to Vegas get Married by Elvis/Get drunk on Champagne and get legally laid."

Any hetero couple can know each other for 15 minutes and get married, but a gay or lesbian couple can't even if they've been together 15 years. Why, in 2003, is this still the current reality and not a closed, embarrassing chapter of our collective history like Rosa Parks at the back of the bus? When the producers of The Mathew Sheppard Story called and asked for permission to use this song in their movie it was one of my proudest moments as a writer.

"Bullets and Bombs"

"This is not a song it's a commodity.../Like gold or oil or Soya beans/...Double click till you kill the corporation call it theft or call it liberation/Piss me off with your elevator filling/ sign The Monkees and drop Dylan"

Michelangelo never wanted to paint a fucking ceiling... who would? He wanted to sculpt, but the pope who held the advance money wanted the ceiling done and so art was compromised for economic reasons. This type of commodification has been going on forever, but now it seems the art form itself is being threatened. I guess those last few extra-spicy wings came from the golden goose.

Who is Mladen?

Mladen Co writes and co-produces all the songs, he is the editor of my ramblings and is the one who always says it's not good enough yet and we're not finished yet. I would have stopped writing for this record at ten songs. Mladen knew we were missing something, so we stopped at 35. He was right.

Hope that's enough. For more information, please listen to my record.