Tom Vek

London's eclectic one-man band Tom Vek (born 1981, London, UK) combines electronic music with indie rock, punk with dance, and influences like new wave and garage (and also made most of his early recordings in his parents' garage, too). As a teen in the mid-'90s, Vek was inspired by grunge and began making rock along the lines of Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam; before that, he backed his guitarist father on bass and drums in their practice space/garage. When his family acquired a reel-to-reel tape recorder when he was 14, Vek began recording his music, which evolved from grungy rock to Warp- and Ninja Tune-influenced electronica as the '90s came to a close. Vek had been sending his music to a friend of the family (who happened to be Alex Cooper, the longtime drummer for Katrina & The Waves) who in turn sent Vek's latest, electronica-inspired music to his cousin (who happened to be Tim Lee, the head of quirky electronic label Tummy Touch). Lee signed Vek to the label, and in 2001 the 7" There's Only One Thing Left Now became Vek's first officially released work. Tummy Touch agreed to release a full-length from Vek, which he began working on in between his graphic design studies at St. Martins. However, Vek's music had morphed again, moving from delicate electronica to something sharper-edged and more rock-based. Singles such as If You Want heralded this new direction, as did gigs (with a full backing band) supporting acts like Bloc Party and Engineers. Vek's debut album, We Have Sound, was released in the U.K. in spring 2005 via Tummy Touch, and then sublicensed by Island/Universal. StarTime International released the album in the U.S. that fall.