Today we’d like to introduce you to TOAM.
Hi TOAM, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers? We started our journey in 2018. I started a band called Tears of a Martian after my best childhood friend Quinn Wurmlinger helped me name a song I was writing. I figured it would be a good name for the project as well. I started out playing my original songs with 5 people that I knew around Ypsi out of my bedroom in my apartment at the time. I realized the best fit for what I was trying to create was multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Justin Reed. We played our first show at Trixie’s in Hamtramck in June 2018. Justin played drums, I played guitar and sang, and my friend Tasha Peace played bass for us. I was really impressed by Tasha because they wrote bass lines to our tunes in about 2 weeks. For a while, it was just Justin and I as a duo playing locally in Detroit. We met dynamite Detroit drummer Todd Watts through a friend and the rest was history. Todd, Justin, and I really enjoyed hanging and playing together. We joke around and say that TOAM’s birthday is October 31st, 2018 since that was the first show we had as a trio. Although we are no longer a trio and TOAM is made up of just Todd Watts and I, we look back fondly on all the writing, gigs, and hangouts we had with our good friend Justin Reed – that helped make TOAM what it is today.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way? Being a musician comes with many obstacles. In Detroit, you have to set up a lot of shows yourself. Most of the scene here is pretty DIY, but that’s part of the reason why I love playing music in Detroit so much. Given that our scene is mostly DIY, it can be challenging to make money from the gigs you play. Recording and releasing music takes money and if money is a resource that is hard to come by for you, being in this industry can be challenging. We try to pay for everything we do with a band fund that is made up of what we have made from gigs throughout the years. We have only released 5 songs and we haven’t made much money from them considering people mainly use streaming services to listen nowadays. But for us, it isn’t about the money, what we do is a labor of love.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on? I am a singer-songwriter. Todd is a professional drummer.
We are most proud of Martianfest 2021. This was a local music and arts festival that myself, Todd and Justin threw to raise money for the non-profit known as Rent Party Detroit. We held it in the backyard of our friend’s home rehearsal and recording studio known as The LIVEing Room. We were able to raise $700 for Rent Party Detroit and this felt like a huge accomplishment for us.
What sets us apart from others is our passion for giving back to our community.
What was you like growing up? We were both mainly interested in music and art.
Contact Info:
- Email: tearsofamartian@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tearsofamartian/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toamband
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xar2JCvAbUM&list=OLAK5uy_mmh1pLmDiQYkMqRcR5YqV45czy0MqPlFg
