About & Contact

• Tom Milsom is a 21-year-old musician, producer artist and writer based in London.
• A devoted online following has developed around his music and videos, attracting over nine million views on YouTube.
• His first five records under the ‘Explorers’ moniker were all created and released in 2010.
• He has previously released two full-length albums, 2007′s Awkward Ballads For The Easily Pleased, and 2009′s Painfully Mainstream.
• The sixth Explorers record will be released in summer 2011.

Biography

Tom Milsom is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, comic book artist and videographer. He received piano tuition from an early age, but only began to write music at 17 when he started to take an interest in music production. Later that year, 2007, he recorded his first album ‘Awkward Ballads For The Easily Pleased’, coinciding with the first home-made videos he would upload to the internet. He soon developed a small following, and Awkward Ballads was self-released in a limited run of 50 hand-illustrated copies which ultimately funded the mastering and replication of the final version which continues to sell well. After a year of small gigs and sonic experimentation through discovery of artists like Deerhoof, The Decemberists and Dan Deacon, Tom went into the studio to record his second album ‘Painfully Mainstream’, released on DFTBA Records in 2009.  His online following had grown alongside his songwriting ability, and the album develop a devoted audience of thousands.

In 2010, after an increased interest in the wild experimentation of artists like Boredoms and the intimate sound of anti-folk artists such as Jeffrey Lewis, and growing tired of the formality of studios and labels, Tom recorded ‘Explorers 1′ in an evening and released it as a .zip file online, distributed exclusively through Twitter. This would lead to a further five EPs under the Explorers moniker over the course of 2010, alongside but also in the creation of Amateur Lovemaking Monthly, Tom’s first public collection of experimental writing, drawings and comics.

2010 also brought about collaboration with friends and other musicians, producing and performing on albums for Eddplant and Alex Day, and the launch of pop band Sons Of Admirals, with Ed Blann, Alex Day and Charlie McDonnell, acheiving moderate chart success and national press coverage from debut single Here Comes My Baby and the curious B-side, a cover of the Arthur theme tune ‘Believe In Yourself’.

In 2011 Tom is launching several new solo music and art projects, with ‘Explorers 6′ due to be released this summer.

“Tom Milsom rocks the streets, the city parks, the YouTubes, the world-wide intrawebs, the tube stations and, if you asked, he’d probably come to your house and rock your living room.  It’s hard to write funny songs that are not moronic and then to deliver them with conviction. Tom Milsom is one of the few who can do it.”
—Dave Dederer, founding guitarist and singer, The Presidents of the United States of America.

“Tom Milsom is one of the best songwriters of his generation. His songs are as smart as they are catchy.”
—John Green, New York Times best-selling author of Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska, and An Abundance of Katherines.

“The Internet Love Song is excellent… The guy behind it, Tom Milsom, is unfairly talented and young and we hate him for that, but we’ll probably buy his album (the brilliantly titled ‘Awkward Ballads for the Easily-Pleased’) for those exact same reasons.”
— Tom Phillips, London Metro

Please direct media and other enquiries to hello (at) tommilsom (dot) com