Gareth Thomas on new album ‘Bits’, Therapy Cat and more

Gareth Thomas has recently just released his new album “Bits”. Before releasing it, YouthHub got an exclusive interview with him about the album, creating music and more!

‘Therapy Cat’ started as a challenge from Buzz Moller to write a song about his grey cat. What was the first idea or line that came out?

Yes, the song is a conversation with my cat that I recorded on my phone during lockdown. I called her over to join me on the piano – that’s why the song is in my upper register “here Kitty” voice. I was simply just singing the notes that made her respond. It turns out that she likes major sevenths. She’d rub her head up against me and my piano whenever she approved.

You wrote it during lockdown while going through a hard time. How did making something playful help? Bits is about grief, heartbreak and big life changes, but it sounds colourful and DIY. Why did you want it to sound that way?

I tend to always write in a major key, which was fortunate at that time. Though a major key doesn’t always mean happy – there is a wide palette to draw from. It’s fun pulling melancholy out of major keys when you play with the right notes and intervals. It helped me transcend from being down right depressed into something more pensive and wistful.

Stink Shrimp, the browser game you made with your brother Matt, grew out of the ‘Unfortunate’ video. How did that happen?

My brother is also a musician, people have often said that we have this sort of sixth-sense ESP when we jam – that’s what it feels like too. When I was staying with him last time, he was making his own computer games for his kids. My flight got cancelled so we had an extra day – we decided to jam on making a new video game. We used the animated sprite characters that I had already made for my  ‘Unfortunate’ music video. I was surprised at how easily it came together.

What would you say to a young person making music at home with synths and drum machines?

Get it out of the computer whenever you can. Test a song on acoustic instruments to see if the idea is “durable”. Try the song on ukulele, piano or hand drums. It’s always good to test it on young kids because they are unfiltered and can only react emotionally – and be sure to jam with your cat.