Tom Ferry
Talks About His Upbringing, Favorite Sample Packs and Plug-ins, and more!
By Jackie Procacci
Tom Ferry is producing the feel-good dance tracks you don’t want to miss. The Liverpool, UK-native has been passionate about EDM since the first time he heard it but grew up listening to a plethora of styles. Upon his exposure to house music, however, he quickly became hooked on producing and taught himself the basics soon after. With an assortment of subgenres under just the house music umbrella, productions by one artist often vary with each release. Fans of tropical house, piano house, chill house, and deep house lounge music would surely vibe to any track from Tom’s discography. His latest single, “Don’t Tell Me Lies,” is a testament to this – it is the perfect pop-house track for your warmer weather playlist. We speak to the artist about his upbringing, favorite sample packs and plug-ins, and more!
Hey Tom, thanks so much for speaking with us, and congrats on the new release! How are you feeling now that it’s out?
It always feels good when a track comes out. The more music you have out there the better I think. It’s always exciting seeing people reacting to your music and enjoying it.
Let’s start from the beginning - how did you get started making music? What is the EDM scene like in Liverpool?
I really liked dance music from when I first heard it. I think the first dance track I heard was actually Darude - “Sandstorm.” A friend's older brother gave me some mixed CDs he got from Ibiza around 2001. I wanted to know how it was made and somehow met a guy on MSN who told me about FL studio, or as it was called then, fruity loops. He sent me a patched license and I spent the next few years just buried in it having fun. Then at some point, it kind of became my job.
Where do you find inspiration from when producing new tracks?
I listen to a lot of different music and can find little ideas or inspiration for melodies/hooks/techniques in different places. I also have an inspiration playlist of popular house tracks and try and pick up a few elements of each to mash into my own stuff
Was there anything in particular that inspired “Don’t Tell Me Lies”?
I’ve worked with the writer Stuart McInnes a couple of times now. He also wrote my track with Alix Robson ‘moonlight.’
After moonlight turned out so well he sent me the vocal for ‘Don’t Tell Me Lies’ around august and just said he had written and recorded it with Emiah and would I like to work on it. The vocal on its own was fantastic so I knew it would make a great track and said yes. A few days later it was done and ready to go! I had no participation in the writing of the lyrics but the overall vibe of the song struck me as being very summery so I naturally went down the piano route. I think it turned out well.
Are there artists you look up to most and/or influence your sound/creative process?
Quite a few people. People like Calvin Harris, disclosure, and Sub Focus who really are masters of clean, detailed production and showcasing how well a simple idea can work if executed correctly
How has the pandemic influenced your creative process and you as an artist overall?
My workflow went up surprisingly. I work out of my home studio and don’t travel much anyway so nothing really changed on my end, but the number of demos I received from writers and singers went up quite a bit.
What do you think makes your music unique?
With the amount of music out there I think it’s hard to find music in general that is truly unique. Everybody kind of sounds like somebody else. I think my influences from other genres probably shine through a little bit though, hopefully.
Do you have any advice for other new electronic artists and producers trying to break through with their music?
Focus on the song and try, and use as few elements as possible. I spent a long time over complicating songs and really the simplest ones are the most memorable
You secured a dope sync placement in Love Island US Season 3 for your track “Not Going Home.” What was that like?
That was really cool. It gave the song a nice little boost. Hoping for a lot more sync in future
If you could go B2B with any artist who would it be?
As a collab? I’m not sure, really. Production-wise It would be really interesting working with some of the real OGs who inspired me early on like Eric Prydz or Axwell. I’d also really like to make something a little crazy with interesting and talented people like David Byrne, Koffee, Sampha, Romy from the XX. There are too many amazing people to think of honestly
Aside from music, what is something you are passionate about?
Production and mixing pretty much take up every thought I have, but I do like quite a few other things. I’ve been into cars since I was a kid, mainly 90s and Japanese stuff. I’m into photography although I don’t get the chance to do it as much as I used to. Cooking even though I’m too lazy to cook most days. My YouTube suggested page is a real mixed bag.
Do you have any favorite sample packs or any go-to plug-ins?
I bought Christian Hirts Cyclopedia sample pack when it came out and even though it was quite expensive I’ve found myself using it quite a bit. I use Serum for almost everything these days. Sound Factory banks for that are usually my go-to for a lot of things
Where do you want to be by January 2023?
Just making better music would be enough for me.