Thomas J. Marchant was born in 1986 in Maidstone, Kent. After a few years growing up and a brief spell of living in Oakton, Virginia, he was diagnosed with asthma and encouraged to learn a wind instrument as his mother had heard it was good to help counteract the condition, and thus at age 9 he joined the school band with a saxophone about half his size.
He grew up listening to the muffled sound of indie and Brit-Pop bands being played in his sister’s bedroom below, and eventually, at the turn of the century, began to develop his own taste in music, starting with Southern California pop-punk and ska-punk bands, before getting into the likes of electronica, post-rock and 80s college rock.
In his teenage years, there was a string of unsuccessful bands (often equipped with a website full of photos and song lyrics, but no music to show for themselves), until eventually an A-Level in Music Technology got him interested in music production. His first experiences of recording (on a non-academic level) were co-producing a song by his friends’ band, The Space Machine, and countless semi-improvised songs in his two bands, The Pong Bandits and Black Zarak.
It was around this time that Thomas started to work on his own material, under the name of Station for Imitation, which was mostly comprised of squelchy electronica. This morphed into The Antennaheadz around the time that Thomas was at university in Plymouth and getting into dance music in a big way. He released his first LP under this name, entitled Wags, Hags and Gossip Mags, which mostly comprised of experimental dance music.
After getting hold of his first microphone, he recorded his second LP, The Big Collapse, a record that consisted of tracks using vocal, banjo and guitar loops, as well as the synths and drum sequencing that featured on his previous work. This album would become the awkward half-way point that followed his early electronic work, and his later song-based work.
His next LP, In The End, We’re All People, was a far more understated and wintry record, taking influence mostly from folk, post-punk and blues. This was followed by Kaleidoscope, where Thomas started to refine his sound into something brighter and denser than that heard on previous albums.
Almost directly after the release of his forth LP, Thomas was approached by the internet label, Chameleon Dish Archives, asking if he would like to host an EP on the site. Thomas wanted to, but felt musically drained, and so he said he would see what he could do. After a brief moment of writer’s block, he suddenly was able to squeeze out six songs deep from the subconscious, and what immediately became noticeable was how much darker these were than his previous work. The EP was received better than all his previous work.
Glorified Failure, released under IFF Transponder Recordings, marks his first ever physical release. Half made up of new material, and half of re-mastered versions of old songs, it marks a balance of the emotional core of the EP, and the brightness of Kaleidoscope. Its release coincided with his debut live performance, an acoustic set at The Portland Arms in Cambridge.
He grew up listening to the muffled sound of indie and Brit-Pop bands being played in his sister’s bedroom below, and eventually, at the turn of the century, began to develop his own taste in music, starting with Southern California pop-punk and ska-punk bands, before getting into the likes of electronica, post-rock and 80s college rock.
In his teenage years, there was a string of unsuccessful bands (often equipped with a website full of photos and song lyrics, but no music to show for themselves), until eventually an A-Level in Music Technology got him interested in music production. His first experiences of recording (on a non-academic level) were co-producing a song by his friends’ band, The Space Machine, and countless semi-improvised songs in his two bands, The Pong Bandits and Black Zarak.
It was around this time that Thomas started to work on his own material, under the name of Station for Imitation, which was mostly comprised of squelchy electronica. This morphed into The Antennaheadz around the time that Thomas was at university in Plymouth and getting into dance music in a big way. He released his first LP under this name, entitled Wags, Hags and Gossip Mags, which mostly comprised of experimental dance music.
After getting hold of his first microphone, he recorded his second LP, The Big Collapse, a record that consisted of tracks using vocal, banjo and guitar loops, as well as the synths and drum sequencing that featured on his previous work. This album would become the awkward half-way point that followed his early electronic work, and his later song-based work.
His next LP, In The End, We’re All People, was a far more understated and wintry record, taking influence mostly from folk, post-punk and blues. This was followed by Kaleidoscope, where Thomas started to refine his sound into something brighter and denser than that heard on previous albums.
Almost directly after the release of his forth LP, Thomas was approached by the internet label, Chameleon Dish Archives, asking if he would like to host an EP on the site. Thomas wanted to, but felt musically drained, and so he said he would see what he could do. After a brief moment of writer’s block, he suddenly was able to squeeze out six songs deep from the subconscious, and what immediately became noticeable was how much darker these were than his previous work. The EP was received better than all his previous work.
Glorified Failure, released under IFF Transponder Recordings, marks his first ever physical release. Half made up of new material, and half of re-mastered versions of old songs, it marks a balance of the emotional core of the EP, and the brightness of Kaleidoscope. Its release coincided with his debut live performance, an acoustic set at The Portland Arms in Cambridge.