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‘Finding My Sound’ – Short Film from Tom2Trax

Reform resident Tom2Trax has released Finding My Sound, a short documentary film reflecting on his recent endeavours to find his own unique sound in production.

Tom2Trax is a Manchester DJ and producer, who runs his eclectic ALLTRAX event series, and co-runs his newly-launched EMFOR (M4) events. You can listen back to his latest Reform show Full Width W/ Tom2Trax via the player below.

Despite nailing down his gritty, bass-inflected sound for his DJ sets, he felt that he hadn’t quite achieved this in his productions. Tom explains, “Ever since playing in bands as a teenager, and later recording into software and making music, I’d always dabbled in production. More recently, I had gotten my own material near complete, but I never had the knowledge to get my tracks ‘release ready’ through proper mixing and engineering.”

Tom decided to apply for the Arts Council DYCP funding programme to take his production to the next level. This funding programme offers grants to cultural and creative practitioners who want to take time to focus on their creative development. He found out about this programme through one of Reform’s regular social Zoom calls organised during lockdown. This particular one was hosted by Tom Northey, the director of Con Brio, who has a background in arts education, charity management and social enterprise, having worked for a number of national arts organisations and charities. 

In Tom2Trax’s words, “Reform had been really good at keeping all their resident DJs connected. We had social Zoom calls and were always kept up to date with the latest opportunities that might benefit us. It was during one of these Zoom calls that I heard about DYCP. When I went away and looked into it properly I knew I had to apply, even though it was going to be incredibly competitive. Reform held a call with all the residents who wished to apply, and this knowledge sharing session helped me understand the types of ideas that the Arts Council were looking for.”

Tom’s successful application led to a 6 month long project of learning and experimenting. Tom built a home studio, connected with mentors including Chris Massey from Sprechen, and learnt the ins and outs of mix downs, engineering sounds and arrangement tips. The project resulted in the creation of Tom’s first ever single, which will be released next year on Sprechen Records.

Finding My Sound documents this process through 1-1 interviews with Tom himself and his creative mentor Chris Massey. While Tom opens up about his production history and musical influences, Chris Massey brings an interesting perspective as a teacher.

The reflective interviews are accompanied by shots of Tom’s new home studio and his musical influences, one being Manchester’s cityscape. Multiple panning shots capture Manchester’s post-industrial buildings and cultural landmarks such as Piccadilly Records.

Watch the full documentary below.

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