Celebratory rock songs, with a musical expertise that can only be described as “chaotic neutral”

Tom Hogan lives and works on Gadigal land, Sydney. Known for his charismatic and mercurial live performances, Hogan’s work has been featured in galleries around the world. This is an artist obsessed with the power of pop culture, leaning into music at every curve, and never shying away from the weird.

His latest offering is the EP Or The Whale - a string of songs taking inspiration from Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris... and Moby Dick. “Reading Moby Dick was a consequence of Sydney lockdown,” according to Hogan. “... But rather than discuss themes in a book club, I found myself writing guitar solos, and belting out a chorus!”

The EP covers a lot of ground in six songs, all swaying and evoking the frenzy of the high seas. The standout track, A Night in a Hotel, is joyously explosive and dirty love song. True Enough throws vocoders and guitars behind ye olde language quirks. These give way to tragic ballads with a sea shanty twist (A Stove Boat Song), or desperate calls for connection, floating out to sea, with baritone country-guitar codas (Darling I Don’t Wanna Say Goodbye), folky nylon guitar instrumentals (Footfall) and character studies in lo-fi soundscapes (Melville Lane). This is an EP full of storytelling theatrics, revelling in blending genres and sounds.

Previously, Hogan has been prolific around the Australian music scene for over 10 years, alongside artists such as Polish Club (their moral conscience and producer of Polish Club’s Sophomore Slump) and Elana Stone of All Our Exes Live In Texas (co-creating the musical Mount Hopeless). Hogan’s previous projects include Obscure Music History, where he produced and performed 45 songs - from jazz standards to symphonic metal, acoustic folk to Christmas ballads - and the accompanying podcast was nominated for Best Comedy at the 2018 Australian Podcast Awards. His nationally touring show Love Song Dedications (without Richard Mercer), created with artist Bonnie Leigh-Dodds, was nominated for two Green Room Awards, and showed his passion for disseminating classic love songs. This is an unpredictable musician, with an expertise that can only be described as “chaotic neutral”.

All songs on Or The Whale were written and performed by Tom Hogan
Produced and Mastered by Nick Franklin
Cover artwork by Anna Louise Richardson
Singles: A Night In A Hotel, and True Enough
Digital Release date: Friday 12 November, 2021

Or The Whale

Footfall

Pay what you like!

☆ＳＥＩＮＷＡＶＥ☆２０００☆ What's the deal with airline food?

Thorn

Taken from the new album 'Dark Days + Canapés’ out August 18th. Available to pre-order now at: http://found.ee/darkdaysandcanapes

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Dopamine If I Do

live performance at Black Box Sound Series, UNSW School of Art & Design, Sydney. 
july 2017.

Inspired by a field recording trip to South Africa w. Francisco Lopez in Nov 2016.

// Last night there was a lightning storm. Lighting up the entire sky, blocks that moved in succession, and single bolts zigzagging.

[there was no sound.]

The poignancy of a lightning storm with no sound. //


sound sources:
field recordings from Limpopo region in South Africa, voice, clarinet, sine tones, feedback, amplified objects: rock, feather, shells.

Live At Black Box Sound Series

If there was a Wii Snorkeling include in Wii Sports, this is what the soundtrack would sound like.

Wii Snorkeling

Well. Blade Runner 2049. That happened, and people have opinions... But the question remains: what do ROBOTS think? (Tom keeps saying Robot instead of Replicant. Sorry. Whatever. It doesn't matter. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain.)

Five stars or zero? No room for fence sitters.
Episode nine of a film podcast from Tom Hogan & Lauren Carroll Harris.

Why Are There So Many Little Forks

Ep. 9: Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Produced by Jason L'Ecuyer and Olivia Rosenman for KCRW's 24-Hour Radio Race from KCRW's Independent Producer Project.

Special thanks to Jo Lennan for sharing her story.

Music:
Life Education Australia- Healthy Harold
Allan Ellis- Phases (Epidemic Sound)
Peter Sandberg- Horizon (Epidemic Sound)
Farrell Wooten- Flourite (Epidemic Sound)

SFX:
Smidoid- Freesound
JPBILLINGSLEYJR- Freesound
Ella Ever- MRI Sounds

Photo: Ken Treloar (Unsplash)

Jo's Endurance

My assignment at JMC academy class of AUD405.

My Precious

I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm sure doing a lot of it. Music, sound art, writing, podcasts, comedy, theatre and the occasional existential crisis, living and working on Bidjigal Land.

Footfall

Tom Hogan

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