Buzz Magazine June 2014 | Page 6

roundup WHAT’S ON OUR RADAR THIS MONTH. Q&A BRIGHT LIGHT BRIGHT LIGHT The Neath-born synthpop singer, also known as Rod Thomas, is returning to Wales after taking his music around the world and making music with Elton John. How would you describe your music to those who haven’t heard it? I guess it’s electronic pop music that shimmers a little with guitars, piano and strings, but also pounds with dance floor friendly and club-influenced beats. I’m not really interested in making EDM, as it’s commonly called – that’s not my forte, I don’t think – so there are organic elements in all the songs, whether it’s a guitar, a piano, choral vocals or just a little glockenspiel note here and there. Where does your passion for music come from? Maybe growing up as an only child in the Neath valleys? Radio was my gateway to a whole new world of sounds, places, emotions and cultures. I loved listening to new music, and I loved the feel of cassettes, CDs and records. I think because the experience was so different from my own, and I could feel part of a world a hundred miles away from the sleepy calm of the green valleys, it always drew me in. I always sang, I can’t remember a time where I didn’t at least sing along to a radi