DDR: With your solo record, what was the direction you wanted to go with this album and do you feel that you achieved it?
Tom: Well going back to Cinderella , I always liked to make records that where not always the same thing. Songs that had dynamics, hard driving songs, heavy songs and ballads, mid tempos and kind of all over the place. As the Cinderella records progressed, they became more dynamic, more colorful and different kinds of styles and some instrumentation. Honestly, I tried to make that kind of record. It's kind of like the stuff I grew up on. The Stones would go from acoustic to electric to all over the place. Zeppelin was all over the place with their styles and any given record it was never the same. You know their records were never ten songs that were the same, they were all completely different. I always like that kind of journey on an album, so I definitely think we achieved that on this album
DDR: One of my favorite songs on the album is “Ain’t Life A Bitch”. Can you tell me how that song was created and the meaning behind it?
Tom: Let me think about that one, it goes way back. I believe that started with that opening riff or chord progression that was written with Savannah, myself and Conley White. He had that chord progression that I jazzed up a bit with a claw picking style and picked up more rhythm. He had a part of the chords and we where kicking those chords around. A couple mornings before that, I had written the chorus and it was kind of rolling around in my head. We were all sitting around, messing with those chords and I remembered this chorus idea, “You cant break a wild horse baby”, You have been riding with your spurs digging in”, and just put the two together. Then we wrote the lyrics, all three of us together for the verses. You know, thematically, it's a pretty common emotion for people, I guess. Relationship gone bad and fuck you! You know?
DDR: Yeah, I get it!
Tom: Yeah, so it's the thing we all feel multiple times in our life.
DDR: Is there a song on this album that is your favorite? If so, which one and why?
Tom: “Thick and Thin” would be one because I wrote that for Savannah . That one is probably one of the most personal songs on the album. Savannah was going through a particularly hard time when I wrote that for her. She felt a bit betrayed by some people in her life and that was my way of telling her I would always be there for her.
DDR: I have one more question for you. Is there anything you would like to say to your fans that have followed you for so long and are getting to hear your solo album?
Tom: I just want to say thank you to all of them. As I described earlier in the interview, I would have never imagined, or teenage Tom (laughing) would have never imagined all of this and its still hard for me to fathom and I am grateful. I always say that we make the songs and play the music for them and they are ultimately the ones that give the songs life and keep it alive. I am blown away every night I walk out on stage and people are still showing up and singing the songs. I feel like the luckiest person on the planet...so..Thank you! We will be touring with the solo band extensively next year, so we hope to catch everyone at the show. It's a good mix of the new stuff and some Cinderella stuff, so come out and check us out!
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