Thomas Timothy Vernon-Kell (born 10 May 1981) is an English self-taught multi-instrumentalist musician who works under the name of Tom Vek.

Career

Born in

Hounslow Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in ...

, London, England, he signed to the small

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...

Tummy Touch Records Tummy Touch Records is an international record label with offices in London, UK and New York City, USA best known for releasing quirky dance and downtempo music. Artists on Tummy Touch include Groove Armada, Patrick & Eugene, Niyi, Tutto Matt ...

in 2001, having spent the previous eight years writing and recording in his parents' garage. Vek's debut album '' We Have Sound'' was recorded whilst he completed a

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscip ...

degree. The album was finished in mid-2004 but was not released until 2005 when

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anothe ...

licensed it through Go! Beat Records. The record was subsequently licensed through

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

Startime International Startime International is a record label founded in 2000 by Isaac Green, owned by Sony Music Entertainment, based in New York City, and distributed by Columbia Records. Its roster includes Foster the People, Coin, Natalie Prass, Bully, Made Viol ...

for a North American release. Vek made a guest appearance on the television programme, '' The OC'', where he performed a

gig Gig or GIG may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Gig'' (Circle Jerks album) (1992) * ''Gig'' (Northern Pikes album) (1993) * ''The Gig'', a 1985 film written and directed by Frank D. Gilroy * GIG, a character in ''Hot Wheels AcceleRacers'' ...

at 'The Bait Shop' venue; the third-season episode 'The Road Warrior' featured his track "I Ain't Saying My Goodbyes". He also contributed to the ''

Grand Theft Auto IV ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2004's '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', and the e ...

'' soundtrack, with "One Horse Race" which was the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to his single, "Nothing but Green Lights". Vek released his second album, ''

Leisure Seizure ''Leisure Seizure'' is the second studio album by rock artist Tom Vek. It was released in 2011 on Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Gr ...

'', in 2011 after a six-year absence from the music industry. The first single from the album, "A Chore", had its Radio 1 debut on

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

's show on 18 April that year. In 2012, his song "Aroused" from the album was featured on the soundtrack of '' Forza Horizon''. Also in 2011, he was guest vocalist on the album track, and single, "Warning Call", on DJ Shadow's ''

The Less You Know, the Better ''The Less You Know, the Better'' is the fourth studio album by American hip hop producer DJ Shadow, released on September 30, 2011 by Island Records. As with his previous efforts, it relies extensively on samples, which span different genres ...

.'' On 11 April 2014, Vek announced his third album, ''

Luck Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable events, especially improbably positive or negative ones. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to rand ...

'', along with the release of the album's first single, 'Sherman (Animals in the Jungle)'. Luck was finally released in June 2014 to mixed reviews. NME said about the album "There are flashes of brilliance but the singer's third album misfires too often" while the Guardian was more favourable, describing it as "deliciously unpredictable" On 12 November 2020, Vek announced his fourth album, ''New Symbols'', and Sleevenote, a music player device he designed.

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

References

External links

Official website
*
Tom Vek
at

Last.fm Last.fm is a music website founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. Using a music recommender system called "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm builds a detailed profile of each user's musical taste by recording details of the tracks the user listens to, e ...

Interview with Tom Vek after a concert in Moscow in 2014
(in Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vek, Tom 1981 births Living people English rock guitarists English male guitarists English male singer-songwriters Singers from London People from Hounslow People educated at King's College School, London Alumni of Central Saint Martins English multi-instrumentalists 21st-century English singers 21st-century British guitarists 21st-century British male singers Moshi Moshi Records artists Island Records artists Go! Beat artists