The guys of Tom Flash and the Lightning Band are gaining some attention in the Boston music scene, with a recent performance at Patriot Place. The group, formed in 2009, is bringing old school rock ‘n’ roll back into the spotlight with a contemporary twist. The band includes two Northeastern students and brothers, lead guitarist Kenny Gray, a middler business major, and drummer Adam Gray, along with lead singer Kaleb Wells and bass guitarist Ryan Tidwell. They played at afterHOURS last November for Green Line Records’ industry showcase.
The News met with the Gray brothers and Tidwell to find out what Tom Flash is all about.
Huntington News: How did you guys meet?
Kenny Gray: As far as the lead singer and I, we met doing the show Godspell [a 1970s musical based on the gospel of Matthew] together in ‘06. Adam and I are brothers, so we’ve known each other for about 17 years (laughs).
Adam Gray: Ryan and I met when we were in concert orchestra together, we had a long rehearsal one day and I walked up to Ryan and this other guy Jan, and I was like, “hey you guys look cool.” We started planning the band together, and that’s that.
HN: How did you come up with the name?
KG: Basically the story is that Tom Flash is the son of Jack Flash, the song by the Rolling Stones, and he’s one of our friends that we call Tom Flash but we don’t really like to tell anybody who he is. We like to kinda keep it mysterious as to who Tom Flash is.
HN: Okay we’ll keep it mysterious. What are some of your favorite bands and why?
KG: I suppose the generic answers are the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, but as far as [what] we actually listen to – I listen to a lot of electronic music but I write rock.
AG: I’m into contemporary jazz and classical.
Ryan Tidwell: I’m into a lot of indie stuff. I really like the band Jet. I think Jet is the band that we all love.
KG: Jet is the uniting force. They’re just exactly what we’re going for.
HN: So you kind of hope to create something like them?
KG: Yeah, not that we want to be them but we like that they’re bringing back the classic rock thing. They’re the pioneers, and other bands like Wolfmother came after them.
HN: What is your favorite kind of venue to play in?
AG: I really liked it when we played in TD Banknorth Garden (laughs).
KG: Actually, that’s a tough one. Sometimes when it’s really small it’s really cool –
AG: But yet I like playing to more than 10 people.
HN: What do you think of the Boston music scene?
KG: It’s sweet … And I think it’s interesting, the Boston music scene is very Passion Pit-y, very indie-electronic, and I think what makes us stand out is that we’re rock ‘n’ roll. There’s a lot of electronic, rap, hardcore stuff but not a lot of straight up rock ‘n’ roll. We played a gig at afterHOURS and all of these kids who were into completely different genres of music came up to us and were like, “That was awesome, I don’t listen to rock ‘n’ roll but I want to download your CD” because it’s kind of a timeless sound.
HN: How are you keeping up with this era of social networking to market your band?
KG: I’m kind of the faux-manager. I don’t know, I think it’s pretty cool that Facebook allows you to connect to people so easily. When I was a freshman I added a bunch of people from all of the Northeastern Facebook groups. Now I have a very fake number of friends but I’m able to blitz them with emails and messages, it’s a great way to promote ourselves.
AG: The one downside to the whole social marketing thing is that it’s also very easy to ignore a band. We’re constantly coming up with new ways to advertise ourselves on the Internet so that people won’t just click out of us.
KG: We try to make ourselves as interactive as possible.
RT: It’s kind of a double edged sword. Everyone and their uncle has a band now on Facebook. And local bands’ popularity is based off of their likes on Facebook, which isn’t really fair because a lot of bands get pushed under the rug.
KG: And we try to set ourselves apart. We’re doing a video diary of Ryan driving to school instead of just being like “Oh, it’s just the music,” we have videos of ourselves. And we try to give incentives. If people give us their emails we send them exclusive content.
HN: I read online that you [Kenny] are a seasoned actor. Can you speak about your interest interest in performing and how that relates to performing on stage with the band?
KG: Well for a long time, Kaleb and I wanted to do music as a career, until he asked me to join a Queen cover band, which eventually became Tom Flash. But what I learned from performing is that rock ‘n’ roll is pretty much a show. Live performances are on the same level as a musical or a play – you need to be rehearsed, you need to know what you’re doing, you need to have an image. You need costumes, lights, all that kind of stuff. We’ve incorporated that into our live shows, rather than just standing there like a lot of bands do. We try to be entertaining and interactive.
HN: What is some advice you could give to students about pursuing their actual interests?
KG: We’ve all kind of taken the approach of music as a career but we all have back up plans. We’re all going to school for things that aren’t music. But as far as pursuing your interests, just do it. If you like music and you like bands, just start writing songs. Just go for it, there’s no reason not to.
Tom Flash’s music and upcoming show dates can be found on their MySpace and Facebook pages, or on their website, tomflash.com.
