Tom Gee – Front Man
Thomas Joseph Gee, born on 23rd November 1989. Tom has always had a family background of music, attending piano lessons at an early age before taking up the guitar aged 14. In the summer of 2005, Tom should have been performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, however he fell ill and was confined to his room for the entirety of the summer. It was during this time that TG fell in love with the guitar and began to pen his first songs.
His early works were mainly influenced by the likes of Goo Goo Dolls, David Gray and Eric Clapton. As TG’s musical taste developed he became more influenced by Blues artists such as John Mayer, Eric Clapton and BB King. Mix this with acoustic icons Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz and you have the emergence of Tom Gee’s very own style of music.
TG’s taste for Blues and Soul naturally lead him towards Funk music and saw him form Early Daze a four-piece Funk outfit with current bass player Jamie Moore. After successfully gigging in and around the Leeds/Bradford area, TG left to collaborate with soul singer and close friend, Lauren Spink. Together they performed at Birmingham NEC with Soul’d Out culminating in a performance at The Royal Albert Hall. The two then recruited David Sudall on Drums, from Soul’d Out, and Jamie Moore on the bass forming Sheba, Baby (formerly Lauren & The Trio) who were successful on the local West Yorkshire Scene.
September 2008 saw TG start the BA Popular Music Course at Leeds College of Music. It was during a solo acoustic gig that TG was spotted by Chris Dawkins, the two then started to successfully record and gig across Yorkshire over the next two years.
It’s now Tom’s final year at College, a new tour with Nigel Passey awaits, a gig at the O2 in London. Let’s see what Tom and the band can do.
Jamie “Spaceman” Moore – Groove Master
The bass guitar always seems to be an underrated instrument. People tend to go for the standard electric guitar over the bass, which I guess is one of the reasons why I was first drawn to it at the tender young age of 13. I wish I could say that when I was younger I saw a phenomenal show where the bass player blew me away and made me determined to pick up the electric bass and play it like no other. Unfortunately the only reason I began playing was that a friend needed a bass player for his band, didn’t know any and so asked if I would consider picking it up. I obliged and to be honest it has been one of the best decisions of my life. The buzz I get from playing is more than I can possibly describe, far more intense and definitely far more memorable than any drug can ever give me.
I first met Tom Gee aged 17 in late 2006 when I auditioned to be part of his newly formed band, “Early Daze”. Tom and I have been playing music together ever since that point, albeit in a few different bands. He is one of the most ridiculously talented people I’ve ever had the fortune to work with, let alone be able to call a mate. Everything from his song writing abilities to his ability to play the guitar to his stage presence is just sickeningly brilliant.
I first met David Sudall aged 18 in February 2008 at a jam. As a musician he is everything I wish I was; a brilliant reader with a good ear combined with a knowledge of theory that makes me wince at times. It’s also worth mentioning that Dave got me hooked on jazz music which is now a huge influence on my playing.
If my musical influences were described as a chocolate sundae then funk would undoubtedly be the ice cream, the substance of my dessert. The lumps of chocolate brownie would be soul music, adding some extra taste to an already delicious feast. The liberal sprinkling of flaked chocolate would be reggae, adding a little something extra to the mix. The cherry on top of it all would be jazz, the deal sealer which justifies the £5 price tag (after all that sounds like one damn good dessert).
The following bass players have had a huge impact on my playing and have pretty much shaped the kind of music I both listen to and play; Stuart Zender, Tal Wilkenfeld, Pino Palladino, Marcus Miller, Jaco, Francis Rocco Prestia, Bootsy Collins, Me’Shell Ndegeocello and Janek Gwizdala.
David ‘Thad’ Sudall – the drummer and drive behind Tom Gee
Born November 1st, 1989 and brought up in the small village of Eldwick, Bradford, David began learning violin at the age of 5 with Catherine Walker as his teacher. David was very much classically trained through the orchestral scene provided by the local Bradford Music Service – progressing into the Youth Orchestra at 13 years old. A passion for drums, surely ignited by listening to tapes of Gene Krupa, provided by his Nana, David started learning Drum Kit shortly after his arrival in secondary school. Here he studied for 6 years under Graham Sykes – achieving Grade 8 distinction in his final year. During this time, David also studied Tuned Percussion with Scottish percussionist and local artist, Gary Stewart. This led to a final year recital of Concertino for Marimba- by Paul Creston with the Bradford Youth Orchestra.
A-level music class was where David honed his writing skills (writing a Big Band composition and a full 70-piece orchestral film score in 2 years.) It was also here where he met Tom in a friendship which immediately gelled. Together the pair performed extensively with bass man, Jamie Moore, and Lauren Spink throughout Yorkshire with their band, Sheba Baby. David continues to write compositions for ‘SoundCast’, and featured in the writing of the Horn parts for both Sheba Baby and Tom’s SpeakEasy album.
Currently studying drums with Luke Flowers (drummer for ‘The Cinematic Orchestra’ and ‘The Haggis Horns’) whilst undertaking a 5-year Mechanical Engineering Degree at The University of Manchester, David has achieved a wealth of experience for one so young. His natural flare for the Jazz idiom puts David on skins, at the rhythmic centre of The Robert Sudall Trio, while his creative, writing talents see him pushing the boundaries in his own fusion project, ‘SoundCast’. Performing as a local session musician when not at university, David also regularly works with Chris Dawkins and Bankside Studios as well as taking the seat for his local Big Band, The Nightflyers.
David “Smokes” Levi – The SoulMan
David Levi has played the piano since the age of 7 and from the word go has shown great musical ability and passion. This ability and passioncombined with a relaxed, outgoing personality has created a flexible musician who people love to work with. The majority of David’s musical energy is directed towards live performances. He has played regularly in Leeds since arriving in 2008 in venues including; Elbow Rooms, Oporto, The Library and the extremely trendy nightclub; HiFi. Outside of Leeds David as played at the Roadhouse in Manchester and several venues in London including the renowned underground venue at the Trubador in Earls Court.
Although spending a lot of time gigging, David is equally at home in the studio. David’s first experience of studio musicianship was at a summer school in Dartington run by Herbie Flowers (bass player and prolific session musician – ‘Walk on the Wild Side’, Lou Reed), where with the guidance of Mr Flowers and various other exceptionable musicians David recorded one of his original compositions. Since then, David has recorded countless tracks at LCM with his fellow students but also in more professional environments such as Makeshift Studios and Bankside Studios with the phenomenal Leeds based guitarists and producer Chris Dawkins.
Currently David’s biggest musical commitment is the ‘Tom Gee Band’ led, unsurprisingly, by Tom Gee, an extremely exciting guitarist, singer and songwriter. David has been a member of the band for around 6 months and has brought to it a great deal of energy and style (in the music and fashion sense!). Tom Gee states enthusiastically; “David is a great guy to be around, he’s funny, talented and shares my desire to make great music and bad jokes!” It is with this group that David broke onto the air waves with the bands songs being played on Leeds and Manchester student radio stations along with Bradford Community radio, with whom the Tom Gee band have strong ties.
David’ future as a musician is looking bright. With the live music scene in Leeds and other cities nation wide developing in such a vibrant fashion and with the growing popularity of the Tom Gee band along with other projects he is involved in he is sure to keep busy and keep progressing. In the short term David is looking forward to many more gigs and sessions, and in the long term a life of musical experiment and enjoyment.
