Meet Tom Fahey

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tom Fahey.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I’m a twin who grew up in Northern MA in a town called Chelmsford.

Since a very young age [five years old], I decided I wanted to be an artist and began drawing everything I could imagine, starting with dinosaurs and mythological creatures.  I later found a passion and extreme fascination with sound and music, which blended into a passion for movement and dance as well.

In middle school, I started developing a darker aesthetic and began really looking for what my voice/expression was, and what I wanted to say, I honed this in high school, where I also began performing music, both jazz [tenor saxaphone] and metal-type music [guitar and vocals].

It wasn’t until my time at MassArt that I really solidified my aesthetic and voice, as well as finding love for drumming. Drumming then became a major part of my life, both in music and in meditation.

Please tell us about your art.
My art is rooted in ritual and I have an affinity for ancient/future things.

Dimensional ideas and big concepts of the universe also fuel my art… micro/macro worlds become reflections and patterns of infinity.

I tend to mostly create artwork using sound, but in truth, I will use any medium depending on what the concept is calling for and how it will best be achieved by me. I love sound art, experimental music, digital art, video art, multimedia installation, ink drawing, wood carving, instrument building, painting, altar making, ritual-making, event planning as well as stagecraft and spacecraft.

I have many different ways in which I create work and a lot of my work is a reaction to my life, and when inspiration hits it can be hard for me to stop working. I also find I have a way of feedbacking off friends who are making work or even work I’m making with other projects or with other mediums can further inspire me.  In space, things in motion stay in motion: I find that is also true about my artwork and when I get out of rhythm the hardest thing is to jump back in… once I’m creating, it just seems to flow.

As an artist, how do you define success and what quality or characteristic do you feel is essential to success as an artist?
Hmmm, this is a tricky one. Personally, I think success as an artist is when you have a lasting effect on people, change the way they see the world, grow their own personal realm of possibility and when you inspire others to create. In essence, I think successful art envokes emotional response… whether that’s joy, love, bliss, or discomfort and even horror.

I think the most essential characteristic to success as an artist is a passion, with enough passion I believe it’s hard not to be recognized… and I find when passion is involved, work is not a chore, and more often allows for reaching one’s full potential. I think this goes beyond art, and just in life: passion will set you apart from others who are working for that dollar sign.

Obviously, expression and openness to engage oneself to learn one’s own aesthetic and expression is very important to an artist as well.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
You can find my work on the web, I have band camp accounts for lots of my projects:

–ofthesun.bandcamp.com
–soundshaman.bandcamp.com
–fractillian.bandcamp.com
–thisislifeofficial.bandcamp.com
–gypsyrockmonkeys.bandcamp.com
–tunnelvisionquest.bandcamp.com
–voidgod.bandcamp.com
–crustmonk.bandcamp.com

The best way to support is to buy music or donate when we are doing tour fundraising… alternatively, booking&paying one of my projects to perform is another perfect way to support. I do sound design and master audio, and would love to get into scoring films, so spreading the word and keeping me in mind for these types of projects around Boston [and beyond] would also be huge.

Contact Info:

• Address: 30 townsend st
  Roxbury, MA 02119
• Website: futureshamans.com
• Phone: 9783878459
• Email: fracteladon@gmail.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/totemfaehy/
• Facebook: facebook.com/gypsy.tom
• Other: soundcloud.com/soundshaman-totem

Image Credit:
photo #5 taken by Justus Dunton

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