Feltbeats.com received the unique opportunity to discuss Tom Felton’s music in light of his upcoming new album, “In Good Hands.” To spice things up, we decided to solicit interview questions from the Tom Felton followers on Twitter.
Remember to keep an eye out for Tom’s new album, “In Good Hands,” which should be released on iTunes any day now (you hear that iTunes! Any day now!!).
Feltbeats.com will be releasing more of this exclusive interview with Tom Felton, but the last day will be this Friday!
Because this is titled the “Twitter Interview,” I should remind you to follow Tom Felton and Feltbeats on Twitter!
FB: Okay. So, I have a couple of lyrics I wanted to go over with you really quick.
TF: Yeah, yeah, I read your e-mail. Go on. One of them, by the way, was hilarious; it made me laugh so hard out loud. Go on.
FB: Oh, because it was wrong?
TF: Yeah, but in the sweetest way. In the sweetest way. It was so funny. Okay, go on.
FB: Okay, we’ll get there. Let’s see: In “Time Well Spent” it says, “Round the back of the…”?
TF: Sports Hall wall.
FB: I was right!
TF: Yeah, yeah, you were right on that one. Basically, it was behind the Sports Hall, where we’d, you know, get into trouble.
FB: Yeah, it was one of those things, with the accent; you say “wall” different.
TF: Sure, sure. The difference between “woll” and “waal.”
FB: Yeah, because I was expecting to hear “waal.”
TF: Yeah, this is actually good for me because I’m auditioning for a part tomorrow where I have to lay on the American accent pretty thick. So it’s good to hear your accent as a warm up for tomorrow.
FB: Oh, no, I wouldn’t use MY accent.
TF: Why not? It seems like a fairly good one, is it not?
FB: Because I’ve got a very bad Valley Girl, West Coast accent. You know, I say, like, “like” and “you know” way too much.
TF: Oh, sure. Right. Okay. “Like, You know.”
AUDIO: Tom talks about American accents.
[audio:accent.mp3]
FB: So, can I hear a little bit of your American accent?
TF: My American accent? On the phone with [Misha]? I don’t know…
FB: Just say, like, “How are you doing? Have a nice day.”
TF: Yeah, sure. So, okay, uh, “Hey, I’m Tom Felton. Can you point me in the way of the local store?” It’s just, you’ve got to learn to roll your “R”s. That seems to be the general consensus of the language.
FB: That’s good! It’s funny you said your last name just then because when you say “Felton” in your English accent it’s not quite right, like “Fewl-in”… like you leave off part of it. It’s not the right way to say it. But I say “Fel-ton” the way it is spelled. I suppose I shouldn’t tell you how to say your own name…
TF: Yeah, right. (Laughs) I’ve been going to a voice coach and you know, the English do something quite unique; I don’t know if it is back of the mouth or front of the mouth. But we say “Fewl-in,” you’re right.
FB: It’s like you skip over a couple of letters.
TF: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s strange.
FB: Okay, back to lyrics: In “All I Need” it says, “And what I’d give for any ___ to turn a day into a few.”
TF: “And what I’d give to turn this day into a few.”
FB: Oh, is that what it is? No, I think… Errrm.
TF: Yeah, I think so. I’ve got to double check it now.
FB: Yeah, because it’s got… it sounds like “cuss.”
TF: Oh, I’m sorry, yeah, it’s, “And what I’d give at any cost.”
FB: So it’s C-O-S-T?
TF: Yeah, (singing) “And what I’d give at any cost, to turn a day, into a few.” (Humming) Hmmm hmmm hmm.
AUDIO: Tom talks about his lyrics.
[audio:lyrics.mp3]
FB: Oh, great! I and, I think, three other girls spent almost an hour trying to figure that one out.
TF: Ahh, well, bless you guys. Bless you.
FB: So the next one is “I’ll Be There.”
TF: Ahh, this is the one that makes me laugh. The motorway, right? Brilliant! Now, what did you write down?
FB: (Laughs) I wrote… I’m too embarrassed now!
TF: No, go on. The day you broke down… ?
FB: “And I’ll be there, that’s all I phoned to say. The day you broke down mentally and you were on the motorway.”
TF: (Laughs) Yeah, that’s brilliant. That’s brilliant! So, the line really is, “I’ll be there, that’s all I phoned to say. Whether you broke down mentally or you are on the motorway.” (Laughs) You see, it’s like, there are a couple meanings of breaking down…
FB: Oh, okay.
TF: It’s rather a confusing lyric, in hindsight, but I rolled with it at the time. (Laughs)
FB: So it’s “whether…”
TF: Yeah. (Singing) “I’ll be there, that’s all I phone to say. Whether you broke down mentally or you are on the motorway.”
FB: Yeah, that’s cute!
TF: Ah, so now you get it? Now you get it?
AUDIO: Tom corrects Misha from Feltbeats.com about lyrics on “I’ll Be There.” These corrections are reflected in the updated lyrics, below.
[audio:illbethere.mp3]
FB: Yeah, that’s good. And, I guess, the last one… I’m PRETTY sure about this one.
TF: Okay, fire away.
FB: In the latest song, it’s “wait” my answers?
TF: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, I won’t lie, I was just jamming; I was just rolling with it, so I don’t think I knew what I said! (Laughs) But yeah, I think it is, “wake my answers, take my chances, fake my glances.” At least, those are the three lines that I think I had in my head. But I may have jumbled a few of those around so… So you may have to just pretend that you heard something you didn’t.
AUDIO: Tom says he was just rolling with it.
[audio:rolling.mp3]
FB: Okay, so you said “wait”? Because I think “wait” makes the most sense.
TF: Yeah, yeah, we’ll go with “wake.” We’ll go with “wake.”
FB: There are some people who thought that it was “wake” as in W-A-K-E…
TF: Oh, you thought it was “wait”? Oh, well that is probably what I would say, but it is, “WAKE my answers, TAKE my chances, FAKE my glances” it’s all A-K-E.
FB: Oh! Okay, so I was wrong!
TF: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, credit to the other people there. (Laughs.) Sorry to prove you wrong there, I don’t like doing it, [Misha].
FB: No, it’s alright. I’ve always felt that if you wanted to pretend to be an authoritative Feltbeats site, you needed to know the words to the songs!
TF: Fair play there, fair play. No, I agree. It’s good; it’s good. Now you’ve got the right information.
FB: Okay, so, I wanted to talk to you about a couple of the old songs. So, first off, I have to tell you a little story: When the last album came out, I didn’t even listen to the songs first, I just downloaded them and started to type out the lyrics. I wanted people who were at work, or whatever, and who couldn’t listen to the songs, to know what they were about and so forth. So, I’d play a little bit, then I’d pause and write down the lyrics. Then I’d play some more, and I’d pause and write down the lyrics. So I hadn’t really even heard the whole song yet.
TF: Oh my God.
FB: So, when I was doing “In My Arms”…
TF: Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’d gone in the wrong way. You’re thinking, God… (Laughs)
FB: Yeah! I was thinking, ?What! Oh my God. This is getting a little nasty!?
TF: (Laughs) I was hoping you’d think that, of course.
I was telling my brother about the idea of the song as I was writing it – that I was trying to lead the audience into thinking I was talking about my girlfriend. And I’m like, “what references could you use on a guitar as well as a human?” And we talked about the body, and neck, and the way we hold you… And he said g-string, and I was like, “ahhh, it’s a bit borderline, but yeah, all right, but we’ll go with it…”
AUDIO: Tom discusses the song “In My Arms.”
[audio:inmyarms.mp3]
FB: Yeah, it was awesome. You definitely got me on that song.
TF: Yeah, excellent. I’m glad it kept you on your toes. I do appreciate that you took the time to type it up.
FB: As I was typing I just kept thinking, “I hope it doesn’t get any worse than this!”
TF: Yeah, I assure you, it was a clean song. It was intended for young ears.
FB: So the next song, “Right Place, Right Time,” is about your first date with Jade?
TF: Yeah, it was our first date, and I think the first verse is about me asking her out and picking her up. And I hate driving in London; I just really wasn’t used to it. And I couldn’t park. She’d say, “Park there, park there,” and I’d be like, “I can’t park! Oh my God, I can’t park!” It was very hectic. That was a whole story in itself, I thought – parking. And, yeah, then the whole day we spent at the zoo, it was a memorable day. So I pretty much had that song written the next day.
FB: Yeah, that’s very cute. So, let’s talk about other songs, I guess, “Time Well Spent” is pretty much about your life…
TF: Yeah, well, I thought… I thought it would be interesting if I did three different scenes, one in days, one in weeks, and one in years. So I thought, “How would I want to spend a day?” And I thought, “Box Hill.” Then I thought, “How would I want to spend a week?” And I thought, “With Jade.” And then it took me back to school, the idea of years well spent. So it’s not really my life, but more like, time well spent. That’s really a crap analogy of the song…
FB: That’s funny you said that because when we first heard it on YouTube, we just heard the verse about “weeks” I think.
TF: Yeah, sure.
FB: But then when I heard the recorded song, I was very impressed with your writing; like, you’re actually a song writer, not messing around.
TF: Yeah, yeah, thanks. I meant it to be a journey, if that makes sense – kind of, short terms to long terms.
FB: Great! So we’re getting toward the end of the questions. Let me ask this: Is there anything you’ve wanted to clear up, any misunderstandings? Or are there any people you want to give props to?
TF: Yeah, I mean, as far as musical influences, I mean, my mum and my dad; both my parents turned me into a lot of good music. I mean, kids out there, listen to the stuff that your parents play, because it sort of sounds crap at the time, but a lot of it is good. Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi, all that stuff my mum loves, it’s good music, man.
FB: Ahh, I hope my son remembers that. He is three and he knows the words to all the Feltbeats songs.
TF: Aww, man, that’s awesome! That’s wicked! You have to get a video of that. I won’t lie, I love to watch the videos of people covering the songs. I think it’s amazing. But I’d think it was even more amazing to see your three-year-old son singing along.
FB: I will try, but it might not be entirely comprehensible…
TF: Ahhh, well, bless him. He’s only three. That’s cool.
FB: Now, sort of along those same lines, have you ever considered putting the chords online?
TF: Yeah, yeah. It’s funny. As I was watching videos online I actually felt bad for them, because I know that position. I hated when I was learning guitar and I couldn’t find the right sounds. I share your pain, people. I’m definitely willing to give them to whomever needs them. I guess I should just do that through you?
FB: Yeah, if you have time, just send them over and I’ll publish them in one location.
TF: I can give them to you in sort of a weird way. I don’t have them written down, but I can give you a rough idea. I mean like a lot of people ask for the chords to “Time Well Spent,” and, really, it’s just three chords plus this little finger thing. I’m not sure how to describe the finger thing…
FB: Well, whenever you can send them over, that’d be great. Okay, next Twitter question, Cazling asks, “What is your fascination with time?” It seems like a lot of your songs have sort of this theme of time?
TF: Yeah, well, I’m not really obsessed with time, but rather that time is right now, and leaving something behind. The real thing that means so much to me about all this music is that, if something happens to me, I’ve left something behind that people can look at. They can type my name into Google and Feltbeats.com will come up and there will be all the information about what I’ve done with my life. So I guess it isn’t so much about time, but rather making sure I’ve left something behind before my time runs out.
FB: TheWorldiSee asks: Do any of your friends or family ever tease you about the love-y content of some of your songs?
TF: Yes! Yes, definitely. That’s why I don’t share my music with my friends and family. (Laughs) Yeah, my brothers think it is a bit sad, but my mum likes it. (Laughs) And my friends take a piss, but in a friendly way, so it’s no big deal.
FB: And so this next one from HandsOfTime. You see, I told people that we could only ask questions about music, and she really wanted to know if you had any allergies, but I said “no, only questions about music!” But HandsOfTime came up with: “Do you have any allergies… that prevent you from playing music sometimes?”
TF: Yeah! Yeah! Oh my God! I want to congratulate this person on the randomness of the question. While everyone else was blinded by the idea of asking me about music, this young lass took the good time to ask me if I have any allergies. So I want to thank her for her inventiveness on that one. But I guess the answer is… no. I hate to give a boring answer, but no, I don’t have any allergies. I’m not allergic to anything, as far as I know. Maybe I am, I just don’t know it yet. Maybe I’m allergic to allergies. (Laughs)
AUDIO: Tom talks about his allergies!
[audio:allergies.mp3]
FB: What I told HandsOfTime when she asked the question is that, unfortunately, you may not entirely get the answer you want, really. Because, Tom could be allergic to, say, shellfish, but that doesn’t really inhibit him from playing music. You see?
TF: Yes, so true. Well, there is actually a good answer to that – I’m allergic to food I don’t like. Whenever I go to someone’s house and they say, “Oh, you don’t like the salad?” I say, “Oh, sorry, I’m allergic.” It can get you out of a lot of trouble.
FB: Allergic to salad? You don’t really say that?!
TF: No, no, I don’t really; I’m joking. (Laughs) But if it was seriously that bad, where they said you HAVE to eat it, then I would. Because I’m a little bit of a funny eater, man.
FB: I think that’s funny, on your Twitter account you’re always talking about food – chocolate pancakes, chocolate biscuits, chocolate cake…
TF: Yeah, I won’t lie, all I ever eat is, like, fast food stuff. You won’t find me eating any fine cuisine on Twitter, that’s for sure.
FB: Here is a question from Callisto2009: If you were going to have a duet with any people you know, or start an actual band.
TF: Well, I won’t lie, I am a bit of a lone ranger, but if Jack Johnson and Paul McCartney got together and decided to form a super group, then it’s a possibility. I think we could bring the Beatles back. But no, I’ve no real plans to play with a group. But, you know, I’d love to play with a band, but I just haven’t met any people yet who want to play along with me. If you know any, then please send them my way.
FB: Well, it seems like there are a lot of people out there interested in your music…
TF: Yeah, we could have an online band.
FB: You know there is a video on YouTube where, like, a bunch of people around the world played the same song, and they recorded it together. It’s really cool.
TF: Yeah, sure, I heard about this. It’s quite a clever thing to do.
FB: Awww, well I think that’s it! No more questions!
TF: Ahhh, well thank you [Misha], it was a pleasure!
Thanks again Tom for everything! On behalf of your fans, we appreciate the time you took to talk on the phone and answer all of our Twitter questions. We really appreciate it. 🙂
