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St Thomas
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Article
written by Ged M
Apr 10, 2007.
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St Thomas (Thomas Hansen) came to people’s attention with the melodic Americana of Mysterious Walks at the beginning of the decade. He was a top 10 act in his native Norway with the ‘Cornerman’ EP (June 2001) and seemed to be on a swift upward trajectory. His City Slang album Hey Harmony (2003) should have seen his European breakthrough but the roots of his troubles were nestling in these shoots of success; never entirely comfortable with this attention, his behaviour was reportedly unpredictable and poor sales marked a commercial, but not musical, decline in his fortunes. Every St Thomas record has a few sublime tracks and Lets Grow Together (2004) was no exception. But mood, behaviour and audience sympathy were all declining, and the Norwegian press had turned on him. His fansite http://www.stthomas1976.net/ has the full biographical details.
There’s Only One of Me came out of his darkest time. Suffering from depression and abuse of alcohol and prescription drugs, he wrote the brutally honest songs that made up the album, including lines like: “don’t leave me with my doctor/ on the telephone/ he’s set me up with some medicine/ a medicated dog”. It was written, mixed and mostly recorded by Thomas himself and despite the subject matter, has some of his finest songs, with the self-destructive tones strongly echoing Elliott Smith. Press was good in most places (4/5 in Uncut) though Norway still seems to have disowned him. Cancelling a European tour at the start of 2006, he went into rehab in April and is, thankfully, now out and part-way through a European tour (he comes to the UK in May). He’s a complex character, as anyone who’s seem him live will attest, but has a talent for strange, melodic songs that will haunt anyone with a sensitive soul. We talked to the mighty St Thomas by email in March 2007.
SXP: You went into rehab last year to be treated for addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs. How is your health now? Are you still maintaining a healthy lifestyle: vegan food and running half-marathons?
Thomas: My lifestyle now is not particularly healthy. I have my shares of beer and meat, and I have stopped running. Just came home from a European tour, and I have gained some pounds, so I think I’ll put on my jogging-gear soon.....
SXP: Do you worry that the life you lead (recording, performing, travelling) puts too much temptation in the way of musicians?
Thomas: It certainly does, and I am not so strong either. There was heavy drinking on this last tour and it felt good to come home for some relaxing days.
SXP: In 2001, you told Comes With A Smile magazine “I am a dreamer and I sometimes live so much in them that I get very disappointed when I find out which world I’m in”. Do you think that is still true of you?
Thomas: Well, nowadays I use a medication called "Zyprexa", it is an anti-psychotic drug. It takes away voices and creatures that I sometimes have seen but they are not really there. This medication helps me and makes me get more contact with the real world. I am very satisfied with this drug, which I use together with my anti-depressants. Luckily, my songwriting has not suffered yet, and I hope it continues that way.
SXP: You announced in March 2006 that “from now on there will be bedroom work, bedroom mixing”. That’s how you made ‘There’s Only One of Me’. Is that the way you intend to continue recording?
Thomas: Well, yet another time I have changed my mind. I will start recording the next album soon. With help from the Norwegian band The Captain And Me (www.myspace.com/thecaptainandme, www.thecaptainandme.com), I will go into Even Vaa´s bedroom to record. The guys will do all the instrumentation and I will only sing. We just toured together, and they served as both backing band and support band. They are really amazing, so I hope for a good result. I have made 60-70 new songs since the last album...
SXP: The album was made while you were in the grip of your addiction. How do you feel about those songs now, when they must be associated with a dark time in your life?
Thomas: I totally connect with them. My life has not changed much since I came out of rehab. The only difference is that I am not addicted to pills anymore...
SXP: I know people were shocked by the album on first hearing. But after a few listens, many people could appreciate the honesty in your songs (which has the same quality as much of John Lennon’s solo work). Was it easy to be that open about such personal matters?
Thomas: For me it has always been easy to pour my frustrations and personal matters onto an audience...
SXP: According to a fansite, there were dozens of songs written at that time. Will the others ever be released? And are you now writing new songs?
Thomas: As mentioned above, I have 60-70 new songs, and a bunch of leftovers from the last album. I think I will definitely use some of the leftovers, as the quality is quite good on some songs, they just didn’t fit into "There’s Only One Of Me".
SXP: A few years ago people were comparing you to Will Oldham, Neil Young and Elliott Smith. Now critics have likening your introverted style to Galaxie 500 and Dan Tracey. Is St Thomas heading in a different direction now?
Thomas: That is for others to decide. Personally I don’t think my songwriting has changed that much since the debut release in 2000...
SXP: Apart from contributions from Petter Pogo and Alexander Lindbäck, you played everything on the album yourself. You’ve often collaborated with musicians so will you go back to that or will we see more solo work?
Thomas: I have teamed up with The Captain And Me and we had great success on the tour we just did. I hope to stick with them in the future...
SXP: It’s good to see that you’re touring again, and we look forward to seeing you in the UK in May. How is the tour going? Will you be coming to the UK supported by ‘The Captain and Me’ like on the European tour?
Thomas: Because of economic reasons, we will only be two people touring the UK. We will play a set consisting of material from the whole career, all the six albums will be included, totally acoustically played.
SXP: You’ve covered David-Ivar Herman Düne’s songs before but how did you persuade him to draw your album cover?
Thomas: I have his phone-number so I just asked him and he said yes. We are friends, so I hope to involve him also in the future...
SXP: A few years ago you were in the Norwegian Top 10, and now you say that they have “slaughtered” the new album. Why has your home country turned on you?
Thomas: Norway is a small country with just 4 million people, and we have something called Janteloven which rules still in the year 2007. Janteloven is kind of a law that for example says "You shall not think that you are someone" or "You shall not think you are better than others". I have since the very beginning dissed people and bands I don’t like, and I have proclaimed on several occasions that I am the best songwriter this country has to offer. This is not very popular in this country. Also, my live appearances have been very unstable. I have thrown bottles towards the audience if they have behaved bad. I am probably the most hated artist in Norway at the moment, and I like it. I hate when people say that I am a soft singer-songwriter. I play folk music with a punk rock attitude, and I give to finger to people I don’t like.
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