inthemix | Features | Tom Novy: Success and happiness defined

Tom Novy was not having a good morning when I spoke to him. When I asked why, he explained that his coffee was far too strong; because of this, he’d overcompensated with way too much sugar, and alas, was stuck with crap coffee. He was spewing about this, as you do, so much so that I didn’t have the heart to suggest that he could rectify the problem by simply making another one. Besides, I was laughing too hard. This essentially set the tone for the rest of the interview. Quite simply, he is a character, and it proved to be a refreshingly candid and thought provoking interview which had me in stitches for the better part of our dialogue.

You would have heard of Tom Novy from his popular track Your Body, which endured global success as a chart topping hit. He has been making music and producing since 1995, and over the years has manufactured everything from chilled out house through to energetic mainfloor bangers, with his first major hit being I Rock and also including smashes like Lovin’ You, Unexpected, Take It and My House. He’s also provided remixes for outfits such as Snap, Sander Kleinenberg, Ludacris and Sonique just to name a few.

Mr Novy is aware that he has an expansive fan base in many parts of the world. Fame and glory however, is not what he’s about. As far as he’s concerned, there are too many people out there who “just do it because of the fame,” and these lures “should not be the aim of making music”. For him “it’s a mentality thing… You should do it for the love of music, and you should do it for yourself and for your soul”. Moreover, “if you touch somebody with your music, that’s the greatest thing that you can do”. He sums it up most effectively with the phrase, “success is an easy bitch: it picks you up so fast, and it grabs you and completely changes you”.

He agrees when I suggest that dance music, and its cultural place, has changed considerably over the time he has been in the music industry. “It changed completely actually”, he says, and describes this transition as “kind of a wave”, and that there’s now a thriving environment where all different types of music, from house to electro, through to hard and happy house and breaks, now “fit together in this big name – dance music. Everything is changeable right now”, he explains, which allows “the possibilities to be much more productive. I listen to so much music every day… not all dance music”. Without being able to do this, he believes that it’s “hard to spread your wings and listen closely to what’s good and what’s not good”. His influences are broad and subsequently cater to an array of different sounds and feels.

His strong belief in creativity has led him to writing a book about dance music at this very moment. He feels that he can expand his field of talent further than producing. He is of the opinion that “it has something to do with being a creative person”. Though he doesn’t deny that music is a great thing to do, he says that in terms of expanding creativity, “I’ve got to try it out… there’s a chance then that it gives you something back”. As a result you appreciate a range of different fields, and further “enjoy what you do”.

The good news is that he’s hitting up Australia very soon. In fact, the tour kicks of this weekend and he’s pumped for it. He’s especially looking forward to it because the last time he was here he found that, “Australians are relaxed, they’re nice and friendly people” (which we are of course!) and that as a result, “all the major DJ’s want to come over and play”. His last time here he played the Future Music Festival which he says was great, and he reckons that you it’s impossible not to love Oz because “it’s sunny there, it’s warm… you can surf, you can do whatever you want there… it’s fantastic actually”. Bring it on then, Mr Novy.

Catch Tom Novy when he plays the following shows around Australia…

Fri 18/04 – The Met Brisbane
Sat 19/04 – Famous @ Home Sydney
Sun 20/04 – Bedroom Gold Coast
Fri 25/04 – Metro Perth
Sat 26/04 – Lawn Party Sydney
Sat 26/04 – Queensbridge Melbourne