After writing music on his own for a while, Thomas Dunleavy made the decision to leave the band he was with, h:sharp, in September of last year to instead develop his solo career, choosing to do this at a time when he could use events held by Stamford College to get his name out there.
His most recent release, The Girl Next Door (Is Leaving Home), was written after he watched Theres Something About Mary as a love letter to the one and only Cameron Diaz, as in his words “She's one of the fittest actresses to ever grace the cameras”. And who are we to disagree with that absolute poetry?
Aside from Cameron Diaz, Thomas finds inspiration in his everyday life, from quotes he finds in the books he reads to setting himself challenges to write to even just playing the guitar to pass the time. He feels that being creative and being able to write songs is a gift and you should never give up with it- whether you're playing at Wembley or a small local venue.
His music, which he describes as feel-good acoustic that puts you in a good mood, is always performed with confidence and personality- something he puts down to half natural confidence and half practising in front of the mirror with a hairbrush and embellishing what the professionals do on stage in your own way. Adding, that he aims to emulate the energy of a full band but as a solo artist, aiming to be like Freddie Mercury in the sense of being a frontman who can hold an audience.
Unlike many of his peers leaving college, Thomas made the choice not to go to university and is instead going to work at the BBC, where he hopes to remain for the foreseeable future while still playing where he can in the meantime, with an appearance booked for the Willow Festival in Peterborough this month- somewhere he has always wanted to perform, even before its closure several years ago. Another one of his favourite places to perform has been Mama Liz’s in Stamford, with an amazing atmosphere and also a stage that allows for the artist to get closer to the audience.