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Written byChristian Staines
“You don’t need a recording studio, you don’t need a whole lot of stuff, you can just do it in your bedroom.”
There must be a reason mullets are making a comeback. Maybe it’s because all the exceptionally talented people are rocking them. Maybe they give you some sort of magical musical superpowers the rest of us don’t know about. Maybe they’re just hiding some weird neck tattoo that they regret. Whatever the reason is, for Sauce Side Up, it’s working.
From Thomas Edwards (22), to Tee Sawce, to Sauce Side Up, as his character has developed so has his music. Today marks the drop of his first EP ‘Irene Park’, but Tom has been making music in all shapes and forms for years now. You might recognize him as the lead guitarist from Lady and the Cage or as the bassist and a beat master from Dank Neighbourhood.
He’s made a few songs on SoundCloud before, but this is his first EP to go live on all platforms and it’s fucking great. ‘Irene Park’ is a four-part progression that includes everything from a seductive intro, to some effortless rap (courtesy of Easy Tiger), to the most goddamn melodic guitar you’ve ever heard. Before we go any further it’s time you sat back, put your headphones on, and followed this link to give the EP a listen.
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How good?
‘Caramel Dreams’ is a personal favourite of mine.
Now for some background on who this enigmatic man is.
‘Irene Park’ is a four-part progression that includes everything from a seductive intro, to some effortless rap (courtesy of Easy Tiger), to the most goddamn melodic guitar you’ve ever heard.
Tom started messing about on the guitar when he hit the double digits but it was only earlier this year that he began refining his musical identity into the smooth melodies you’re listening to today. When we were younger, I’m sure most of us would have hopped onto GarageBand thinking we would bash out the next hit single (or at least something cool to show our friends) but it often ends up sounding like the computerized version of musical shame. Tom admits that even he began by making some “weird electronic fruity loops” in an attempt to imitate the likes of Deadmau5 and that they’re hidden somewhere online but that their whereabouts are classified.
It was only in matric when he released his first real song, ‘Bby Blu’, that he began looking more into the musical direction as something more than messing about. “The first song I ever released was back in high school and it did pretty well so I was like ‘sweet, I’m gonna become a musician.’ But then I started studying and had almost no time for music.” Tom studies Engineering by the way, so fuck knows how he’s managed to juggle his solo music, Dank Neighbourhood, finals and still have time to be a slick son-of-a-bitch.
Tom reckons his genre bounces anywhere between lofi, to bedroom pop, to jazz and funk, and also hip-hop and rap. There’s definitely influences of Mac DeMarco, Homeshake, Yellow Days and Tom Misch which help give this EP its full flavour. Tom has worked closely with fellow smooth criminal, Courtsyde, before so it’s no wonder I found myself bouncing between their tracks today.
“A lot of my friends have always been interested in music and making music and I guess I just wanted to start doing that myself. It’s pretty easy nowadays with technology. You don’t need a recording studio, you don’t need a whole lot of stuff, you can just do it in your bedroom.”
During the first lockdown, Tom went all out making three of the tastiest, most spreadable quarantine jams I’ve come across.
It seems like Covid was actually the catalyst for Sauce Side Up. During the first lockdown, Tom went all out making three of the tastiest, most spreadable quarantine jams I’ve come across. They’re all up on his Soundcloud so go give a listen to what creativity and boredom can amount to. Hit this link.
Again, it was Covid that spurred him to create ‘Irene Park’ after all his housemates tested positive and he was forced into quarantine. “Having to spend two weeks in this house with nothing to do and nowhere to go, I realised it was probably the best time to try record a little something. “I’ve got a little audio interface hooked up to my laptop. Little microphone, plug the guitar in and record it all on there. And everything I’ve learnt has pretty much been through Youtube tutorials. You can literally learn anything using Youtube tutorials.”
Bedroom musicians take note.
Sauce Side Up is definitely a musician to keep an eye on. You’re sure to see that name popping up again in the future. Go follow his socials, add his songs to your playlists, and don’t forget to share the sauce next time you’re looking for a song to go with that epic sunset insta story.
P.S. ‘Dare I Say (Demo)’ is one of Sauce Side Up’s older tracks but is just equally amazing as his new stuff.
[All songs on this EP were mastered by the incredibly talented Marcel van der Veen.
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