[BadPanda129] Tommy Toussaint – I Don’t Wanna Cry

Tommy Toussaint is the vintage-pop moniker for the Harlem-based songwriter Jesse Thompson. Since 2008, Toussaint has been a frequent collaborator/band member of Dent May.

He recently released the Summer USA 7” on Make Mine Records (also available via Rough Trade), after having released the majority of his music via the Cats Purring collective (on free download the Cosmic Caverns EP) and Chill Mega Chill.

Here’s a brand new track apt for late spring period. Be sure to check out the – full of interesting thoughts – interview (after the jump) and to stay tuned for his upcoming music.

Tommy Toussaint – I Don’t Wanna Cry [mp3]
(thanks to Andre Sousa for mastering)

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Where do you live actually?

Harlem, NY

What is the last thing you ate?

Moonpie

Your addiction ?

Baths

What do you collect?

Bytes

What is your favorite word?

Precocious

What sound or noise do you love?

The SP-303 Tape Echo effect

What is your most recent extravagance?

Box wine (Rosé)

Who is the most interesting person you’ve ever met?

Mr. Bhattacharya, one of my next door neighbors growing up. He claimed he had the cure for AIDS and was working on the HIV vaccine, but according to him, the US govt was giving him problems. All the families and kids on the block talked about it. I got to see it in his basement one day. I was playing basketball in my driveway and he invited me over to check it out, which is super sketchy in hindsight, but sure enough, he had a fully functioning laboratory down there with boiling vats of both clear and pink liquid. We found out years later that he had been arrested for practicing medicine on humans with only a veterinarian’s license. I still believe that I saw the real cure though.

One book?

Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino

Which song do you listen to when you wake up?

It varies. Lately they’ve been, “When the morning comes” by Hall and Oates, “Gotta Get Up” by Harry Nilsson, or “Our Prayer” by The Beach Boys

A song you wish you wrote yourself?

No Diggity by Blackstreet

Your sunday morning track?

“One Bad Habit” by Micheal Franks

One website?

I can’t choose one. RHIZOME.ORG or Wikipedia will do me just fine.

What do you think about music industry in 2012?

Industry and art are a funny combination, but I think with all the advances in digital technology and the broad scale of the Internet, the state of music distribution and creation is currently at its most democratized. Artists have the ability to produce and share what they create with less financial and political constraint and labels such as this (Bad Panda) serve as a perfect example of how sharing art should work. Of course, even online, especially in the blogosphere, there are still plenty of vain political mechanisms operating in the realm of PR and coverage, but the music “industry” is in a hopeful place.

What about Creative Commons?

Viva la revolution

Favorite venue?

Watt Club in Athens, GA

Favorite concert?

Hmmm…I’d say either Group Doueh at the Animal Collective curated ATP in May, 2011 or the Beach Boys reunion tour concert at Beacon Theatre in NYC.

Favorite place in the world?

The Greek isle of Hydra. There are no cars there, only donkeys and boats. Jump off cliffs all day and drink ouzo all night. Pretty much paradise.

Where would you wish to wake up tomorrow?

Beside agent Dana Scully