With studio releases dating back to the turn of the century, Tom Hamilton is well versed in the recording process. He knows when an idea is worth exploring and can easily sniff out the ones that are dog shit. With his name at the top of I’m Your Vampire, Hamilton was going to make sure all facets of his “solo debut” shined brightly.
Hamilton and his longtime collaborator Pete Tramo were making progress with the framework of the songs destined for the album. For Hamilton, his gut was telling him the musical answers he sought were found outside Philadelphia and The Ballroom. His hand built recording studio.
Focused solely on the creative output, not who got the credit for it, Hamilton would travel to Asheville, NC to work with engineer Alex Farrar. He’d make a stop in Pound Ridge, NY to work with John Altschiller and Danielle Warman as well. Whatever it took to send the songs down his unique musical assembly line.
Hamilton notes, “For most of the songs on the album, there are at least five different versions of them. Varying demos. The phone recording. A little bit better phone recording. Studio demo. Not as shitty studio demo. Then the actual song.”
With enough experience to know it still takes a team to make a solo album, Hamilton donned his coaching hat one more time. “We had help. I worked with a producer named Alex Farrar, who is a brilliant guy from Asheville. I went down there to get his perspective on the record. He’d worked on MJ Lenderman and Waxahatchee records. Great records. He added stuff that made it to the record. We recorded some of the basic tracks down there. Wrecking Crew. We did drum overdubs for a couple of songs. He helped shape the ideas and the sound.”
He continues, “I mixed it with John Altschiller and Danielle Warman. Their fingerprints are on it, too. They took the clay Pete and I piled up and made a sculpture out of it. Making records is a team sport. In my opinion it should be best ball golf. I don’t care where the idea comes from. If it’s a good idea, let’s go for it.”
I’m Your Vampire opens with Don’t Give Up On Me. A song ripe with the sound of 80’s-90’s grunge/rock that reverberates in the core of Hamilton’s musical soul. With zero nostalgic intention, Hamilton uses the flavors of the past to create a modern tune. “I grew up with those records. It’s just a product of who I am. It’s not a conscious thing like I’m going to make a Soundgarden or Clapton sounding song.”
Hamilton takes over as he shares his vision and construction of the rest of the songs on the album. “The Octave Below is one of my favorite tunes on the record. I really love it. It’s a unique song without a traditional form. I just fucking love the groove. I love the lyrics. It’s just a cool song. I wrote that riff during covid. The recording that’s on the record is the first time it was ever played.
I had the idea for the song, and I had sections for it. It was Taylor, me, and McKee in the studio. We were making demos of this idea. I showed Taylor the section on the bass. In the studio, I played drums. We just played exactly what’s on the record. If the song went on another three seconds, you would have heard me say “Ok, so that’s the form. I think. Let’s go build it out.” That’s what we did. By the time we got it done, I was like, that’s it. I don’t even want to recut it.
Kissing With Our Eyes Closed was the first tune we kept. My process when making records is a lot of throwing darts in the dark until one sticks. Until I finally find something I can get over the finish line. That’s the north star of the record. Everything needs to at least match the vibe of this song. Kissing was the first thing we started fucking with and thought we should keep going. We chased it down. It was the only song that I had a vision for going into the studio. It came together quickly and we were like that’s a keeper.
Running in Place is originally on Knives and Teeth. I didn’t get that one right. I don’t know what I was doing when I was making that record. It has a very long intro of wind noise that’s, you know, stupid. It was overproduced. I didn’t love the feeling of it. I had this drummer Ryan Jewell come in for a few sessions. He’s a brilliant drummer and really creative guy. I had Tay and Tom learn that song. Just a “Hey, the next time Jewell comes into town to record, I’d like to see what happens playing it with him and his natural instincts.” We got a take I really love. It’s stripped down and in a different key. I’m not a guy that looks in the rear view mirror of anything I’ve done before. That was one of the songs that stuck in my gut where I wish I could get another swing at it. So, fuck it. I took it.
Ninety-five percent of the lyrics are from me. Pete’s not into the lyrics as much. I’ll run stuff by him, and he’ll throw in this or that. For Walking Backwards, Pete thought up the line, walking backwards. I took it and ran with it. I don’t have to experience the specifics with him. He and I are as close as you can be with somebody. We’re less than a year apart in age. We grew up in the same neighborhood. There’s a lot of shared experiences. We know where each other is coming from.
I fucking love Wrecking Crew. That’s one of the tunes where there are several recordings of the song. They are all very different from each other. That was one where I couldn’t get it right with the band I was using up here. When it was me, Tay, McKee, and Jewell. When I went to North Carolina to work with Farrar, he asked if it was okay to bring in a couple of local guys as the rhythm section. To retrack and start fresh on a couple of songs. I was like yeah, Wrecking Crew is fucking ripe for some fresh perspective. The drummer was a heavy hitting guy. Kevin Rumley. This guy was a rock drummer. He could hit the shit out of the drum. Which is what I felt the song needed. I played bass as we cut the basic tracks. I knew that’s what I was looking for. That’s one of the few tracks that wasn’t recorded as a band. Done in pieces. It’s never been played live. We’re going to debut it on this tour.
Daddy Daddy is a feel good song. That’s one of those tunes that we shit out in fucking nine minutes. We were working on something else, and I picked up the acoustic and played that opening riff. Pete gave me a look like “What was that?” Within a couple of minutes, I had the idea for the vocals and the melody. We did a quick demo and were like that’s a song.
Haven’t Used My Voice In So Long is just a riff done live in the studio. Vocals included. That was the second take ever. I taught the guys the different sections. We played it once and it was a little iffy. Then we made a couple of adjustments and that was it. I was just riffing. We threw some synth overdubs on it and called it a day.
This Could Be All Yours is another one that came together down in Asheville. Dave Hartley on bass and Kevin the same drummer. We tried to work it out in Philly and couldn’t get it together. When I was in Asheville, I showed it to the guys to see what they could do. Those guys knocked it out of the park. It just worked. We did the basics there and wrapped it up in Philly. That’s a fun tune we haven’t played live. In rehearsals, we’ve been having some really cool jams in it.”
With It’s Been A Long Time Coming, my dad was sick and it wasn’t good. Anyone whose had a loved one with a long illness, the inevitable is inevitable. We were doing three day sessions of 10 hours recording. The lyrics started coming to me a few days before those sessions. On the last day, I was like I have this song and don’t know how it will go. This is what I would like to have happen. This is the riff. We’re going to keep looping the riff, and I want it to get louder and louder. When I signal, you guys bring it down to basically nothing. That’s another recording where it’s the first time we played it. We finished it and I explained the motivation behind it.
I have a lot of gear in my studio. I asked everyone to switch instruments. Pick any instrument in the studio without thinking about it. We’re going to record over what we just did. It’s the same instructions. Go from nothing to as loud as we can. We played back the first take in the live room. Taylor played a lap steel. McKee played the organ. Jewell played the vibraphone. I played a bunch of percussion. We played it one more time, overdubbing what we did. That was it. It was just two takes on top of each other. Raina Mullen came in the next day for the vocals.”
While Hamilton has plenty of experience in the studio, he has much more playing live across the country. That’s exactly where he’s headed to open up his studio creations. With several tunes ready for their live debut, Hamilton is stoked to hit the road. “These songs are some of my best work. Making them were some of my favorite recording sessions I’ve been a part of. It’s intentional and familial. There’s a lot of love put into the making of this record. Not just from me to the subjects. Also, from the other players to me. I felt their support and I felt their love for not just making art, but also our personal relationships. It was a humbling and cool experience. To be able to take that and bring it on the road is a very special thing. I loved making the last few Ghost Light records, but those weren’t personal. I’m happy to make this personal and cool collection of tunes.”
With a long road behind him and hopefully a much longer one ahead, Hamilton seems clear in his future direction. “By using my name on the album, I feel I’ve entered a new phase of my artistic life. Especially creatively. That’s the reason I’m ok retiring the other names I’ve put other records out under. I feel ok about putting myself out there in that way. This is me and this is my unique point of view. I think I’ve entered a new phase in my career, and I look forward to putting out records like this for the foreseeable future. I think I’ve cracked something open in a new part of my artistic voice. I want to keep exploring it.”
Tom Hamilton- I’m Your Vampire (2026 AWAL/Relix)
cover photo – Sarah Kassery
In honor of Tom Hamilton Sr. – Aye!