Meet T-BOW: Disco Voyager and Funk Aficionado. Source: About T-BOW – Spotify. Residing in Bordeaux, France, he also encourages us all to ‘Let’s Keep it Funky’, on his YouTube channel and wishes everyone ‘Peace Love and Funk’, on Instagram. Watching him playing his neon stringed bass in the dark, lights a fire in my disco soul. Let the message be clear, his music will definitely funk you up and if you by any chance manage to stay stuck to your seat, there’s really only one thing I could say; What’s Wrong With You??
My kind of Music, with T-BOW.
Wanna GROOVE TONIGHT? Here’s How.
If by now, you, my lovely fellow music lover, still haven’t checked out TJMC (The Jukebox Music Channel), I would be very tempted to repeat my question. If all my previous Spotlight articles did not convince you about its awesomeness, well… I don’t know what will. But I am not giving up yet, because here I present another musical gem, found in the archives of TJMC. But of course our full attention today is for him. Click the pics 😉
My first encounter with T-BOW’s music was received with much enthusiasm. I am a sucker for a funky bassline and this one caught my attention. It was a surprise to find out much later, Marc Leclercq did a remake of this song, which you can find on SoundCloud. It keeps surprising me how all the stories seem to link to each other one way or another. And it’s not just all in my head, just sayin…
I wasn’t yet familiar with the most part of T-BOW’s music, so when I dove in, I got really impressed. If you want to see and hear how amazing a musician he is, I can highly recommend looking him up on social media. There, he is showing his skills for everyone to enjoy. The bass obviously rules, but hearing him play the guitar and synths surely are no hardship either, his instruments are drenched in funkyness it seems.
Really awesome are the #tbowbeatchallenges he displays. He challenged himself to create a new tune every day, for 30 days straight and shares them with his followers / anyone who wants in. He did this not once but twice, after the awesome response he received the first time. Listening to these tunes, I could not help but be intrigued by the amount of inspiration T-BOW must have stored somewhere. It almost looks like opening a drawer and…oh, there they are lol. Instant Creativity.
In the video he edited, you can see / hear T-BOW ‘rotating’ between playing the bass, the guitar and synths. Next to hearing really great tunes, the fun he is radiating while playing, makes it totally worth your while. Nothing more appealing about any musician or band, then to actually see them having fun. Wearing an air as if, even if they would be the only one enjoying it, they would still go on. (But they know they’re not). Spreading joy with an infectious attitude.
T-BOW seems to really like interacting with his followers, as he also held a bass quiz. 30 days long he played a bass part from some song and it was up to the audience to guess to who it belonged. I was able to guess about half of them, oopsies. It’s definitely nice to see that some artists really make time for their fans. It makes them so much more approachable and simply…human.
The second song by T-BOW I added, was one of his earlier remixes – with over 340K views on TJMC- swiftly followed by a couple of others. I remember going on holiday and having these on repeat frequently. Like most of the really funky stuff, in my opinion these songs are made for holidays or at least to make your every day feel like one.
This feeling increased when I watched T-BOW playing bass, not only wearing a big smile but also numerous happy, colorful, Hawaiian shirts. I know, I know, there I go again, but hey… You can deny it all you want, but we all like a pretty picture don’t we. Well maybe you don’t, but I do. Then again, if the music would suck, no pretty picture could safe it for me lol. His music definitely Does Not Suck. Grab a drink upfront to quench your thirst, because You Will Brake the Dancefloor. (or the mirror while smiling too hard)
Apparently T-BOW has some sort of fascination with Magnum / Tom Selleck. When I asked him about that, he answered: ‘I had an idea of a 80’s type of song with those linear synth bass, you know ? To me, Tom Selleck represents the 80’s I love so I decided to call the song like that ! Haha. Next to that, video games music influenced me a lot. SNES video games such as Mario kart or street fighter really had an impact on me’. If nothing else, nostalgia will get to you with a title like that. I mean, who hasn’t been watching that show??
Apparently summer did happen here, but I guess that, most of it just passed my window in a blur or got washed away by the Irish rain. Listening to great music will always provide for some indoor sunshine. This next remix will even take you to Havana, if only in dreams, but hearing that driving bassline and compelling keyboards, should enlighten the mood substantially.
But seriously, if it wasn’t for all these awesome artists, these past summer would have been bleak indeed. I don’t know how y’all are coping, but my blog has been a great distraction and blessing. To be able to write about this abundance of great music. Just Wow. T-BOW is another artist to take you for an enjoyable ride, which I am sure will leave you wondering where he’s been all your life.
I think a new upcoming project was mentioned and wouldn’t that be great! Because, for now, there’s nothing more for me to add, without repeating myself. T-BOW’s music should speak for itself really. When going through his posts, I had to keep myself from ‘liking’ each and every one of them. I mean really, that would look stalker-ish again and you all know I’ve been doing my best to leave that behind me 😂
But before we go to the interview I want to give a Big Thank You to T-BOW! Discovering your music was a real nice surprise to me. I have no more words left, other than to tell the readers: Go And Listen!! I wish you all the blessings and a whole lot more smiles to go with your funky future. I will add you and update anything new on the Spotlight page, where you will be mentioned indefinitely.
Let’s start with the obvious; Can you please introduce yourself and tell us who you are (does the name T-Bow stands for anything particular-), where you are from, when did you start making music and which instruments you play? (and do you sing?)
‘Hello! My name is Thibault aka T-BOW. I’m from Bordeaux, France. I lived in the US for about 5 years and people thought my name was written T-BOW so I decided to keep it like that. I started the project T-BOW in 2015. I play mostly the bass but I can play the keys and guitar too. I also sing in some of my songs!’
Who have been your biggest influences? And assuming you’re an independent artist, what is still motivating you to go on?
‘My biggest influences are coming from the Disco-Funk era. That’s the music that touches my heart the most. I was a big fan of Jamiroquai when I was younger!! EWF, Chic, Kool and the gang etc… The hip hop 90’s scene touched my heart as well like Dre, Snoop, Nas etc… Latin music is also a big thing for me like Seu Jorge. Mostly groove music.
My motivation is to make good and funky music. I believe funky music can touch the world, whatever your age, where you’re from etc… it can bring people together. The hardest is to get visibility, but the more you make music, the more you’re visible. I want people to be able to dance and vibe on my music but also just sit down and just dream or think. Some kind of a Disco-Voyager’.
I found some of your remixes / songs on TJMC some time ago. What was your first official project and can you tell us a bit about that?
‘My first project was my EP called CEREMONY that I made in 2015. I got myself into remixes later and I loved it. It gives another perspective when you write music. You already have a lead vocal that helps different harmonies. The Zara Larsson and the Fifth Harmony ones made me a little bit more known on the Internet and I’m grateful for that’.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the bass seems to be your preferred instrument. (I love that funky bass). I saw on Instagram you initiated a challenge twice, challenging yourself to create a new tune every day for a month. How did that happen and how hard was it to come up with something new every day? Also, what did you do with all those tunes, will they ever make it to a completed track?
‘Hahah Yess!! My bass is definitely my main instrument. Yes I’ve made a #beatchallenge twice. I challenged myself to make a new beat everyday. It was not easy I have to say, but also it helps me a lot to be more creative and find new ideas. Not sure all of them would become complete tracks, but I may put the challenge on YouTube/Spotify. I also came up with a game during the quarantine called #bassquiz. The game was to find a song through the bass line’.
Your music is very 80’s / 90’s inspired, was it always like this? How would you describe your music yourself and why did this particular period impress you so much?
‘I can’t really explain why this period is touching me. I feel it was the funkiest time and for me the most creative era. I also feel a sense of freedom that I don’t feel now. I also believe music and the groove were more important than now. I listened to many things but this period is definitely the one I feel the most’.
What’s the most remarkable thing that happened to you during your music career so far? Or maybe there are some fun facts you can share?
‘During my time in the US I had the chance to be in Cassandra O’neal’s band (Prince’s musical director) and I learned a lot. I also met Thomas Bangalter (Daft Punk) who gave me a lot of advice’.
When I searched your social media I got really impressed with your musical talent and how much fun you seem to have while playing. This always leaves the best impression on me. Any new projects in sight you can tell us about? Or any dreams you would wish to see come true in the near future?
‘Thank you so so much!! I’m about to drop out a new single with Airospace from Washington DC. It’s gonna sound a bit more ” hip-hop” than I used to. I’m also working on many projects with notably Venice Club, a French Disco-Funk Band, Big Ali etc… I’m planning to make my 3rd EP that is gonna sound super funky’.
You seem to really want to interact with your followers / fans, like you did with the bass quiz. How important is that contact for you and is there anything else you would wish to add or share with your fans here?
‘Absolutely. To me it’s the key of everything. For the #bassquiz, I thought It was my role to give some kind of distraction and funk to the people that were following me. I’m grateful they follow me, grateful they found me and grateful they listen to my music. Their impact is huge for me. Keep it funky guys, this is just the beginning!!’
Again, big thanks to T-BOW! If you’ve been low on funk lately, start listening to his music! Find T-BOW on Spotify – YouTube – SoundCloud – Facebook – Instagram
And if you’re wondering what T-BOW is listening to, here’s his Spotify playlist, it’s a good one!
Wishing y’all much funk, there’s no excuse for being cold, a dance is just a beat away ❤
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