Toby Sebastian: Oxford and Orange Unsigned Act

Exclusive Interview with Youngest Remaining Competition Finalist

Dec 19, 2008

Toby Sebastian responds to Lauren Laverne, and chats about creative processes, Oxford music, and the big break that is Orange Unsigned Act in this exclusive interview.

Toby Sebastian, the youngest remaining Orange Unsigned Act Competition contender, continues to impress audiences and judges alike with his simple brand of homegrown acoustic melodies. He could well be this year's unsigned act winner, taking the coveted record deal with Universal and a £60,000 advance.

Suite 101 caught up with Toby just before Christmas as he played a chilled-out, stripped-down acoustic set with sister Bella at the new Cafe Coco in his hometown, Oxford.

Oxford Music and the Student Buzz, Radiohead's Footsteps

Suite 101: So Toby, home for you is Oxford. What do you feel about the city? I imagine the student crowd could be a tough one to get started with for a new singer songwriter.

Toby: I think Oxford city is great, the music scene. It’s small, it’s warm, most of the time, it’s pretty much friendly. I think Oxford’s got a great buzz. I haven’t seen many places that have a buzz like this. It’s small enough to get a nice gathering of people who enjoy music, and who aren’t just coming out for a p£$%-up. They’re coming out to listen to the music and that’s the most important thing to me. I love playing here at Cafe Coco, it's chilled out and such a nice venue.

Suite 101: Last time I saw you play was at The Jericho Tavern, a venue that has seen the likes of Radiohead, Supergrass, and loads of others launch their careers. You’ve almost taken a bite of musical history by performing there haven’t you?

Toby: Some great acts have come out of Oxford. Supergrass, the Candyskins, Radiohead, it’s a great feeling. It’s also quite scary following in their footsteps of these major superstars, but it’s definitely encouraging!

Creative Processes, How to Write a Song

Suite 101: Let’s talk a little bit about your creative processes. Say you’re feeling inspired and you sit down and want to write something. What happens next?

Toby: A lot of the time I’ll come up with a guitar piece, and then whatever I’m thinking about, whatever I’m feeling, just comes out in my words. It doesn’t always flow brilliantly or even quickly. Sometimes it takes me hours, or even months to finish a song. But then at other times it takes me half an hour or 5, 10 minutes. I think it’s all about the timing and how you’re feeling. I can’t rush a song. I don’t write songs for other people, so I would never rush a song. It’s really hard trying to rush one, because you’re pushing emotions that you don’t really feel. You’re searching for feelings that aren’t real. It would be like lying.

Lauren Laverne and Songs About Girls

Suite 101: In one of the recent Orange Unsigned Act TV shows Lauren Laverne asked you something along the lines of, ‘what are you doing writing songs about girls, you’re sixteen!’ Is there anything you’d like to say in response?

Toby: I don’t think it was a very mature or wise comment. It doesn’t really make sense. I don’t know why you would say something like that. It’d be like saying how can you write about life, it’s just ridiculous because no matter how old you are you can write about whatever you want. I think my emotions are just as strong as an 18 or 20 year old, it depends on the person not their age. Maybe it’s the case that I’m more mature than other people might be at 16. I think that at the time she was trying to pick on something, anything about me and she just chose my age, because that’s an obvious one.

Performing Under Pressure

Suite 101: What are you learning from playing under that kind of pressure? Because you’re literally singing for survival each performance aren’t you?

Toby: I’ve learnt a lot: playing in front of people each week, crowds, judges and cameras. Emotions run really high; at the end of the day you feel emotionally drained. You feel like you’ve been beaten up. I can’t even bring myself to go out because I feel so rubbish, even though I’ve got through.

Toby: Because there’s a million interviews, each one taking 20 minutes. And you want to go and get ready to perform but you can’t. It’s all so in your face. Cameras are there, every two minutes! But then you get on with it, because at the end of the day you are being offered a great opportunity.

Orange Unsigned Act continues on Channel 4’s T4 on Sundays throughout December. Live finals will take place in January.