Meet Tom from SORRY WE'RE NOT HIPSTERS

Meet Tom Norton. 

Tom is one of the founders of a dope ass collective called 

'Sorry We're Not Hipsters' and part of the duo of 

'Tom & Jarry' DJ's.

Tom has been a busy boy over the last few years with his DJing and recently the set up of his newest project which he is working on with Jarrad Bell (Tom & Jarry DJ's) and Bradley Rodgers (DJ).

I caught up with Tom to have a chat about the SWNH collective, what they do, whose involved, what's going on with Tom & Jarry DJ's and the big stuff that's yet to come from 'Sorry We're Not Hipsters'.

Hannah: Hey Tom, How are you? I see everything beens going pretty well for you lately How has 'Sorry We're Not Hipsters' been? What do you guys do? 

Tom: Hey Hannah, I'm good keeping super busy which is a good thing I guess. 

We are still only at the starting stage of the SWNH madness; there is a long road ahead of us. So I guess at the moment we are really just a bunch of mate's that all share a common passion for music & DJing. Our 'Five With' artist interviews have had some real good feedback & a massive positive response which is great. 

H: It’d great to hear. How did SWNH start? And who else is involved? 

T: I guess it all started about 1 year ago now. Created a Tumblr blog (which was the cool thing to do) & just posted music we liked and photos etc. We thought ‘Sorry We’re Not Hipsters’ would be a cool name which had a dig at the whole 'HIPSTER' trend, in fact I think its now pretty ironic as we now have the gold coast biggest hipster under our banner Brad Rodgers hahaha. 

With the help of my partner in crime Jarrad (other half of Tom & Jarry DJs) and also Brad we got the logo done (after 6months of hassling Jarrad to do it) and started this plan to take over the world. 

It's just grown since then now we have 6 other Artists part of this SWNH Collective including Bradley Rodgers, Matt Lapish, Jasti, Puss face killah, Jacko & recently joined 'A Purple Heart' who is one of the most underrated produces in Brisbane if not Australia.  

H: That’s incredible, you’ve really come such a long way in such a small amount of time, it will be interesting to hear how you progress down the track. Has starting SWNH helped you along with your DJing with Tom and Jarry DJ's or are you keeping them separate projects? How has Tom & Jarry been going?

T: I like to keep it separate, SWNH isn’t big enough yet to give our DJ careers a push yet I feel. Fingers crossed it wont be too long before it will help. Though we do enjoy promoting good music and other artists like ourselves that are out there having a go. We Both (Tom & Jarry) know how hard it was to crack the DJ scene as we have never had management or a booking artist we still do it all ourselves so to be able to help the collective out in times of need is cool. 

Tom & Jarry though has been going really well. We had a massive year last year and got some great exposure and played a lot of great gigs thanks to the guys at REDBULL who we have been working with a lot lately. They are massive supporters of us and we have been able to get some good opportunities with them through Splendour, Summafieldayze & St Kilda Fest that has led to other bookings now as well. 

H: It’s great to hear that both of your projects are developing well together and separately. Tom & Jarry DJ’s are getting some huge opportunities. I hear you worked with upcoming DJ's like Charlie who HW Collective interviewed, how was that and are you working with anyone else?

T: Working with Charlie was a good experience. Seeing how much clubs & various venue promoters wanted a 'Hot Girl DJ' was crazy. She hadn't put out any mixes or hardly any music social but still had a shit load of people wanting to book her. I guess that's where we came in and helped her got her some training and over saw a couple little mini mixes we help with. We're currently just working on a lot of new stuff for Tom & Jarry DJs and improving our sets as well as Puss Face Killah, he has such an awesome ear for good music. We don't exactly go out hunting for new artists, if they're cool and the fit our collective and they want us to help them out we're just stoked to get to work with them and gain the experience we get from each different person. 

H: Nice, it’s refreshing to see people helping each other out and not being so competitive. You have a new installment on SWNH called 'Five with..'. You've interviewed, to name a few, What So Not, Sampology, Motez, Laces, Paces, and a bunch more; who has been your most interesting interview with? 

T: That's really hard they are all so different and have something funny or weird to say. We kept them short and to the point so they are an easy read but you still get a look into their world as when we first started that's all the stuff I wanted to know and watch endless videos of different artists scratching or doing tutorials or whatever. 

H: What can we expect next? More contributors? More epic shows? Bigger names? Let us in on what's on the cards for 'Sorry We're Not Hipsters'?

T: The plan is for world domination!!!!!

We have a few bigger Artists we want to interview & throw our first SWNH party which isn't too far away I might say...

Plus we have been working on some merch for the label so that will hit the website shortly as well! 

H: Everything sounds incredible. It’s refreshing to hear a collective really putting their skills to work. We can’t wait to hear when the party will be, as I’ll definitely be making a trip home to celebrate and get my hands on some dope merch. From Hannahwake Collective, I’d love to wish you the best with everything. Can’t wait to see where you’re at in the next few years!

To see what the hype is for yourself check out the boys page here!

To show them some love on facebook visit here.

Enjoy Dope Bitchez,

Love Hannah.