This British Designer Conquered Alcoholism — And Now He’s Set His Sights On The Pop Music Charts
Now that singer/songwriter Tom Cridland conquered alcoholism, he’s setting his sights on the pop charts of the music world. Starting in 2015, the 28-year-old British fashion designer was able to haul in millions of Euros annually from his clothing brand, despite being a functioning alcoholic. Cridland’s exploits are documented on his recent social media posts, which detail numerous embarrassing drunken episodes — from traveling from pub to pub in London carrying a pig’s head, to coming to blows with those he insulted, resulting in a trip to the hospital.
Now that he sees life in a new way, Cridland readily admits the quandary he was in as he used alcohol to treat his symptoms of depression. “There’s a lot of stuff out there in life to enjoy as well,” he says. “And I’ve watched people self-medicating all the time and it horrifies me.”
Motivated by love for his girlfriend and business partner Deborah Marx, and inspired by the music he adores, Cridland is releasing a single a week on all streaming platforms as well as touring the United States in a massive effort to break the top ten. The first three singles have already dropped, and will continue for an indefinite period. The tunes hearken back to the days when melody was the defining element of a song, and will evoke a variety of genres, from disco to hard rock and even hip hop.
The tunes are decidedly catchy, though Cridland says that’s due to his love for great popular songs. “I’m not trying to be commercial like selling a product,” he says, “this is still a labor of love, but at the same time, you know, I want to make music that excites people and gets them dancing and gets them emotional.”
In addition to the singles, Cridland plans to release mix tapes of other original material, with titles including “The Last True Rock Star,” and “Instagram Storyteller.” “It’s likely that we’ll sort of like have the singles,” he says, “the batch of songs that we’ve done now, we’ll probably run singles till April, one per week, and then we’ll probably release three records. Again, I’ll probably make some music every few months and release it.”
After the U.S. tour, Cridland intends to bring his band everywhere else in the world, in an ongoing effort. Cridland’s band features Robbie Blake, guitar, Jim Baldock, keyboard, Dinho Barral, bass, and Paulo Romero, drums. Management is by Deborah Marx and Cridland’s childhood pal Henry Ferrari.
Despite seeing the horrors of alcoholism from a first person perspective, Cridland says he doesn’t begrudge anyone the right to indulge. “There’s another side to that,” he says. “If people can enjoy a few beers, that’s really good. I think there’s more to life than being a straight-laced psychopath like me.”
