Name: Bailey Tomkinson & The Locals
Interviewee: Bailey Tomkinson
Nationality: British
Recent release: Bailey Tomkinson & The Locals's new single “Supermoon” is out now via Wipe Out.
Global Recommendation: I’m from St Ives, Cornwall, UK, I mean the surf on Porthmeor beach!! Get in and when you get out have a nice cold beer at West Beach.
Topic that I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: For ages it was music from the 70s, I didn’t know anyone who liked the music I loved and was under the age of 50 lol! But when Daisy Jones & The Six came out a younger audience and generation discovered my favourite music, I think that’s partially why we’re compared the band so much (that and my partner being in the band) which is really awesome, because I love the idea of music living on and young people appreciating the same art as me.
I also really love film photography and videography, I always thought that if I hadn’t found singing and writing, I would have done something that felt  emotional through visuals. I collect film cameras and I have a super 8 camera that’s out for repair at the moment, I make most of our visual content and posters - which is a good thing that I enjoy it because we’re independent and don’t have an infinite budget!
 
If you enjoyed this Bailey Tomkinson & The Locals interview and would like to stay up to date with their music, visit Bailey's official homepage. She is also on Instagram, Facebook, and tiktok.
 


Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in writing lyrics or poetry? How and when did you start writing?

I’ve been writing lyrics and poetry since I was about 6 years old.

My mum writes poetry and I always had MTV on so songwriting came very naturally to me, it wasn’t until I was around 11 years old that I started to perform my own material and share what I had to say with the world!

Entering new worlds and escapism through music and literature have always exerted a very strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to writing?

I am a bit of an escapism addict, to be honest. Music, books, films, surf sessions—anything that lets me step out of real life for a minute has always pulled me in.

Storytelling is the common thread. If a song does not drop me into a scene the way a good film does, I lose interest pretty fast.

That is why my first single, “Hey Ace,” is laced with little nods to Gilmore Girls; I wrote it while binge-watching the show and feeling like Stars Hollow was the perfect little universe to hide in for three minutes.



The same thing happened with “Can’t Lose.” I was re-watching How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, heard Kate Hudson say, “You can’t lose something you never had,” and thought, That line is a chorus.

When people on TikTok worked out the movie reference the song blew up, which proved how much listeners love a story they can picture.



Escapism also shows up in quieter ways: a guitar riff that feels like driving the Pacific Coast Highway, or a lyric that smells like a second-hand bookshop.

Whatever the form, I chase that moment when a song opens a door and everyone gets to walk through it with me.

What were some of the artists and albums which inspired you early on purely on the strength of their lyrics? What moves you in the lyrics of other artists?

Taylor Swift was obviously very influential to me in my early days and so was Miley Cyrus. Something that I really love about “Supermoon” is that I think you can really hear my pop-influence in this song compared to some of my more folk-rock leaning stuff.

I listened to A LOT of country music growing up, which is very lyric heavy, I loved all the older songs by artists like John Denver, Eagles and Deana Carter.

When I was in my teens this moved more to artists like Carole King, Bruce Springsteen and Joni Mitchell - all these artists have the same things in common, the importance of words.

Have there been song lyrics which actually made you change (aspects of) your life? If so, what do you think, leant them that power?

Carole King’s “Tapestry” knocked me sideways the first time I heard it, and one section still rings in my head:

In times of deepest darkness
I’ve seen him dressed in black
Now my tapestry’s unravelling
He’s come to take me back.

Those four lines made me look at songwriting—and at my own life—differently.



They taught me that a lyric can carry a whole cinematic universe in just a handful of words. The image of a figure appearing in “deepest darkness,” tugging on the threads of your life, felt so vivid that I started chasing that level of storytelling in my own writing.

It pushed me to weave hidden meanings into my songs, to let metaphor do some of the talking, and to trust that listeners would feel the weight even if they could not explain it straight away.

That single moment of hearing Carole describe her “tapestry” unravelling convinced me that honest vulnerability and precise imagery together have the power to shift someone’s perspective—mine included.

It is sometimes said that “music begins where words end.” What do you make of that?

I picture that moment when the feelings get too big for sentences. Sometimes I will sit with my journal and realise that no line I write is strong enough for what I am feeling, so I close the book, pick up my guitar, and let the chords speak. A melody can break your heart or lift you up in a way a paragraph never could.

Think about the solo in “November Rain.”

There are no lyrics in that section, yet the notes carry all the grief and longing of the story. You could play it to someone who has never heard English in their life and they would still feel the sadness. That is the magic.



Music is a language of pure emotion. When words stop making sense or start getting in the way, the music steps forward and says, “I’ve got this.”
 
I have always considered many forms of music to be a form of poetry as well. Where do you personally see similarities? What can music express which may be out of reach for poetry?

I’ve always seen the two go hand in hand, there wouldn’t be lyrics without poetry, because of rhyme, vulnerability and emotion.

Music can sonically express a feeling without words, chords can do that, a string section playing with minors can do that – I think of it like this: lyrics are there to tell us how someone is feeling, music is there to show us.

The relationship between words and music has always intrigued me. How do you see it? In how far can music take you to places with your writing you would possibly not have visited without it?

If you’re someone with a wild imagination, music with lyrics is everything to you. It’s a movie in your head and it can help you imagine feelings you haven’t felt, teach you empathy, a deeper understanding of the world and people.

I’ve never been to route 66 but when I listen to America, I feel like I’m there; I listen to Neil Young and will cry over a breakup I’m not going through

What are areas/themes/topics that you keep returning to in your lyrics?

I circle back to three big themes, I guess.  Love, the way the world treats people, and the little emotions no one likes to admit.

A lot of my songs sit in that sweet spot where everyday feelings meet bigger questions. “Supermoon” is a good example—it zooms in on a tiny flicker of guilt most of us feel and turns it into something we can all sing.

“7 Minutes in Heaven” was just a bit of fun really but the on the flip-side there’s “Bright Red,” which came out of anger over a development that threatened our coastline and how the people of Cornwall were not benefitting from the money generated by Cornwall.



I wrote it on a bedroom floor, and next thing I knew the BBC and even the Financial Times were calling. That taught me a song can punch well above its weight when you channel real-world injustice into it.

Whether I am talking about heartbreak, environmental politics, or just a bruised ego, I want every lyric to feel familiar enough that someone hears it and thinks, “Yes, that’s exactly how it feels.”

On the basis of "Supermoon," tell me about how the lyrics grew into their final form and what points of consideration were.

“Supermoon” is the most care-free song I’ve released, it’s “not that deep” lol. The song came from a universal feeling, guilt. Something people don’t like writing about because guilt is a feeling we try to push down, it’s relatable and funny.

I’m singing about something a lot of people don’t like to admit they do in a relationship, window shop. It’s natural and harmless, Brad Pitt passes you in the street, are you going to ignore him? Probably not, but you’re in a loving relationship and you feel bad for thinking he’s cute.

The song was really fun and fast to write, the lyrics came first and my band made the sound flirty and fun to reflect on them.
 
Do you tend to start writing with what will be the first line of the finished lyrics? The chorus? At a random point? What are the words that set the process in motion?

Quite often I start with a word I love, like with “Chrysalis.” I’m a Libra and aesthetics are very important to me aha!



I feel like I’m drawn to a lot of music that has a visual title or something that’s quite clever like “Hungry Heart” by Bruce Springsteen or “Leather & Lace” by Stevie Nicks, titles that would make cool slogan tees!

If I’m sitting myself down to write, I sometimes start from there but also sometimes words pour out of me and the song names itself.

I'd love to know how you think the meaning or effect of an individual song is enhanced, clarified or possibly contradicted by the EPs, or albums it is part of. Does the song, for example, need to be consistent with the larger whole?

I think every project needs a thread you can feel, even if you cannot point to it and say, “That is the theme.” It might be the production choices tying the tracks together, or the way the lyrics all stare at the same horizon from different angles.

When I build an EP I picture a short film: each song is a scene, but the colour-grade, pacing, and mood stay consistent so the whole thing plays as one story. That does not mean every track must sound identical. A song that bends the rules a little can be the spark that keeps the listener awake.

On “California Fire” we paired brighter folk-leaning moments with darker heartland rock, yet they share the same restless coastal energy I was feeling at the time.



If a song does not fit the picture, if it feels like it wandered in from a different movie, I park it for another release. Otherwise, you end up with that “Now That’s What I Call …” compilation vibe where nothing speaks to each other.

I want listeners to press play and feel they have stepped into one world, each track deepening the next, even when the colours shift along the way.

When you're writing song lyrics, do you sense or see a connection between your voice and the text? Does it need to feel and sound “good” or “right” to sing certain words? What's your perspective in this regard of singing someone else's songs versus your own?

Absolutely. My voice and the lyric have to snap together like two bits of Lego or I am not happy.

I work a lot with near-rhymes rather than perfect ones, because they let the words land in a more natural way when I sing. Syllables need to fall in the right pockets, and certain vowels just feel better to hold on a high note. I sometimes worry I overthink it, but that nerdy syllable-counting side is part of who I am as a writer.

With my own songs I can keep polishing until every line sits right in my throat. When I sing someone else’s work I do not have that freedom, so I focus on finding the emotion that fits my tone and phrasing. It is like borrowing a jacket: it might not be tailored for me, but if I roll the sleeves and own the style it can still look good.

Some writers thrive on straightforward phrases; others, like me, lean into poetic twists. The trick is knowing what each song needs and choosing the words that serve that goal, whether they are clever, simple, or something in between.

I would love to know a little about the feedback you've received from listeners or critics about what they thought some of your songs are about – have there been “misunderstandings” or did you perhaps even gain new “insights?”

I’ve been pretty lucky to have an audience that get my lyrics, songs like “Silent suffering,” “I Wish” and “Bright Red” are poetic lyrics around very universal feelings, that’s why quite often if someone is telling me they’ve related to one of my songs it’s these ones.



If anyone is questioning a lyric it’s someone close to me, very rarely someone outside my 4 walls, it’s someone who’s worried I’m trying to be clever over being relatable, that’s when I re-think and edit my songs before the studio

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing song lyrics or poetry is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

It’s all about communication right? Being able to say the thing you’re really feeling in a bigger-picture kind of way.

Hitting the nail on the head, this is my way of expressing that.