The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tidal uplifts Georgia music with docuseries and billboards
‘Rising’ programs celebrate, magnify work of state’s emerging artists.
When Tom The Mail Man, a musician from Monroe, found out he was selected to be a part of a new program for Tidal, he thought it could’ve been a mistake.
“I was extremely surprised because normally I don’t think I’m the poster child for getting things made about me or getting a team to film things on me, so it was a lot, but just really cool,” he said. “I was kind of shocked, so I was like, ‘(They chose) lil ol’ me? Tom The Mail Man?’”
The 24-year-old genre-bending artist, who seamlessly oscillates between alternative rap and punk, is one of four Georgia artists featured in the latest installment of “Tidal Rising,” an ongoing initiative that celebrates and magnifies the work of emerging artists. “Tidal Rising: Georgia” marks the streaming service’s first time including an entire region in its “Rising” program.
“There’s so much different talent out in Georgia,” said Jason Kpana, Tidal’s senior vice president for artist and label relations. “Tidal has had a really great relationship especially with the city of Atlanta over the years, having hosted so many different events out there and supporting artists out there, especially rising artists. (We supported) a very young JID and did a docuseries on him early on. (With) Earthgang, we’ve supported through a tour with Bas very early on as well. The diversity in music that comes out of the state kind of parallels with the diversity of genres that we like to support through ‘Tidal Rising.’”
Kpana said the “Tidal Rising” program launched around the time of the platform’s inception in 2014. He said the program grants newer artists the opportunity to showcase their talent when they don’t have the support and resources from a major label.
Other artists highlighted in “Tidal Rising: Georgia” include indie rock band Lunar Vacation, neosoul songstress Sakura and rapper Swavay.
Lunar Vacation hails from Dunwoody, while Sakura and Swavay are based in Atlanta. Each artists receives their own episode on the platform, which officially launched last week, a billboard in downtown Atlanta and additional promotional and marketing support from Tidal.
Billboards for the artists were officially launched this week and can be seen at 75 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive SE until the middle of next month. Grace Repasky, the lead singer and guitarist for Lunar Vacation, said knowing Tidal valued their work while filming their episode of the docuseries made the entire experience more fulfilling.
“You can tell that they really knew a lot about us, and it wasn’t just surface level,” Repasky said. “I think they got a lot out of our answers, which was really nice. They came to my parents’ house and just took over. It was really cool. It was a fun day.”
Before recently moving to Decatur, the band lived at their parents’ homes while they were touring most of the year. The five-member act consists of Repasky, keyboardist Matteo Delurgio, drummer Connor Dowd, bassist Ben Wulkan and guitarist Maggie Geeslin. The group formed in 2016 while they attended St. Pius X Catholic High School in Chamblee.
Geeslin, 22, said the beauty of Tidal featuring Georgia for the “Rising” program is giving listeners a chance to understand the region’s music scene encompasses a variety of sounds.
“It’s pretty sprawling,“Geeslin said. “Atlanta is very spread out and not super easy to navigate. There’s all these different cool pockets and cool neighborhoods and scenes happening everywhere inside the city, in the burbs. We make any music, but obviously Atlanta is known for its hip-hop and R&B music, but it’s just a mixed bag of fun stuff. It doesn’t just have one sound, which I think is cool because there are so many flavors and things happening.”
For Tom The Mail Man, the partnership is an opportunity to show people that the sound of Georgia isn’t limited to Atlanta.
“For all of my life, I just watched the people around claim Atlanta, and you get clowned for claiming Atlanta if you didn’t grow up there or live there,” he said. “There are certain parts of Georgia that are considered Atlanta, and we weren’t considered Atlanta, and I was cool with that, but it almost feels like if you’re not Atlanta, then you’re not nothing. I didn’t want to keep feeling like that. And I know if I felt like that as a kid, then a lot of other kids felts like that, so if I can be a representation of something different and use my power for that, I think that’s the sickest way to do it.”
The artist, born Sean Brown, began making music when he was in eighth grade in his hometown, where he says there was no space for it. But after discovering new artists and music via a “fake I-pod Touch,” his interest in music never waned.
He’d be humbled if potential fans approach his music through the Tidal program in the same way. Although he’s made music for a decade, the financial challenges of being an independent artist often complicates the process of getting introduced to new listeners. Tom The Mail Man credits Tidal for giving him the proper exposure.
“If (people) do stumble across (my music) and they do find an interest in me and they take something away from it, all I can do is be grateful,” he said. “If you listen to the Tidal documentary and you find some inspiration or you find something in there for you to keep going, that’s sick. That’s sick that a piece of work did that. I wouldn’t say I necessarily have any hopes because I never thought I’d be on a billboard.”
All episodes in the “Tidal Rising: Georgia” docuseries can be viewed at tidal.com/rising.