Introducing Izaak Thomas: Rock and Metal Solo Artist from the UK

Introducing Izaak Thomas: Rock and Metal Solo Artist from the UK

Izaak Thomas is a 20-year-old independent solo rock/metal artist from London/Essex. The multi-instrumentalist is one hundred percent self-produced, blending sounds from modern Rock to pure Metalcore with elements of Electronica and EDM. Drawing inspirations from bands such as Linkin Park and Bad Omens, Izaak has amassed an impressive collection of tunes. At press time, Izaak just released an amazing cover of Atlantis by Seafret – placing the pedal to the metal with his own very unique interpretation of the song.  Originals such as insane, judas, and carousel are dynamic and memorable – destined to bring Izaak a good amount of attention well beyond the UK.  Highwire Daze recently interviewed Izaak Thomas to find out a whole lot more about the compelling artist on the rise…

We’re here with Izaak Thomas. First of all, Izaak, where are you based out of and what is your local music scene like there?
So I’m based in London/Essex in the UK. The music scene in London is pretty good. There are a lot of underground bands playing around in places like Camden and stuff. Yeah, not so much Essex, but London, yeah, it’s pretty good.

Prior to doing your solo music, what other bands or projects were you involved with?
I was in a band at this youth club in Essex, but that wasn’t really going anywhere. So I’ve always played music from when I was very young. When I was seven years old, I started playing bass guitar then that transitioned into guitar. Then, when I got into my teenage years, like 14, 15, I really wanted to start writing music and producing. So that’s what I dived into headfirst and have just been working on my craft a lot.

You’re 20 now, is that correct?
Yeah.

Let’s talk about some of the songs. What was the inspiration behind your current single insane, and how did the collaboration with lostboi come about?
The inspiration behind it is… sonically, it’s very, very much what I grew up on, like the nu metal – Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit type sound. Like a lot of music I made is very current metal, so I wanted to make a song that was just straight up like classic nu metal. So that’s sonically. Lyrically, it taps into more mental health awareness.  I always like to be brutally honest with my lyrics. The collaboration came about… he’s my friend. We were at university together, and we just decided to do a track together. Yeah, that’s it really.

I want to talk about a few of your other songs. judas, let’s talk about that and the inspiration behind it.
judas is definitely my heaviest song I’ve made. It’s very much inspired by bands like Bring Me the Horizon and Bad Omens, and it’s just a big, angry anthem. Lyrically, it taps into themes of betrayal. I like to make music that’s relatable to everyone, no matter what the song is. I feel like everyone can relate to judas in a way.

broken, tell me about that one.
broken is what I believe to be my best song. It’s got pretty much everything in it from a rock standpoint. It’s got new metalcore, emo electronica, so it got played on BBC Radio 1, which I was very happy about, and I just I’m very proud of it and I think it’s my strongest piece of work.

Then carousel, one of my favorite songs of yours. Tell me about that and the inspiration behind it.
Before that, my releases were quite slow before that. They’d be like a year apart, and my production wasn’t the best. I was 16 at the time. So, carousel came about when everything elevated; you can hear the production is so much better from the previous releases before that. I feel like carousel was the start to this new era that I’m in now. I’m proud of that song as well.

You have an EP out called a catastrophic ending that you released in 2021. First of all, let’s talk about that, the title, a catastrophic ending. What are you referring to?
It’s quite like a concept record. I just thought it sounded cool to be honest. But that EP, I made that when I was still in school. It was the first ever thing I put out officially at SoundCloud, stuff before, and that was the first piece of music that I uploaded to streaming services like Spotify. It was just everything I needed to get out in my teenage years. I just put it into that EP, and it’s personally not my favorite, but I am still very proud of it, and from how young I was doing it.  It’s always something to look back on.

Have you had a chance to play live yet? If so, what was the experience like?
That’s currently the process. That’s the next step. I have a full band ready except the drummer, so I’m looking out for a drummer. Then once I’ve got one, I’ve got quite a few contacts for live shows. So yeah, that would be the next step.

If you could open for any band, either now or from the past, who would it be and why?
That’s an easy one, Linkin Park. Just because they’re literally the reason I’m doing music now. It sounds cliche but genuinely are. If I hadn’t heard Linkin Park when I was seven years old, I don’t think I’d be sat here doing what I’m doing now. So yeah, definitely opening for Linkin Park would be an absolute dream come true, and I’m hoping one day that will happen.

You actually met Chester from Linkin Park? What was that experience like to meet Chester?
It was just the best. Still doesn’t even really feel real. It was 16 days before he passed away. It was in London. We saw him at the O2 the day before. I was 12 years old at the time, to put it into perspective, and they were playing Brixton the next day, and we managed to wait outside the venue because Brixton’s obviously a lot smaller than the O2 Arena. Yeah, we were lucky enough to meet. Waited five hours and it was an absolute dream come true.

If you were able to appear on a Linkin Park tribute album, what song would you do by Linkin Park, and why? If you could choose one song, what would it be?
That’s so hard. There’s two ways of looking at it because obviously I love their heavy stuff. It’s obviously the best, but then I love their melodic stuff as well, like Leave Out All The Rest and everything. I think if we’re talking heavy, I’d love to do Faint. If we’re talking softer, I’d love to do Waiting for the End. If I had to pick one, though, it would probably be Faint.

What do you think about the new vocalist of Linkin Park, and were you surprised?
I was surprised. I think she’s amazing. I think it’s great. I’m just happy that I get to go see my favorite songs played live again.

I’m going to go ahead and ask this question anyway since you’re from the UK. If King Charles invited you to play one song at a Royal Command Performance, what song would you do for the King and why?
It’s one that’s not out yet. It’s going to be out next month, I’m hoping. It’s an acoustic song, which might be a bit more appropriate for that setting. Well, maybe I’ll just play judas and just go full blast.

Izaak Thomas via Zoom!

What’s up next for you in the next few months? You mentioned a new single about to come out.
I’ve been working really hard on just getting as much music done as possible. I’ve got five new songs ready. I’m dropping the next one, hopefully at the end of the month. I’m editing a video for it right now. We filmed it yesterday. It’s a cover of an acoustic song, a well-known song. I can say it at Atlantis by Seafret. But I’ve rocked it up and everything, so it sounds like one of my songs. Then after that, there’ll be an acoustic song, then I’m dropping this rock/metal/hyperpop song, which I believe is one of my strongest, probably in August sometime. But yeah, just loads of new music.

You mentioned acoustic. Is that something maybe you’d like to do, is maybe an acoustic EP or maybe a few acoustic shows?
Yeah, 100%. I definitely want to do an acoustic EP. I feel like my voice suits acoustic very well. Obviously, I’ve done metal my whole life and everything. But yeah, I also love acoustic music, so yeah, definitely.

Do you have any messages for music fans who are reading this right now, who are discovering you for the first time?
Thanks for supporting, and stay tuned because there’s a lot of new music coming. I hope you can relate to the music because that’s one of the biggest goals for me when I’m writing and everything. Thank you so much. I appreciate you.

(Interview by Ken Morton)

Izaak Thomas on Instagram