Singer-Songwriter, Elements Music Publishing
Tomi Saario began his professional musical journey at the very end of 2019 when, after a bidding war between the three major labels, he signed to Sony Music Germany to release his debut EP ‘I Think We Need To Talk…’. This body of work introduced Saario as both a compelling storyteller and an artist with an innate knack for writing pop hooks. The melodies and choruses he makes burrow into your heart and mind and take up residence there. Those traits are unsurprising when you learn that Saario has been playing guitar since he was five years old, when his uncle (Timo Kiiskinen) and his father bought him an acoustic guitar and taught him to play rock and roll riffs.
At age seven, Saario discovered a genre that would be fundamental to his songwriting in later years. “I heard Stevie Ray Vaughan and that’s when I fell in love with blues music,” he says, listing John Mayer and D’Angelo as other important influences. “I love writing pop melodies and songs but having a backbone of something soulful and bluesy is where the real magic happens for me.”
Saario left his home in the south of Finland and headed to one of the music capitals of the world – London. Once there, he didn’t expect things to just fall into his lap. He gigged relentlessly, playing over 1000 shows in four years, turning up at any Open Mic night that would have him. “I would recommend Open Mics to everybody because it’s so freaking uncomfortable,” he says, explaining that the crowd is made up of people who really pay attention and aren’t afraid to share their brutally honest feedback once you’re finished. “It’s been a massive help and when I play bigger shows it is always something I draw inspiration from. If you can create that conversational connection with everybody there, you can do it anywhere”.
Photo: Max Motel