The Songwriter Speaks: Tom Hamilton of Go Nova

Tom Hamilton of Liverpool, England leads the NYC rock trio Go Nova. The band made its New York debut at the Bowery Electric in July and released its first single, an electric ripper called “Feed Me,” on October 16, also his birthday. Hamilton plays John Lennon in Liverpool’s Mean Mr. Mustard tribute band, and plays early R&B covers from The Beatles’ “amphetamine-fueled” club era in another project called Savage Young Beatles. Here, Hamilton speaks from Liverpool on his hometown scene, draws on influences from 1970s New York punk, and speaks of the plans and origins of Go Nova, which features aliases for singer/guitarist Hamilton as Tommy Nova, Joan Chew on bass as Jonesy Nova and Hitomi Nakamura on drums as Tomi Nova.

What's the first song that you ever wrote?

Ehm, it was a song called, I think it's called “Shake Me Girl.” There is a recorded version [laughs]. It’s on YouTube with my band I was in at school, called The 45s. There's a music video and everything. And the chorus is completely stolen from a song off The Jam's first album. I can't remember what that song’s called, but it’s Shake my heart, shake my soul, I just go crazy when I rock and roll, it's an exact, exact rip-off.

Well that's a good technique of learning how to write. Copy someone, change it up a little bit.

Yes, the Gallagher's technique, Oasis.

Growing up in Liverpool, which, you're there now?

Yeah, I’m in my attic.

In New Jersey, I think I'm in a similar place as you where Bruce Springsteen is kind of everywhere, a beloved figure to pretty much everyone. So I'm curious about Liverpool, if The Beatles stuff is ubiquitous and overbearing at all, or if it's a more natural and comfortable thing there?

I don't mind seeing it a lot because they're my favorite band. But I'm about five streets over from the house that George Harrison was born in. So I see the Magical Mystery Tour bus every day. But, it's not in your face. There's lots of statues and stuff like that, and there's museums you can go to. But it's more the football here that's really in your face. There's loads of stuff, like free Beatles museums, the Cavern Club, the Casbah. It's not, I wouldn't say it's overbearing, no. It's just the right level.

You play John Lennon in Mean Mr. Mustard. And his birthday is tomorrow, interestingly [October 9, 1940].

Mine's the week after.

Oh, happy birthday then. So, and I saw that you were, I don't know if discovered is the right word, but you got discovered at The Cavern Club playing something and were able to join Mean Mr. Mustard that way. Is that how it worked?

I was doing Mean Mr. Mustard covers in lockdown, just Beatles covers. I kind of rediscovered my love for them and made like a full band, full covers of the songs, where I played everything myself. And then I was also busking in Liverpool on the street because all the venues had shut. And one of the owners of The Cavern saw me playing and offered me a gig. And when I went to do the gig, he didn't realize I was also the person he'd seen on the internet. So I started playing there like three or four times a week, just acoustically on my own, and then I bumped into a guy called Rick Alan, who formed The Cavern Beatles. And I said, if you're ever looking for a John, let me know. And he took my number and then about six months later, he just phoned me at like ten in the evening and said, "Do you still want to be a Beatle?" I was like, "Yeah." And he went, "Right, yeah, you start next week." So, I've been touring with Mean Mr. Mustard for over three years now.

And I see you've also got the Savage Young Beatles, which I like how it says it focuses on their amphetamine-fueled, pre-fame club circuit era. What are the most fun songs to play of that cohort, the most technically interesting or complicated songs to play? If I might suggest one, maybe “Some Other Guy” is up there, if you guys play that one [cover of Richie Barrett].

Yeah, that's a very fun one to do. I love all of them from that era because I feel like there's so much mystery around it, cause there's no like proper recorded footage. It's quite exciting. But I really like playing “I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You),” and “Red Hot” as well is a really good one. “Long Tall Sally,” “The Sheik of Araby,” “Bésame Mucho.” I pretty much love every song in that set. They’re just really, really fun to play. And, they’re all three chords so you can play when you're drunker, which is good.

Or if you're on amphetamines too, I suppose.

Yeah, yeah. We don't go that accurate, but.

Yeah, you'd be playing quite fast. Last Beatle question. We're sixty years on from Beatle Mania at this point. What is the aftershow experience like? Do you ever get any odd requests from fans that think you're John Lennon or something?

[Laughs] You get a few people who find your social media and they kind of reach out to you, but I suppose that's quite nice. I've done a few meet and greets. I think they're really awkward because I'm not actually John Lennon. I've got like curly hair under the wig, and then they see me and they're like… But no, you get some weirdos, but you get weirdos everywhere. But nothing that stands out.

All right, coming into New York City now. So I think you'll be moving there at some point. Is that the plan?

Maybe. Depends how it goes. We'll be back in the new year, most likely.

And I think with Go Nova, so you've got yourself, Tommy Nova, you've got other Tomi Nova, and Jonesy Nova, which harkens back to The Ramones or some other bands, like Ween even, where they adopt these aliases. So I feel like that's a throwback to a different era of music. Does that do anything for you, give a little edge on stage, when you're performing or when you're writing, to have a little persona-slash-alias for the band? Inhabit the character or something?

I've never really thought about it like that, because it wasn't my idea, but I like the idea and I think I will do that from now on. I'll create Tommy Nova. That sounds fun.

Let me ask about [the next single] “Personality Crisis.” That is also the name of the most famous song by the New York Dolls [from 1973]. Is that an homage to them in any way?

Yeah, I was listening to a lot of them at the time. A lot of them and the MC5 [from Detroit], so it's kind of like me trying to write a New York Dolls, MC5-esque thing.

That along with “Feed Me” [out October 16], both songs are very energetic. I think you express a lust for life with these songs and lyrics. I know “Feed Me” was recorded in New York and then finished in Liverpool. Where did that all come together and get written?

Yeah, we recorded the bass and drums in New York, I think it was Long Island. I can't remember that. I'm not too good with the geography of it. And then I came back literally the day after I got back, I was in a studio called the Motor Museum in Liverpool, which is where Oasis recorded their first single, Arctic Monkeys recorded their first album there. And yeah, spent like five days putting all the tuned instruments and the backing vocals on it basically.

And the lyrics for it, you know, it's talking about you want it all, you want it now, you don't care how. Is that kind of where you and the band are at? You want to tackle this new band era, write exciting music, play a lot of shows.

Yeah, I think it could be interpreted like that. I was kind of singing it from someone else's perspective, kind of like, the greedier people in the world, and we’re not going to name any names [laughs].

You mentioned a couple of punk bands. Do you have any favorites from the 1970s punk scene in New York that used to play around CBGB, same blocks as Bowery Electric nowadays? You’ve got Television, Ramones, Talking Heads, Blondie…

I love the Talking Heads, Ramones, Blondie, all that kind of thing. And New York Dolls, slightly earlier.

I was going to ask if you would rather be a Beatle in Hamburg in 1962, or a New York Doll in 1973 in New York City, which would you choose, but honestly, you kind of get to do both as it is, so I’m not sure. What do you think?

Yeah, I'd have to say a Beatle in Hamburg. But New York Dolls is very close second. And I'd have to wear high heels and a dress and stuff. I don't really want to do that, I'd rather wear the leather. It's more comfortable.

I know you like the mod stuff as well. You ever shop at Sherry's in London?

Yeah, I used to go there when I was a kid. I think when I got into all the mod things when I was like 12, I found out what Carnaby Street was and I made my dad take me. And then when my first band got a little bit successful, we got a bit of money, we all did a trip down to London on the train and bought suits from Sherry's.

How did the Go Nova group form for the three of you?

This was a guy called Jon Weiss’s idea, really. He's been following me since I was 15 I suppose. And it was his idea to do the Savage Young Beatles. He got us over there. And then, he was pushing me to get back into my original music, and he was like, “I found a band, if you want to come over and give it a shot." And I was like, "Yeah? Might as well." And that was basically it. Met them once, did a rehearsal, and was like, "Yeah, let’s do it.”

You had the show in July at Bowery Electric. Do you have any more setup over here?

There's nothing booked in at the moment, but there will be soon.

What's your fall looking like, a couple releases and playing with the other groups, Beatles?

Yeah, we're going to release a couple of songs and then I'm going to Norway next week, and then Holland, and then Belgium, Germany, and then I'll be in Finland for a bit, I think.

Sounds fun.

It'll be very cold [he says dryly].

You can purchase Go Nova’s debut single, “Feed Me,” via Bandcamp. To keep up with the project, give them a follow on Instagram.