A background...
"Sometimes I wish Welsh was the lingua Franca so that people could understand what we're on about! Then I think.... nah! Translating songs, or poetry, from Welsh to English can sometimes feel like pruning a rose bush in summer."
Winner of Cân i Gymru 2012, with Phil Lee Jones (Song for Wales, S4C)
Gai is a winner of 10 BBC Radio Cymru RAP awards
Since 2007, Gai Toms has performed and recorded using his own name, ditching the ‘Mim Twm Llai’ (3 albums on Crai / Sain) pseudonym to kick off this new phase. His latest release is a Welsh language eco-concept album ‘Rhwng y Llygru a’r Glasu’ (July 2008) recorded using the most sustainable means possible and a drum kit made of reclaimed junk. Welsh TV company – Cwmni Da filmed a documentary to follow the process.
Gai loves to experiment with different ways of performing and recording depending on the nature of the song. He is a talented self-taught musician with the guitar as his main instrument. People have compared Gai’s early material to Welsh legend Meic Stevens, and lately has been described as the ‘Welsh Tom Waits’... though Gai is quite comfortable in his own shoes by now! Gai’s musical influences range from Welsh folk, Waitsian Americana and lashings of pop, rock and latino/caribbean grooves to stir it all up! Gai is always exploring new styles and concepts.
Gai Toms (Gareth Thomas) was born in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales (UK) in 1976. Brought up in the village of Tanygrisiau near the slate town of Blaenau Ffestiniog in the heart of Snowdonia. Son of lorry / bus driver Meurig (Mim Twm), and school caretaker Gwenda Thomas, younger brother of Elaine (also backing singer). Elaine inspired him to play the guitar, but he taught himself with a chord book and a healthy dose of good music to listen to!
His passion for songwriting started at the age of 14 at Ysgol y Moelwyn (school), Blaenau Ffestiniog when he co-formed the band 'Anweledig' (Invisible) with Michael Jones and Rhys Roberts (Sibrydion) on Boxing Day 1992. Anweledig went on to be Wales' most 'amazing party band' during late 90's early 00'! They have disbanded now, but all members are still contributing to various musical projects.
Press / Tech Spec
Click to download a Press Pack. The pack contains information and images (high & low resolution).
Click to download the stage plan.
Discography
Click on an album title to download the lyrics in PDF format. Adobe Reader must be installed to view the file. The application is available free of charge at www.adobe.com.
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2008 | Rhwng y Llygru a'r Glasu(album) / Label: sbensh |
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2006 | Yr Eira Mawr (album) as Mim Twm Llai. / Label: Crai |
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2005 | Straeon y Cymdogion (album) as Mim Twm Llai. / Label Crai |
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2004 | Byw(ep) as Anweledig. / Label: Rasal |
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2002 | O'r Sbensh (album) as Mim Twm Llai. / Label: Crai |
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2001 | Gweld y Llun(album) as Anweledig. / Label: Crai |
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2001 | Low Alpine(ep) as Anweledig. / Label: Crai |
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2000 | Scratchy(ep Collaboration with Zion Train) as Anweledig. / Label: Crai |
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1999 | Cae yn Nefyn(ep) as Anweledig. / Label: Crai |
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1998 | Sombreros yn y Glaw(album) as Anweledig. / Label: Crai |
Crai and Rasal releases are available from www.sainwales.com
Praise
Review: Planet, The Welsh Internationalist. Issue 192. / Dec 08 / by Iwan Llwyd
A Clean Slate?
Although the influence of the north Wales quarries and their culture - ironically so alien to the quarryowners themselves - has declined rapidly over the last half century, this recent release shows the continuing influence of quarry communities. Rhwng y Llygru a'r Glasu (Between the Ages of Polluting and Renewing, www.sbensh.com £11.99) is singer-songwriter Gai Toms' first fully fledged solo album. Gai has been prominent in the Welsh rock scene over the last 16 years, first as a leading member of the Blaenau Ffestiniog based Ska Rock band - Anweledig, and his second incarnation as Mim Twm Llai. His latest offering is an eco-concept album, reflecting not only his concerns about the effects of man's industrial activities on his hometown, but also the wider effects of global warming in 'Llosgi' (Burn), homelesness in 'Cardotyn' (Tramp) and waht the future holds for the next generation in 'Fy Mab' (My Son).
The album was mostly self-produced by Gai himself using clean energy at his home in the mountains of north Wales, and it is packaged with recycled material. The musical material ranges from quiet, lyrical acoustic songs to witty musical contradictions suach as inferno blues guitar, backed by a recycled drum kit to create his own unique statements about the world of today and of tomorrow. Once again Gai toms has made an important contribution not only to the Welsh musical scene, but also to much wider social and political debates.
Review: The Ecologist. Dec / Jan 09 / by Eifion Rees
Rhwng Y Llygru a'r Glasu: Album www.sbensh.com £11.99 ... 'It's not me who's going to save the world, it's up to all of us', sings Gai Toms - through half a salvaged canoe. The Welsh singer's new eco album is all about spreading the word on the enviroment in the greenest way possible. He does it using a drum kit made of plastic and scrap metal, local North Wales studio facilities powered by clean energy, recycled CD packaging and intelligent lyrics with a green bent. The 13 songs on Rhwng y Llygru a'r Glasu are heartfelt and powerful, and Toms could choose no more fittingly ironic a medium for pleading, cajoling and shaming us into cleaning up our act than dirty rock'n'roll. Da iawn wir.
