Curating Your Online Presence with Tommyphyll

Rosalyn: Hello and welcome to Refolkus. Our guest today is Tommyphyll. Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, now based in Canada, Tommyphyll is an Afrobeats innovator, crafting a sound that transcends borders. Coining the term Afrodiem to define his unique fusion of Afrobeats to 80’s synth pop and classical music.

Tommyphyll blends futuristic electronic textures with deep rooted tribal percussion, creating anthems of empowerment, unity and self-discovery. Since his professional debut in 2018, Tommyphyll has remained an independent [00:01:00] force producing all his own music and pushing creative boundaries. His 2020 self-produced debut album laid the foundation for a sonic journey that has taken him to multiple live performances, including a standout halftime show at the Winnipeg Sea Bears before an audience of 7,000. More than just an artist, Tommyphyll is a cultural bridge waving together his Aruba heritage with modern and futuristic influences. His lyrics, often introspective and spiritually conscious, speak to resilience, joy, and the unbreakable will of the human spirit. He envisions his fan base. The infiltrators as a warrior family, a movement of individuals who find strength in music and their joint desire to break barriers in spaces they have been denied and as latest ep.

Love Me Like The First Day is out now. Welcome, Tommyphyll. How are you doing?

Tommyphyll: I am fine. Thank you.

Rosalyn: I've been very excited to chat with you. Folks that are familiar with the Folk Music Ontario Conference may also remember you from your involvement there, patrolling our, [00:02:00] showcases. And, it's always such a pleasure to get to work with you in that capacity as well. But we're here to talk about the online community that you've created and this online presence, and I wanted to start off right off the hop. By asking you about the Inphylltrators, and I wish, you know, it's a podcast so people can see, we'll write it in the show notes. It's infiltrators with from Tommyphyll looks quite good. What inspired you to even come up with the idea of, kind of naming, your own kind of community and fan base? What about that was appealing to you and then how did the Inphylltrators come about?

Tommyphyll: So, I've been a big fan of, just the concept of having and knowing a community. You know, being able to identify your own people in a crowd, you know, think about it like how you go somewhere and you're just like, okay, yeah, based off this day, this person listens to this and this person's music. I was like, okay, this sounds very interesting and in a sense it's [00:03:00] almost like the community outside.

What I wanted was like the community outside of me would be able to be like. Make friends connect with each other. It's oh my God, you're an infiltrator. You listen to this music, blah, blah, blah, blah. What was your best album? You know? That was all I envisioned. So that it's easier for people to connect. And then when we go to the concerts as well, like everybody who buys tickets to the shows also just kind of feels this sense of belonging, you know? 'cause like just leaving it To the wind and not having anything that kind of defines everybody, like all the people who listen to my music, I feel like I didn't want to get lazy with it, so I might as well just just do something and it stuck.

Rosalyn: That's so neat. did you pull people or did you just come up with it and you're like, this is what you guys are

Tommyphyll: no, I, I did pour, I did pull people like on, on social media. The, the funny thing is. The infiltrators wasn't even parts of the initial pool.

Tommyphyll: You know, for, funny enough, funny enough, like I didn't wanna use anything that had fail because when I was asking some of my friends, they were like, oh no, you should use like the Phil Harmonics, there was this other one. The philanthropist, I was like, nah, this isn't hitting, you know, especially based off like the message of my music as a whole, which is kind of like, based off of empowerment, you know, confidence, moving to the beat of your own drum, that kind of thing.

Going into spaces where you may not have been given access before. And I was thinking, I was like, okay, based off the message for the music. If everybody likes the music, what would they like to be identified as? And I was just thinking, I was like playing with you know, synonyms and different words and all these things.

I was like, wait, what words have feel in it? Let's, let's even start from there first. And I did the whole, like a whole list. I was [00:05:00] looking through the different list, like the different lists that I had made and all that and infiltrate stuck out to me. And I was like, this is it. Like It's direct.

It gets straight to the point. encapsulates the message perfectly. Let's see how they actually like it. And I just started running with infiltrators and nobody protested. The people who heard it were like, oh yeah, I like, I like the one. I was like, okay, we have

Tommyphyll: It was, it was a pretty good reaction.

Yeah, it was a good, it was a good

Rosalyn: Good. so Afro DM is your kind of crafted genre, you know, and genres are always such a tricky thing, right? You know, people always have, this slash this slash this slash this. some people really identify with, a particular type of music.

What inspired you to create your own label for what you do?

Tommyphyll: I feel like in a world that's filled with different people doing different things and fitting into like different boxes. I wanted to send a [00:06:00] message straight out the bat that with my artistry, if anybody's going to put me in a box, I'm the one who's gonna do it by myself.

You know, it's not going to be one media outlet somewhere, or one person, or like I was the one who was going to do it. Like I'm pretty much in control of my entire creative process, and I'm like, I'm just going to name it what I want to name it. And if one day I decide it's no longer a box, it's a house or it's a car, or whatever it is, like I still get to be in control of what I call it.

And anybody who's coming on board already knows that this is, already what it is. And the name itself is just kind of like a merge of. The kind of music that I make, my interests and my process as well, right? So at the very foundation of my sound is afrobeats, you know, heavy tribal precautions, the dance rhythms, the polyphonic rhythms, all of that.

But like [00:07:00] growing up I enjoy listening to classical music, cinematic scores, and was a very big fan of like eighties pop music. So. I just looked at it that in crafting my own sound, I'm just gonna merge elements from those different genres that I enjoy listening to into the Afrobeats that I was making.

And then the DM itself is kind of like a play on Carpe dm, which is seize the day. So in terms of my process of how I make the music, it's okay, today if I'm feeling like adding 80 cent or two. My mix and how I produce. 'cause I produce all my own music, so it's very easy to move in and out. I'm just gonna do it.

Rosalyn: I love that. And I like the DM part and the way that you, explained it you know, shifting day to day. And, and it seems it's very much in the opposite of a box, that it gives you a lot of, freedom and that must, be helpful too, even just from an industry perspective in [00:08:00] some ways that you can genre morph and, hopefully that opens doors, for you into different settings.

Tommyphyll: I mean, it did, I did perform at a venue that was typically geared towards classical music, you know, like they had a more classical music audience, and I was the very first. A would be artists that would come perform there. It was very interesting. The middle of the afternoon, a lot of senior citizens, in the audience. But I was like, this is gonna be fun. And it was a blast. Like that was where I clocked it. That's like any audience vibe with the music? Any audience vibe with Yeah, so it was good.

Rosalyn: Incredible. And, the message is in your music. I, as you mentioned, like really positive Are there recurring themes that you think are kind of connected to, your community, to the infiltrators? Do you feel like people are kind of interacting with your message?

Tommyphyll: Yes, I actually do. 'cause, you know, I, I try my best to get as much feedback from the community and just online as [00:09:00] possible. You know, sometimes you get that feedback that is very different from what you even expected, that sends you in a different direction of how I would end up writing a song, because I also want to make sure that as much as I'm making the music for me.

I'm also making music. I want my listeners to know that I'm also making the music for them. Because to me, the whole purpose of this is to be like a voice in the moment when people are not able to speak and say what's articulate what they really wanted to say. So it's like, oh yeah, this song gets me, you know? The core message with most of the music that actually real cause oftentimes is about self-confidence. Breaking mental boundaries first because I feel like the world from now to the end of time is always going to have physical boundaries, systemic boundaries. Like we don't live in the utopia. Like we're never going to live in the utopia you get. So it's like the only boundary that [00:10:00] you genuinely have control over first. Before you break anything else out there is the one that's in your mind. And I wanted to do it in such a way that it's not like I'm being preachy about the message, like I want people to dance. But you know, while you're dancing and having a good time on the particular day when you decide, Hmm, you know what, I just want to be conscious and like actively listening, listen to what I'm dancing to. It's like the lyrics are there, you know, like, oh shit, that's what he was saying. You know, that's what I'm going for. So it's like the best of both worlds type of situation. You can't dance and party to it when you don't want to think too much, but then when you decide you want to think and you want to think about it properly like this, there's something there as well for you.

Rosalyn: And your online presence. I feel like from day one it has been curated in a sense, like you're putting out Very high quality stuff, but it also has a lot of humor in it as well, [00:11:00] Can you speak a little bit to that? Like you're talking about serious stuff in, a lot of that content so did you make a conscious decision to, be able to keep it light and infuse the humor into it? how did you kind of let yourself feel comfortable doing that?

Tommyphyll: Well, it's, it's a part of my personality generally, and, you know, I've been just trying to make sure that as much as I'm making the music as well, my personality also shines through my art. So, you know, when you're listening to some of the songs, you hear some witty comments in the background, that kind of thing.

And I feel like people are also able to see a little bit of themselves in my artistry and me as an artist because it's like not, we're not all serious all the time, you know? And there's like a specific persona that most artists will craft where it's oh man, I'm the best thing since sliced bread.

this kind of energy and to me it's like realistically speaking, yes, I do feel on most days that I'm the [00:12:00] best thing to slice bread, but at the same time it's like realistically we have those moments where you just kind of like want to just let loose smile with the friend, you know, talk, ask them how they're doing.

Crack a few jokes here and there. 'cause in the end we're still human. I think finding the balance between it has been very interesting because I edit all my own videos, like I shoot edits, do the whole thing aside from the music, just to keep the social media presence alive, you know?

'cause, but finding that balance has been very interesting and I feel like I've pinned it down, if anything. So. it's intentional, but it's intentional in the sense where it's also very natural to me as well.

Rosalyn: So you're producing all of your own content, everything looks really good and, and really professional. How did you learn how to do that kind of stuff? Was there like a conscious process to learn how to [00:13:00] put that kind of thing together and create that content?

Tommyphyll: Here's the funny story, right? All of my creative end was music was the last thing that I found out that I knew how to do. Like music was the last, I used to draw a lot when I was a kid, write my own books and poetry. That was kind of like my into the creative process.

And then back in Nigeria, my brother and I used to shoot. our own videos with the laptop camera. Very shitty videos. But we learned the basics of editing on the software that was there at that time, like we didn't even know what we were doing. We were just like, kind of like we had free time. We were playing around with it. We learned how to reverse videos, how to chop clips at perfect time to tell a story, speed things up. all that weird stuff. And. Obviously as time went on, I came here to Canada. I was a content creator for a bit before I ever, ever went into [00:14:00] music, and so as a result of that, I had to learn how to edit my own videos, like much, much better, got comfortable in front of the camera. And then I think 2018 was then when I finally decided, 'cause I've been writing songs. Behind the scenes, you know, like producing music on my iPhone. That was where I really lent my production chops. 'cause that was all I had, right? And 2018, I was just like, I share everything I make, aside from even the jackets that I design as well as I share everything I make, I might as well just put this out there. I was very, very, very conscious at the beginning because it's like everything else. wasn't really me how do I explain it? Like it was more like a, this is a persona that I have crafted and I'm putting out in front of you, you know? But then with the music, it was very personal. So it was like, hmm, and do I share this to, I not share this, but.

I'm so glad I took that [00:15:00] leap of faith in 2018. I put it out, but the first thing I put out wasn't even my own voice. Like my voice wasn't on song. I just produced a beat and I sent it out to everybody who was on all my social media platforms. So I was like, I took my time, sent it to about 800 people at the time.

Like just manually, you know, just, Hey, I made this, I made this, you know, kind of listen to it or whatnot. And I started getting comments like, where's your voice? Where's your voice? Where? So I was like, okay, okay, so the people want to hear me sing, I have music for you. So after that, one month later, I dropped in my very first song,

Rosalyn: it's interesting to hear you say that you were just kind of DMing folks to, you know, listen to your stuff. That's pretty grassroots. Marketing right there, you know. how has your online community grown since then?

And do you think it's because of something particular you did or just kind of a natural evolution?

Tommyphyll: I got a new [00:16:00] camera, so there's, there's something about it that's, and I've heard some people say that it's if your content isn't good enough, you know, you have to make sure that your personality is extremely strong to shine through that terrible camera quality. You know? So, I mean, at the time I was balancing music with also talking.

I noticed that I don't also even talk as much On my social media where it's like just me addressing and just chatting. It's mostly music, but, and I'm rectifying that, you know, I'm working on that. 'cause that's, that's a whole, that's a whole thing. But I got a new camera and I like, I just made the conscious decision that I'm going to invest in my equipment.

You know, got a new camera, and I also got lighting. Like I didn't buy everything at once. 'cause you know, you kind of have to. Based off the most important need at the time. Then I got the camera, I got [00:17:00] lights, you know, started getting other things to add as well. But then I realized that immediately I started shooting videos with the camera and I didn't even do that much editing with it compared to what I would do with the videos I showed with my iPhone.

It was such a huge spike in engagement. And a huge spike in saves shares and comments. And then that's when our clocked, I was like, okay. So it's not that the music isn't good, it's the way the music is being presented. that was or is the way the music was being presented that was making it difficult for people to digest.

Okay, so we're gonna do this. High quality videos for 32nd snippets. That actually just made my whole life easier because previously I would do the whole edit of one minute, one minute edit. Edit. Could take me about two to three hours to just kind of like find the right angles and all that stuff. But [00:18:00] then when it becomes 30 seconds, it's just like now I can shoot one video, chop it up, and have five different types of contents that I would put out.

And it's whatever one does best out of all these different clips or parts of the song is what I just end up focusing on and I keep recording 32nd versions of. So that's how I've been doing it so far. I've noticed a lot of reach as well, but it could always be better.

Rosalyn: That's a really interesting marketing strategy, like looking at those analytics and, seeing where the most engagement is and, and being able to respond to that. Do you find that you're getting, more traction on a certain social media platform or are you trying to just be on all of them?

What's your strategy for Where you're broadcasting the content?

Tommyphyll: So I'm trying to be as on as many as possible. Like anytime there's a new one that comes out, I just go, even if I don't necessarily post it all the time, I just go create a username [00:19:00] there just so at least it's like it's registered and whatnot. Right now my biggest audience on social media is on Instagram because.

Mm. realistically, that was where I actually put in most of my efforts when I first go on social media, you know, before Twitter, TikTok, and all the rest. So now I'm also like, I'm at the stage where I'm also now consciously doing posts to build up those platforms as well. 'cause I noticed that what works on Instagram doesn't always work on TikTok.

So I decided to break it down into assessing the social media platforms as though they were people with personalities, you know, like what works best with this person. Instagram is more, attuned to the polished aesthetic look of things. Twitter on the other hand is more just like an opinionated frame, so you just kind of just share your opinions at the time.

TikTok, on the other hand, is a [00:20:00] little more. Laid back, you can, you know, take the mask off, be a little more yourself. Because I noticed that the videos that tend to do very well on TikTok are not like over produced, over edited videos. It's like the smart artists will combine a little bit. of the iPhone camera footage, and then once they've hooked the viewer. They switch to the high quality content. Most people just swipe sometimes when they just see high quality content. So that's how I've been trying to, balance it out. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of time because man, doing it by myself sometimes it's burnout comes in, bots.

It needs to be done.

Rosalyn: When it comes to burnout, the stuff that you're doing, it's, it's creative, right?

But it's also content and it's also work. So, you know, are you able to draw from the well of creativity? Is it, is it always there for you or sometimes do you have to kind of manufacture it [00:21:00] and, think of it more, this is a job, I gotta get this thing done and come up with something.

Tommyphyll: Nah, like the, the creative well is always there. that's what I've convinced myself of, I think. 'cause again, it's if you tell yourself it's there should be told, you'll find it. But what I found out was that the buckets to access the content of the well is rest. like, if I've been on a project for a while.

My brain literally starts telling me, and I know this is a thing that all artists, creative people feel like my brain starts telling me is enough. we're doing the same thing over and over again. This is not productive, but here's the thing, right? It is a tricky situation because when I've noticed that, I'm also able to push past that initial fatigue.

To execute the idea that I like. Once I have the idea in my head, even if I'm tired, if I'm able to push past the initial fatigue, I execute that idea, and it might just be maybe five [00:22:00] minutes of hanging in there. That ended up giving me the access that I needed. And once I get it, I'm like, okay, cool.

Hands off. let me not over tap into this. creative moment so that when I want to come back, the enthusiasm to come back is there because I know there's something I left off as opposed to just kind of like tapping the whole thing dry and then be like, oh, I should, now I have to go back again. I'll figure out where to start from. So It's a balance, you know, rest, I'm going to listen to other people's music or consume other content that is. Has absolutely nothing to do with music,

Rosalyn: And I wanted to just give a shout out as well to your visual art and your amazing. Amazing visual artist, and, You design your own jackets and just really beautiful stuff. So two questions. One, where's the merch that we can all buy?

Tommyphyll: It is coming. It's coming. It's coming. I don't, I don't just wanna drop rubbish merch.

Rosalyn: It's not [00:23:00] rubbish. You make Yeah. People go check out like the paintings and the work that you do to put together these jackets and the it's fashion design. It's so much it's inspiring the, the artistry and the, just the work, like how much work goes into doing that. So yeah, a merch line, please at some point.

Tommyphyll: It is. It's coming. It's coming.

Rosalyn: So do you approach these other forms of art in the same way, or do they kind of play off each other? Are they connected or are you kind of compartmentalizing your creative brain for these different artistic endeavors?

Tommyphyll: I feel like. it feeds into the different creative ends. When I create a song, I usually have visuals playing in my head and I'm thinking, okay, what's, what scene would this be in?

Like I'm always thinking funny enough, like I'm always thinking about my songs from a sync perspective. It's not intentional, but it's what happens. Where I've always thought about how my [00:24:00] songs would fit into a movie, like what scene, you know? 'cause you know, I told you how. I'm very big fan of like cinematic scores and all that. So it's been a thing from the jump. So the visuals are inspired by music in a way and like other creative endeavors themselves. Like I just try my best to. They connect later. I think that's the best way to explain it. Like they all connect later. ' cause I don't like to force anything.

The music itself is the only thing where I'm like, okay, cool. This might sound cool, on this scene. What instrument would I add here that would fit perfectly there or what not? But everything else is just kind of like, I see I did the thing. And now we figure out a way to connect everything.

Rosalyn: So back to the Inphylltrators. You've cultivated these positive messages and this supportive community.

Have you ever had any or like is there a negative side to that at all that you've had to experience…from the community?

Tommyphyll: [00:25:00] I haven't experienced any direct, negative feedback. I tell myself this, that, to be honest, I'm, I'm waiting for it.

I'm not even gonna lie. The truth about it is that once you get negative feedback. The way I see it is like it means you are reaching an audience beyond your initial core, which is what I want, I want it to grow.

And the truth is that there will be people who say things and it's my job to keep putting out like beautiful pieces of art, that would either convince them or would just. Strengthen their hatred. Like

Rosalyn: You know, all press is good press, right.

Tommyphyll: So, I mean, I did get one guy one time directly on my comments section, literally just put it there. It was like this song, song's, trash Man. And he went back to go and comment on the other posts that had the same song. And I looked at it and I was [00:26:00] like, Hmm, this is good, I'm going to broadcast this, right? Because like most people would want to hide it. And I was like, nah, let's take away this guy's power by putting him on the sports. So I put him on blast, like I did a whole thing where I was like, you know, you're lying because clearly you know, I think this is another thing where being self-assured comes in. Because I'm not necessarily looking for validation from outside people, to be honest, because I've already been through that with, and it's, it's not a great place to be and I feel happier with myself just being with myself, if anything. So when I saw that message I was like, yo, this is actually very funny.

I'm going to put you on blast. The guy deleted his account afterwards,

I didn't say anything wrong per se. I just called him out. I was like, okay, What about this song? Don't you like? 'cause once you start asking the questions, that's when people are like, oh, [00:27:00] well but yeah, Nothing too major yet. Nothing to major. Yeah.

Rosalyn: Before we wrap up here, I want you to tell us about the new ep.

Where can they find it? What's it all about?

Tommyphyll: Alright, so the title of the EP is called Love Me, like the First Day, it's available on all streaming platforms, whatever it is you listen to, the EP is a four track project that is meant to, that signifies, you know, euphoria in a project.

You know, like the theme for the rollouts of the whole project is, tied into the secret service. You know, the infiltrators versus the auste, which are like, that's just another name for gatekeepers, you know? And the whole concept of the story behind the project itself is just that we live in a world, or in my world at least, the story of this project is that there's a world where.
Beauty, feeling, euphoria, all of that was taken away from people, and now it's the job of me and the [00:28:00] infiltrators to bring it back to the people, you know, give it back to them. So, love me, like the first day is part of the mission, you know, sharing. Love me, like the first day is part of the mission.

That's why on the cover art, you see the blue pill, which is, you know, supposed to signify. Mash, I call it mash, which is a play on all the titles of all the songs in the project. This is melanin Available Sunshine, Headspace. So I created this project based off of what it feels to fall in love the very first time.

And how as you go through the motions of actually loving somebody that's a butterfly in your tummy feeling. Sometimes fades and it comes back, you know, it's like an in and out type situation. So I wanted to hold onto that in a song. So, you know, like whenever anybody's feeling like, oh man, like I really love this person, but I can't necessarily remember why.

You know, that kind of thing. [00:29:00] It's like you listen to the songs, like you vibe a little bit. but it's a two part project. So the very first part of the project is called Love Me, like the first day, and then the second part of the project is going to be called, but this time the right way.

So the very first part is more focused on, like I said, euphoria, the butterflies in your tummy when you meet somebody. The. The novelty of falling in love with somebody, but then this time, the right way, the songs that are focused on that is now what it means to actively love somebody outside just the euphoric feeling, you know, like now you're choosing to do it despite the pretty situations and the not so pretty situations.

So there are, there are songs that are coming

Rosalyn: That's awesome. I very enthusiastically encourage folks to go onto your favorite streaming platforms. Save, download, do all the things. Check out Tommyphyll’s social media presence. You'll love it. It's inspiring. Now you know how he does it [00:30:00] all.

So, please go follow him online. Become an Inphylltrator. Join the movement.

Tommyphyll: Sign up to the mailing list.

Rosalyn: Perfect. Tommyphyll, it's been such a pleasure to chat with you today. Thank you so much for sharing with us.

Tommyphyll: Thank you, thank you, thank you.