Weighty lyrics and indie rock drama dominate on Mayhemtom’s second album, Atheistic.
Mayhemtom is a vehicle for the songwriting of Tom John, who released his debut album under the moniker, The Art of Flying While Falling, in 2022. The creation of album two happened somewhat by accident, John says.
”It’s not deliberate at all. I’m happy to write a song, and then another, and then another, and it just sort of flows. I don’t understand how that happens.”
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Outside of music, John works full-time as an oncologist. Music is never far from his mind, but he was surprised to find he’d amassed enough songs in the last three years to fill a whole new album.
“I have periods where I’m more inclined to write, and then periods where there’s nothing,” he says. “[Playing music] is an outlet, it’s enjoyable, it’s a lovely thing to do, but it doesn’t always result in writing. The goal isn’t to sit down and write an album, it’s just to enjoy the process. If something comes of it, great, otherwise, that’s all right.”
The catalyst for Atheistic was the title track, which was the first song John wrote for the project. “Everything sort of built around there,” he says. “And then obviously, things that are happening around you start influencing what you’re doing. That track was a reflection that the majority of us are all atheistic until we are indoctrinated in whichever religion our parents choose for us.”
A prime example is the song Warmongering (Palestine), which is a direct reference to the ongoing genocide in Gaza – and the complicity of Western nations.
“I saw you dying,” John sings in the opening verse. “I heard your despair. I protected my interests. But I knew you were there.”
The verse continues: “I saw the bombs fall. And I knew it was wrong. I protected our interests. I wasn’t alone.”
The lyrics are fairly unambiguous, but the song title has been through multiple revisions. “That was originally called Palestine,” John says. “And I wrote it and played it to some guys in the band, and one of the guys said, Look, it’s powerful, but I wouldn’t call it Palestine. You’re going to piss off some people. And at the time I was like, well, who cares? But then I sort of chickened out and thought, I don’t want to piss people off.”
So, he changed the name to Warmongering. “I remember having quite a few chats with Myles Mumford, who produced it, and Myles is a humanitarian too, and he could understand why I changed it but was a bit disappointed at the same time.”
I suggest to John that if anyone is offended by a song called Palestine in the middle of a genocide, that’s probably someone you want to offend. “You’re absolutely right,” he says. The song’s title was ultimately updated to Warmongering (Palestine) before the album’s September 5 release.
The gravity of a song like Warmongering (Palestine) is not atypical for Mayhemtom. John’s lyrics tend to relay meaningful substance. The Atheisitic single Memories is about one of John’s friends whose life unexpectedly unravelled.
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“She basically had everything going for her and then just fell in a hole,” he says. “Sometimes when that happens, that’s about the past, because that’s sort of all you’ve got.”
Things eventually turned around for the subject of Memories. “She actually pulled herself out of a pretty deep hole – I thought she was going to die at one point – but she’s come good, which is nice,” John says.
John speculates that his preference for weighty subject matter is an example of him channelling the music he loves, by artists such as Pink Floyd, The National and Paul Kelly. But it also adds a sense of purpose to his songwriting.
“If you’re inspired to write a song, it’s come from somewhere,” he says. “I write and rewrite and change things quite a lot.”
Mayhemtom will launch Atheistic at The Evelyn on Thursday 30 October. John will be joined onstage by his regular band mates, drummer Matt Stirling, bass player Peter Burgess, and guitarist Peter Daniel, as well as Michael Lean on keyboards and his niece, Anika Zubrinich, on backing vocals.
“It’s a celebration of having created something, and [a chance to] get a group of people together at the Evelyn and hopefully have a great night,” John says. “And if the album gets listened to a bit, that’d be nice.”
Get tickets for Mayhemtom’s album launch here.
This article was made in partnership with Mayhemtom.
