Wax Audio

I'm Tom. I'm the guy behind Wax Audio. I live in Australia, just outside of Sydney.

So you want to know a bit about me then? I actually can't stand writing about myself, but here goes...

My interest in audio began when I was a kid. I used to re-mix songs I had recorded from the radio by hooking together two cassette players and excessively manipulating the pause button (which would always wind up hanging limp from over-use). We didn't have a video player in the house, so I used to record the audio track from the TV shows I liked (The Kenny Everett Show, The Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy and Danger Mouse spring immediately to mind) and listen to them over and over again in headphones. I would record movies this way too. It was a practice which wound up greatly enhancing my appreciation of audio production.

I started playing guitar and percussion when I was around nine. Guitar would ultimately become my passion.

Had things gone to plan from that point onwards, this little bio would not be about how I became a masher on the web but about my rise to rock'n'roll super-stardom. I'd be telling you about the first time I appeared on the cover of Guitar World alongside Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen. It never happened. I gave it my best shot, about 10 years playing in various bands, playing in pubs and attempting to make albums. I ultimately gave it all up, sold all my gear and went traveling instead.

In the decade that followed I wound up visiting some of the most far-flung and exotic destinations on the planet on a journey that lasted several years. That's a whole other story which I wont delve into here (but you can visit the 9 Countries page to see and hear a bit about this time). When I finally returned home I had developed a thirst to return to music in some way, but what way?

Around this time things began rapidly changing in the world of music, technology and communications. All of a sudden there was fast internet, powerful home computers, MP3's, affordable software. With these tools at my disposal, the mass media would became my artistic playground.

Also at this time, a handful of world leaders decided it would be a brilliant idea to launch an un-provoked invasion on Iraq. By the time they all realised what a stupid mistake it was, millions of Iraqis were either dead or their lives ruined. Having only just returned from the Middle East I was profoundly disturbed by what was going on and my country's involvement. This is what set the tone for the first Wax Audio release in 2004.

Since then I've mashed up three political EP's based on media samples and political rhetoric, primarily covering issues surrounding the Iraq War and Australian foreign policy. On a slightly less serious note, I've produced two pop mashup albums fusing everything from metal, bollywood, classic rock, electro, 80's pop, movie soundtracks and funk. I've also produced 9 Countries, an album based entirely on the archive of field recordings I made whilst traveling with my wife Ishbel on a 15 month overland journey through Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Tibet, India, Egypt and Greece. You can download all of these works and more for free from this web site.

I've recently started making videos for my mashups and am currently halfway through an album based exclusively on music and sounds from the year 1984.

I work full time as a video producer, am happily married and have a beautiful baby girl.

Wax Audio has been featured on BBC Radio 1, XFM (UK), ABC Radio National, Triple J (Australia), Air America, The Howard Stern Show, WFMU (US) and countless more stations internationally. Feature articles on Wax Audio have appeared in Audio Technology Magazine and The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia).


And now, some Occasionally Asked Questions...

Do you make any money out of this?
No. I don't own the copyrights for any of the sound recordings I tamper with. Therefore I am not entitled to any royalties or payments. Nor am I permitted to sell my mashups as downloads or on CD. I don't get paid and you don't pay to hear them. The 9 Countries and CMYK albums are based on entirely original material which I recorded, but I'm just chucking them in for free as well, what the hell.

How do you do it? What software do you use? How do you come up with the ideas?
It's hard enough making these things let alone explaining how it's done afterwards! Everything on this site has been made using either Cubase , Pro Tools or Final Cut (in the case of videos). I come up with ideas by driving myself insane thinking about strange musical combinations. There's no formula, it just happens. Sometimes it's easy, but mostly it's hard.

Where do you find all the multi-track files and isolated vocal parts etc?
Many of the mashups on this site are simply the original songs blended together, but yes there a quite a few tracks where I have obtained the isolated vocal or instrument tracks. Where did I find them? On the internet. As they say, Google is your friend.

Have you got in any trouble doing this?
No. I've received feedback from several of the artists I've mashed on this site and it's all been extremely positive. There's emails I would dearly love to share with you, but they are private and I must respect that. Generally I don't think artists mind their work being mashed up, especially if it's done well. It's the music biz lawyers and legal folk who might have a problem, but so far I've not been contacted by any of them. Not directly anyway ;)

Hey, can you do a mashup of these two songs please?
I only mashup music I like or that has some sort of personal significance for me. It doesn't work when I mash to a brief. Unless you want to pay me of course. That's another story. Step into my office ;)

May I have your permission to use this track for...
Yes, use my stuff for whatever you want. A credit would be nice, but that's really up to you. Like I said, I don't own the copyrights for this stuff so it's not up to me anyway. The only exception is 9 Countries and CMYK. These are my original works. You can downlaod them for free, post them, play them anywhere you want. just don't use them for any commercial purpose without consulting me.

How can I download the MP3's from your site?
When you see a download link, right-click and select "Save As" (PC) / control-click and select "Download Linked File As" (MAC)





Contact Details

Wax Audio welcomes feedback, is interested in your thoughts and opinions and is happy to answer your questions.

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Wax Audio can also be contacted directly via email.