The city of Wolverhampton isn’t famous for much. In fact it’s really known as a city of industry, specialising in coal mining and car production. Its motto is ‘Out of darkness cometh light.’ One such recent beam of light has been singer-songwriter Tom Aspaul’s debut album, Black Country Disco inspired by his hometown which he dropped in September.

After his relationship of five years ended in London, Tom decided to leave everything behind and head back into the arms of the Black Country…and subsequently write one of the most optimistic, brightest and pinkest albums of 2020.

We spoke with him last month about how he drew inspiration from Wolverhampton, the city famous for featuring the UK’s first set of traffic lights no less, and came back with an intergalactic space odyssey of an album that referenced Madonna, Olivia, George and VB. It’s a fully-realised concept that takes you on a journey, on a journey to the centre of Tom’s heart – documenting his recent lows and highs.

Tom is now back with Black Country Disco: The Movie, which combines three of the album’s songs and creates a natural accompaniment, directed by Sam Taylor-Edwards. The short film comes with a suitable Drag Race Season One filter, glitter balls, roller skates, a cowboy hat…and suddenly we’re thinking we might actually be due a visit.

Loverboy talks with Tom and Sam about filming on a budget, the importance of ARTPOP and how ‘bleak can be beautiful.’

Let’s start at the beginning. Sam, Tom, how did you come to meet?
Sam: It all began with a simple follow on Instagram.
Tom: Yes! I’d been following Sam’s boyfriend, Matt, for four or five years and I can’t remember what finally connected us…
Sam: I’d already been looking for an artist with the aesthetic that I wanted to explore further, then September last year you announced the album was coming and Matt told me I should get in touch because our reference points were similar. So we immediately scheduled a very DIY photoshoot which happened in my living room with some foil fringe and a disco light and Tom in a cowboy hat which became a motif.

Oh, I saw those photos on your Instagram, Sam. I assumed they were from the film.
Sam: I kind of feel like that was the origin of where the film was going. It allowed us to marry our ideas together and bond over the same references.

Outside of the Black Country Disco vibe, what references did you have in common?
Tom: I like Sam’s Instagram because there were loads of gays basically and I could see how his aesthetic would fit with my vision. But back then at the beginning of the campaign, I wasn’t even thinking about a music video. I didn’t even know Sam made films!
To be honest when I was making the album everything was on the fly because I didn’t have any money! But things went well from the beginning of the campaign so I was like, ‘Well I’ll just have to make a film now!’
Black Country Disco is a really visual album. All the artwork shots were by the amazing Kasia Clarke and then when my graphic designer sent me the cover I just knew I had to keep pushing things forward.

The whole album is so cohesive. How did you decide which songs to use?
Tom: I thought these three most encapsulated the album and its narrative. Obviously ‘W.M’ is the big song about me going back to the West Midlands, ‘01902’ is the end of the relationship and I think ‘Tender’ is my favourite of all the heartbreak songs. Plus they are the singles!
Sam: I remember you telling me that we were only doing a video for ‘W.M.’ so that was the only one I did a treatment for. But what I admire about Tom is his ambition and I like to think it’s something we share. The album is such a concept album that it made sense to make a concept video. When we were discussing music videos, there were loads we had in common but I remember Gaga’s ARTPOP film coming up and we were like, ‘Let’s do a DIY ARTPOP!’
Tom: I hate to compare it to ARTPOP but it was the inspiration for this film. I even wanted to call it A Black Country Disco Movie at one point in time, like An Artpop Movie, as an homage.

The film is a complete story from start to finish but Black Country Disco: The Movie plays out a little differently, right?
Tom: Initially it was meant to be the same, and there’s still the same basic theme of me heading home to the West Midlands, but the narrative changed over the course of production. The way I see it, and this might be a little bit retconned, but the ‘W.M.’ segment is the present day, ‘01902’ is a sexy fantasy, then I fall off my skates and ‘Tender’ is a flashback to the night before I left London and making the decision to leave. The injuries on my face are obviously a metaphor for heartbreak, not being able to stay in London and having to lose everything. We were a bit on edge though because we were like, ‘Oh God is it going to be construed as an abusive relationship?!’ and I didn’t want that.

What were your references that you incorporated?
Tom: There are loads of layers to the film. There are references to ABBA in there. There are Madonna references.

Madonna was the choreography, right?
Tom: That was actually this German Pans People-style band named Arabesque, these three women dancing and it’s really naf. The ABBA part is with the guys on the chairs in ‘01902’. Madonna is referenced through the cowboy theme and the hat. I think you’d only start to get these references on a second or third viewing.
My favourite thing is the way Sam has managed to make Wolverhapmton look really nice. I’ve shown the video to some people and they’re like, ‘I’m really desperate to go to Wolverhampton now.’ It is a bit rough but there are some nice architectural moments in Wolverhampton. Bleak can be beautiful.

How did you balance the fantasy of the album artwork to the…um, reality of Wolverhampton?
Sam: I think that’s where it becomes quite comical because we’ve taken a place like Wolverhampton, no offence Tom, and gone a little OTT. There’s fun and a playfulness with that. But also I don’t think the West Midlands is as bad as Tom had joked about!
Tom: It’s just another small city in England. But the intro to ‘W.M.’ is so grandiose with the strings and coupling that with shots of me driving on the motorway it was very, ‘Wow, what is going on here?!” We featured pink a lot to match the album artwork too. We had it in the car park scene and in ‘Tender’. To be honest whenever asked me what colour I wanted things it was always just pink!

I love the ‘Wolverhampton Entertains You’ sign which actually exists and that Midland Metro put your lyrics on the departures sign. How did that come about?
Tom: I contacted Midland Metro to see if we could do something and someone on their PR team was gay and had already heard the song. He was already thinking that they should be using the song on their ads – but then Covid hit. I emailed him again and asked if we could post the lyrics on the sign and they said yes. Sam said it was good because it looked like we had budget! Haha…

Tom, you were saying it was important to work with a queer director…
Tom: Yes, Sam and I both have a very similar taste level and I think most of that comes from being gay. I remember doing music videos in the past and when those cameras start rolling and you are in a roomful of straight people, singing your song about gay love or heartbreak, it’s quite daunting. I would have felt a bit uncomfortable going to a straight male director and saying, ‘We’re shooting in Wolverhampton and my main reference is…ARTPOP.’

Lastly, what are your favourite most-overlooked music videos?
Sam: I watched Sugababes’ ‘Freak Like Me’ again the other day. It was so dark. They initiate Heidi into the band by biting her neck. Also Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s ‘Catch You’ was the main video I used to build this project. We wanted shots of Tom pointing to everything like Sophie but we didn’t have time.
Tom: In terms of being over-looked, I think Jordan Knight, ‘Give It To You.’ I reacquainted myself with that video the other day. I miss big choreographed set pieces with a troupe of thirty dancers and the artist in the front. I love how saturated with colour it is. I also love that it is quite clearly July when they filmed it but he’s there doing a dance routine in a roll-neck jumper and leather jacket! 

Tom Aspaul – Instagram / Twitter / Facebook.
Sam Taylor-Edwards – Instagram / Twitter / Website
Black Country Disco and Black Country Disco: The Movie are out now