Six Pack: Tom Milek

“When I first began singing I was about 13, and was trying to imitate Blink-182's Tom Delonge, which was very nasally and American,” he begins, discussing his first forays as a vocalist. “Once I began writing more folk-influenced songs my singing style changed after listening to songwriters like Damien Rice, Lawrence Greenwood and Thom Yorke. They all raised the bar being able to hit such high notes in falsetto, as well as the resonance they achieved singing much lower, which really pushed me to develop my voice.”

A tough school from which to emulate from, but Milek does a more than able job, his new EP a collection of haunting, fragile and understatedly optimistic ditties that whisks the listener away to the depths of their own inner being.

“Although I write about issues people have being writing about forever, I believe the storytelling element makes the songs more personal and poignant,” he admits, “especially because when I sing them I relive parts of the story which in turn effects the way I sing the song every time.”

The Melbourne songwriter recorded the tracks with Nick Huggins (Whitley, Kid Sam), the music encompassing Milek's own personal vision, one that has taken many years of his young life to develop.

“The meaning behind the title Love & Ambition originated from the fact that although we endeavour to find love, that's not all we strive for,” Milek reveals. “Ambition is the unquenchable thirst beyond love – it is what we seek to define who we are. That was and still is where my head is at with regards to creating music and writing songs.”