Pixelated Pop: An Interview with Gareth Thomas

Gareth Thomas, famous for his colourful, pixelated indie pop and his time with Good Shirt, joined us to talk about his new single Lily Knows Electricity.  Thomas works as an architect during the day, but he has always found real satisfaction in making music. He admits that building houses for friends soon became too expensive to keep up. “I just find so much satisfaction making music that I can share much more easily than expensive buildings,” he said. His passion for songwriting and old-school technology shows up in both his music and his art, especially in his love for glitchy, 8-bit graphics and analog synths.

The idea for his track "Lily Knows Electricity" came to him suddenly. The title started as a casual comment from a friend at a festival, describing a musician who “knows electricity.” Surrounded by friends and maybe a few dried mushrooms, the phrase stuck with Thomas and became the heart of a new song. “I just had that line going round and round in my head, and I started jotting down notes on my phone,” he recalled. The demo came together fast, and his bandmates were excited about it. It almost became a Good Shirt single, but Thomas chose to release it as a solo track, with help from his band.

At that point, Thomas was coming out of a tough creative stretch. He says writing “Lily Knows Electricity” helped bring back his artistic energy. When he learned that the band Mermaidens, who inspired the song, were also inspired by his work, it made him feel like music is part of a bigger cycle. “It just felt like music was part of this continuum. You’ve just got to keep putting it out there,” Thomas said. Realising that inspiration goes both ways strengthened his belief in music’s lasting impact. Thomas thinks musicians often don’t realise how much their work matters, both to others and to themselves. “Musicians are real humble creatures and very sensitive souls too,” he said, pointing out that music is often undervalued in today’s streaming era. He believes the business side doesn’t show the real value of creative work, which can make musicians doubt their own worth.

When life changes, so do collaborations. The members of Good Shirt have become parents, making time and logistics more precious. Thomas has adapted by incorporating more autonomy into his process using drum machines and performing solo as needed. This flexibility lets him continue creating while respecting the realities of family life.

His fascination with analog technology and retro visuals is more than just nostalgia. Growing up with early PCs and VHS tapes, Thomas finds creative joy in the imperfections and glitches of old tech. For the “Lily Knows Electricity” music video, he even bought a vintage CRT television and used handmade electronics to manipulate the video signal, capturing that authentic, pixelated look. Despite the rise of AI-generated music and visuals, Thomas is optimistic. “I think the best thing we learned from AI is how important it is to be human, not to be polished,” he said. As technology makes perfection more accessible, the quirks and oddities of human creation become even more valuable. He predicts a renewed appreciation for live, authentic music as digital creation becomes ubiquitous.

Over time, Thomas’s view of live music has changed. At first, he saw recording in the studio and playing live as two different things, each with its own appeal. Recently, he’s started to enjoy the energy and honesty of live recordings, sometimes choosing a single, raw take over a perfect studio version. His favourite recent concert was seeing David Byrne, who changed up the usual band setup and put on a fun, shared show. “I could have gone to a David Byrne concert every Sunday,” he laughed.