A Tale of Damaged Goods – Thomas Bleach
Not many would choose Brisbane City when it comes to music and entertainment stars. You are far more likely to think Melbourne or Sydney, but one person that does come to mind is local Thomas Bleach (@thomasbleach) the man who interviews the stars. From a young age Thomas found himself in love with music; the personal feeling, the freedom of the lyrics, and the love the artist had for their craft. It was hard not to admire music – with David Bowie and Fleetwood Mac playing in his childhood home.
Thomas’ teenage years were difficult ones, rampant with bullying and self doubt, made only more difficult with confusion of his sexuality becoming more prominent in his mind – but one escape was writing for local magazine The Messenger. Thomas had the idea and pitched music review columns for the magazine, hitting a demographic that was not being catered to, which became a huge success.
Fast-forward a few years and after having left The Messenger, Thomas launched his own website, Thomasbleach.com, giving him unrestricted artistic freedom and the time to pursue his passion. Over the years his website has greatly grown in popularity and among the stars that Thomas has interviewed is Guy Sebastian, Vera Blue, Sasha Sloan, KFLAY, and one of his personal favourites, Julia Michaels. It’s not only Music Artists that Thomas has interviewed either. He has also written articles on Margot Robbie during her Neighbours days, and music industry veteran Michael Chugg.
While his professional life was going well, Thomas found his personal life harder to manage. As a young gay man, he found dating and love increasingly tricky to manoeuvre, which took its toll on his mental health and wellbeing. So, in mid 2019, Thomas released the first three chapters of a very personal, deeply honest, humorous, and raw account of his life and loves and all the verbiage in between – Damaged Goods, he christened it.
The book, now with it’s own soundtrack, is accompanied by a live comedy show that I was lucky enough to witness twice. The first was only a short preview at Heya Comedy Open Mic Night in Fortitude Valley, while the second was a headline. Both captured Thomas’ raw and honest sense of humour while also keeping his material incredibly entertaining. It detailed all the twists and turns of being young and in love (and breaking your leg in a foreign country).
Damaged Goods is a must read, listen, and experience for all ages and orientations. The future is looking bright for Bleach – be it his interviews, his book, his live shows, and his personal life, and I quite frankly cannot wait to read, listen, and watch more about it.