Tommy Bones came up in the New York scene of the 90s bringing plenty of the magic of the era to his work. He currently heads up the House of Bones label and has dropped his own wares on the likes of NRK, Dopewax and Origin Rcds over the years, all while laying down his own classy sets across the underground circuit. We caught up with him following his latest drop ‘Shouldna/Dub Style’ on Louis Vega’s Vega Records…


Tommy! Welcome to Music Is 4 Lovers. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself including what you have been up to this past year?

I’m a DJ / Producer born and raised an hour outside of Manhattan New York City. Now residing in NYC for 20 years. A DJ since 1989 and have been producing since 2000. My earliest releases were on Kingstreet, Wave Music, later labels like Real Tone, Defected, Nervous, Kenny Dope’s Dopewax & Seth Troxlers Slacker 85. There are lots of other labels in between and my most recent on Vega Records. As far as this past year I have been grinding it out in the studio, taking less gigs to focus on some amazing music that is coming in 2025.

You currently head up the record label, ‘House of Bones’ for your solo releases. What have you been able to achieve as an artist by handling certain projects on your own imprint?

I went through a lot as a producer and it took me a while to gain confidence. I was always a DJ first. When I was working with Defected around 2015 I landed three EPs during their Defected / Strictly partnership. At this time, I didn’t really feel confident as a producer and was working on finding my own style. I had a couple of EPs that were sitting that Defected had passed on as my sound was a bit edgy. Kenny dope picked those up and this gave me more confidence. Kenny saying my records were “dope” was all the confidence I needed to hear. House of Bones was born shortly after; it was an evolution of me to master my craft and my sound. House of Bones really caught the attention of more top tier DJ’s like Loco Dice, Seth Troxler, Jackmaster, Honey Dijon, DJ Koze and many others…

You recently provided the latest release for Louie Vega’s Vega Records with ‘Shouldna / Dub Style’. We’d love to have an insight into the record.

Shouldna was actually made back in 2018, before Covid. I handed it to Louie at ADE on a flash drive and a day later he said “That Shouldna… Wow!” He played it out at ADE and the video clip afterwards on his Instagram had over 300 comments, most asking about the song. It is definitely a lot more quirky and deep than my other productions. Dub Style is a more recent production more in line with my newer future tech sound coming under my new alias TB-203.

Some chunky, club-ready sonics on this EP; could you talk us through your typical production process?

My process is definitely more unorthodox. I’m not the most musical, mostly rhythm driven. Which is my focus. Kick, bass and clap is where I start. If that grabs me, the rest falls into place. I’m rougher around the edges, I build records like someone is using a hammer instead of a paint brush, but I’d have to say that is where my sound comes in. I’m not musically trained, but I can play, produce and master all my own projects. I’m an A-Z producer, which is rare today, but this all came by really forcing myself how to produce on my own in a time before online tutorials. The sonics come in as I’m a Virgo perfectionist, but I think the real skill is knowing how & when to use EQ and compression, that and sound design. Keeping things open, separated and understandable.

Over the years, what are some of the biggest changes in club culture you’ve witnessed within your local underground scene as a New Yorker.

To be honest I don’t really play out much, or go out in New York City, when I do go out its usually to hear my friends play. I’d say the scene definitely has become more global in the past 15 years especially with more Central & South Americans listening to House & Techno which is really interesting. We also have more venues than ever which is great. Things migrating to the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens is pretty cool as well. Definitely making the entire scene more diverse.

2024 has certainly flown by, how are you closing out the year?

In the process of answering these questions I’m actually planning my first House of Bones release at the top of 2025. There are some other releases in other labels hands. It’s just managing them all and believe me there are lots on deck. This is going to be an interesting year for sure! I’m also planning a House of Bones vinyl album. Featuring new songs and my more popular HOB tracks like Night Train & Lost Love.


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