Tom Rellen, Tomaga member and key London experimentalist, has died
The London musician’s death was reported on by The Quietus, who confirmed the news with the group’s sole other member, Valentina Magaletti. Rellen died in St. Barth Hospital on August 23rd after a battle with stomach cancer.
“Tomaga had a new album scheduled for next year and a few dates confirmed in September,” Magaletti told The Quietus. “We rushed to master the album in his final days because the release was important to him.”
The prolific and singular group had released seven albums over the last six years, inc including collaborative full-lengths with Neil Tolliday and Pierre Bastien that came via Emotional Response and Nicolas Jaar’s Other People. The group also appeared on split releases with the likes of Jozef Van Wissem and This Heat member Charles Hayward.
Rellen also worked with Demian Castellanos as part of two projects, The Oscillation and Autotelia, who released their debut album, I, on Rocket Recordings last month. Tomaga and The Oscillation was represented by the Julie Tippex agency, where Rellen eventually worked as an agent, repping the likes of Silver Apples and Acid Mothers Temple.
“For more than ten years he was more than a collaborator for all of us at Julie Tippex, but also a friend, an incredibly nice, charming and intelligent man with a natural kindness, a calm and genial attitude to life and an openness to people and situations which was very comforting for everyone around him,” wrote Julie Tippex founder Marie-Pierre Bonniol.
A memorial service for Rellen will be held soon.
Check out Tomaga’s Bandcamp opage.
