2025 wrapped

As we welcome 2026, TOOM look back on a very busy 2025.

We started the year as we meant to go on with a January gig at the brilliant Green Rooms. We feel like regular performers at this venue and always enjoy playing there.

Throughout the year, we had a plethora of gigs at new venues for us including The Muni, Hopkinstown Hall, Treorchy RFC (as part of Rhondda Arts Festival), Gelli Hibernian and Penarth Exies, as well as playing at familiar venues such as Jac’s.

It was also a good year for new material as we premiered our new songs “Beady Eye” and “SGMP” and wrote several more which have yet to be performed.

Another first was the release of our music on all major platforms. We recorded at Red Rock studios with the fabulous and funny producer Lyndon Price. We originally intended to record two songs – “Beady Eye” and “Shwnidygon” - but Lyndon and the band’s professionalism meant that we had extra studio time on the Sunday. As a result, the quirky “And Justice for Morph” was also recorded. The highlight of the year for Hobbit has been seeing the tracks on the streaming services and the number of people who’ve listened to us. The tracks, particularly Shwnidygon, have been very popular, with people comparing the band to Big Audio Dynamite, Crass and Hazel O’Connor.

Suchy’s favourite gig of 2025 was the Halloween gig at Gelli Hibernian Club, which we shared with The Dinwiddys and Kick Out The Jams. The venue was brilliantly decorated for the occasion and we loved performing for the “24 hour Pandy People” as Suchy warmly calls them. Everyone was dressed up and in great spirits (no pun intended) and we even had an encore!

Station had a number of TOOM highlights, one of which was getting a new bass which he’s looking forward to making memories with. Another was playing at the recently restored Muni in Pontypridd, partly because we had our own posh dressing room with drinks and snacks which made him feel like a rock star. It was a great experience for all the band but a poignant one for Pixie, having performed there several times as a young ballerina. The iconic venue brought back many happy memories.

Another highlight for the band has been appearing on local and internet radio stations, including Wolfman Radio and GTFM.

We hope that 2026 will be just as eventful. We already have new songs to perform for you and some gigs lined up. What’s your favourite TOOM memory of 2025?