Gary Thomas was born in Durban, South Africa in 1983 and relocated to Cape Town in 2006, where he formed acclaimed anti-folk duo Cabins in the Forest with Andy James. Shortly after releasing their album Spells for Bribes in 2007, the South African music artists separated and Gary began solo touring in January 2009. After moving to Cape Town in 2006, Gary recorded a collection of songs, officially released as his ‘debut’ album three years later, entitled Wooden Boxes & Thought Hunting.

“Wooden Boxes wasn’t going to be released. I just churned out these songs in a stream of consciousness, written quickly and largely improvised. But most of the music I’ve played at shows in the last year is on Contraption Distoria. It’s the first time I’ve recorded the stomp box and haven’t layered the songs too much so it really captures the essence of my live show, how the music is delivered, with a few touches here and there of course.”

Thomas studied classical guitar in school and completed a music degree at The University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban in 2005, majoring in jazz guitar. Reviewers … — Read more »