EARLY LIFE
TOM OLAERTS was born on august 25, 1977, in Genk, Belgium, to a regular working-class family. His father, Jozef Olaerts, had been a singer/guitarist but had put aside his musical aspirations to provide for his family, working several jobs at a time. Believing his sons (Tom's older brother played the guitar too) had talent, he paid for the recording of their first demo-tape in Pino Guaracci's former garage studio in Genk. At first 'Small Talk' played minor gigs, covering songs the band members loved, later Tom started to write and compose his own songs to perform with his brother and a couple of friends. In 1992 'Small Talk' entered the Music Life competition for upcoming talent, finishing third. First place was reserved for 'Flowers For Breakfast', the start of the band's national career. Around 1994 a couple of band members enrolled in university and the band split, leaving the singer without his musicians.
TAKING STEPS
Around the turn of the Millenium Tom was asked by his friend Joris (Minten - professional trumpet player) to join a small big band that was later baptized as 'Mr. Shark & the Silverfish' (later 'Shark Showcase'). Not used to singing soul and blues tunes, Tom's voice started to explore new dimensions and techniques. In the following years the band gained national succes and played hundreds of concerts in the Benelux, providing the singer with excellent performing and entertaining skills.
SPOTLIGHTS
In 2003 Tom entered the first edition of the internationally famous TV-show 'Idols' and finished 6th out of more than 3000 singers. While participating in the show, he got a phone call from Sony Music Belgium, asking him to write and record a full album. In co-operation with Basil Kühne (a young Tilburg-based producer) he wrote his first album called 'Linus Loves Lisa', dedicated to his high school sweetheart and ex-partner, Liesbet. The poprock formation 'Linus' released the single 'Monday Morning' in 2005 nationally, but the full album was released much later, by the German major ZYX, because of a merge between Sony Music and BMG in 2006. In that same winter, Sam (Tom's loving daughter) was born and the singer decided to seize to pursue the life of a touring musician and be around to see the little girl grow up...
BROADER HORIZONS
Wanting to combine his high-school education and the love for music Tom applied for a vocal coaching job at Muziek-o-droom in Hasselt, while performing as a freelance singer across the country. Bedazzled by the courses of opera singer and vocal coach Peter De Smet and wanting to thoroughly sharpen the vocal technique of his pupils, the singer attended numerous courses to feed his interest in vocal technique. By studying and teaching Tom practised his own voice on a daily basis, making it strong and versatile and enabling him to perform and record, not only with pop and rockbands, but also big bands, large orchestras, show bands, vocal groups, etc...
TODAY
Nowadays, Tom puts up several projects and acts every year and freelances with numerous bigger and smaller acts around the globe, while teaching vocal technique in Secondary School (Musart Hasselt) and music schools (Tongeren/Voeren). In the meanwhile, the singer never stopped composing, writing mainly for other artists. The passion for music, performing and composing developed into a busy but fulfilling profession of which you can discover the evidence on this website.