Tom Oeffling is your typical college student. He gets up early, goes to class and then casually releases music for his 270,000 monthly listeners. It’s a double life that feels surprisingly natural for him.
He releases music under the name Tommy Oeffling, though he hasn’t been “Tommy” since high school. He has a way with words, or so people keep telling him; Oeffling himself is still not convinced.
“I make pretty mediocre, white guy indie-rock, honestly,” said Oeffling. “Some people have told me that [my music] is nostalgic. Which I don’t think it is—because it’s just about me.”
Despite his self-effacing skepticism, this mediocre white guy rock led Oeffling—now a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences—and his bandmates on a summer-long tour across the country, where they performed songs from his newest album, “Picture of Health.”
“Picture of Health” was released this June. It’s Oeffling’s seventh album released on streaming platforms. Its tracks are caked in reverb, his vocals—admittedly not his favorite feature of his music—are buried behind fuzzy guitar and tremolo.
His production is understated, with clear shoegaze influences. His muted lyrics are tucked away beneath the sound of roomy drums and swirling guitar lines.
He resembles a Wilco sound—a band he heard constantly growing up—thanks to his parents and WXRT.
Of his influences, he takes after everything from the indie-rock architect Pavement, poems by Allen Ginsburg and the David Lynch movies his roommates can’t stop watching. Sometimes he’ll walk along campus and chord progressions will just come to him, while other times he finds himself writing about the experience of his friends.
Oeffling is never not writing; he has a note page on his phone. When his friends say something amusing or if a melody comes to mind, he’ll jot it down and piece it together later. Senior year doesn’t always leave Oeffling with the time to buckle down and record, but in his head, he’s always stirring up something.
“It’s my hobby, I have to do it. It’s like cooking to me,” Oeffling explained. “I love cooking [and] if I don’t cook every day, I don’t know what to do with my hands, and it’s the same way [for me] with music.”
The results have been astounding. With his summer tour wrapped, Oeffling has gathered 270 thousand monthly listeners nationwide, and he’s already setting his sights on a new West Coast tour this winter.
“I really love traveling with my buddies,” said Oeffling. “My bandmates are some of my best friends in the world [it’s] a great time just driving, listening to music and seeing new stuff with them.”
Despite experiencing a dream come true for most musicians, Oeffling seems unfazed by his success. When congratulated on one of his songs reaching 3 million streams among Spotify listeners, a figure that puts him among the platform’s top 1% of artists, he’s politely blasé.
He is thankful, but admits he never cares enough to check that stuff. In fact, he hates promoting his music, and while he’s glad to keep touring, he finds the grind of the music world exhausting. He’s quick to point out that music isn’t everything to him.
Raised by two educators, Oeffling’s real dream is to be a history teacher. Music is where he’s putting his energy now, but he never doubts that teaching is in his future.
“I think a lot about [going] straight into being a teacher. But would I regret it? And that’s part of why I am going to see if I can do music for a little bit. I can always be a teacher,” Oeffling said.
He is not always sure why music matters to him, but even when the music he makes does not feel meaningful to him, knowing that his music can resonate with others makes the effort worthwhile.
“People have told me that my music means something to them, and even if it doesn’t mean that much to me, I think that’s worth something,” said Oeffling.
Oeffling and his bandmates will be heading to the West Coast for their second tour this winter, with dates yet to be announced.
Students interested in attending or streaming his music can check out his website.
This article was written by Allison Scherquist. She can be reached at a[email protected].
