Background
Scott was born in Liverpool and grew up on the Cantril Farm Estate, now Stockbridge Village.
Scott was born in Liverpool and grew up on the Cantril Farm Estate, now Stockbridge Village.
He originally started out as the band"s bassist, but switched to guitar after David "Yorkie" Palmer joined in 1997, partly so that he could concentrate on vocals. Before Space, he played in various Liverpool bands, such as the Substitutes (with Jamie Murphy), Hello Sunset and the Australians (with Franny Griffiths, who later became Space"s keyboardist). He formed Space with Andy Parle and Murphy in 1993, with Griffiths joining a year later.
Scott"s father, a former Ford factory worker, died of cancer in 1995, an event which would later inspire "Avenging Angels".
When the band toured the United States for the first time in 1997, Scott lost his voice for two months due to stress, and the band subsequently had to cancel their tour. Scott stated that after trying numerous kinds of therapies and cures, he saw a psychic, Billy Roberts, who was able to predict the exact date it would come back.
Space split in 2005, and Scott formed the Drellas, the original line-up of which included Space"s then drummer Leon Caffrey, and Philosophy Hartley – who had previously worked with Space as a producer and technician – on bass. The Drellas then morphed into Tommy Scott & the Red Scare, featuring Scott, Hartley and two new members, Allan Jones (drums) and Ryan Clarke (keyboards), as well as a saxophone player.
Hartley, Jones and Clarke would all later join the new line-up of Space, when the band reformed in 2011, following the death of Andy Parle two years earlier.
Both Scott and Murphy admitted to having fallen out with each other, but were on amicable terms by the time the band reunited. Although Scott cites films and cartoons such as Speedy Gonzales as his main influences, musically, his influences include Cypress Hill, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley – as referenced in "A Liddle Biddy Help From Elvis", from Tin Planet – and the Slits. As a teenager, he frequented Eric"s and saw several bands that would go on to influence him, such as the Au Pairs and Spizz Energi.
Scott has used the following equipment:
Fender Coronado guitar
Vox AC30 amplifier
Fender Pro Reverb amplifier
1972 Tiesco guitar
1969 Audition Sunburst guitar
1976 Starway Sunburst guitar
Echoman Delay pedal
Ibanez Tube Screamer pedal
VHT Combo amplifier
Danelectro Tape Echo pedal.
