Born in Japan and raised in Seattle, Washington, Tomo Nakayama is an artist whose melodic, complex and emotionally compelling music has been praised by NPR, New York Times, and The Stranger. After two critically acclaimed indie-folk albums “Fog on the Lens” and “Pieces of Sky” (named “Best Folk Act” by Seattle Weekly), he surprised his fans by releasing the synthpop album “Melonday” (on Seattle label Porchlight Records). Co-produced by Yuuki Matthews (The Shins, Teardrops, Sufjan Stevens) and mastered by Dave Cooley (M83, Paramore, Tame Impala), “Melonday” was named one of the Top Albums of 2020 by Seattle Times, KEXP, and Seattle Met. and debuted at #1 on KEXP’s NW Charts. He has toured across the US and Japan, sharing the stage with Cornelius, Wye Oak, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Ben Gibbard, Damien Jurado, and Shugo Tokumaru. He has collaborated with Dave Matthews, Sera Cahoone, Jherek Bischoff, and Jeremy Enigk (Sunny Day Real Estate). An active, longtime member of the Seattle music and arts community, Tomo has also curated and produced numerous events for Forterra (Ampersand Live) and Town Hall, where he also served as Artist in Residence. He also composed music and appeared as an actor in the Lynn Shelton film “Touchy Feely” with Elliot Page and Rosemarie DeWitt.
