Tom Allum is a sound designer based in Kwoorabup/Denmark, Western Australia. Field recordings, aural stories and electronic composition form the basis of his textural and reflective works. 

In 2010 he began performing as a part of a number of live acts, including 80’s inspired Bastian’s Happy Flight and instrumental band, Antelope. Finding moments of sonic cohesion while jamming with others became somewhat of an addiction for Tom, and the bands developed small but dedicated followings both locally and internationally. Contrasting this outward expression, Tom became increasingly interested in the more intimate and textural forms of sound. His practice expanded to encompass field recording, interview gathering, synthesis experimentation and film.

Tom studied Live Sound For Theatre and Events at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) before co-founding Barking Wolf in 2013. With a mission to tell socially relevant stories through film and sound, the organisation became the mechanism by which Tom’s calling for collaboration was formed. The company was tasked with everything from making films about dying telegraphers, to designing cook-books, to making commercials before  finding a niche in historically and socially oriented documentaries. 

From 2016, while working in artist studios, Tom began broadening his practice to encompass art installations, artist mentoring, teaching and audio production for film and TV. Tom began taking ‘sound walks’ for mindfulness and studying yoga teacher training. His practice gravitated back toward a more direct form of expression - sound itself as the artform. To explore sound more as a path for understanding the nature of human perception.

Tom’s projects are often collaborative and explore the relationships between sound and other  mediums. His work encourages a greater sense of reflection and inquiry through kinetic and vibrational aspects. Tom continues to embrace the beginner mindset of still ‘working it out’ because he believes this is where his growth as an artist occurs.