From a long line of Irish musicians on his father’s side and designers and draftsmen on this mothers, Tom Waters grew up in an arty household.

Tom’s dad working for Stanley Kubrick meant Tom was weaned on his movies and practices which gave him a lifelong passion for photography, design and the logistics of production with an almost overly obsessive eye for detail.

After studying Media and Film Studies in college, Tom moved into location managing for film in London. During this time he continued moonlighting with his band The Zipheads and with the band’s growing success he quit the day job to study Fine Art at the University of Hertfordshire where he graduated with a First Class Honours in 2012, showing in exhibitions at Truman Brewery, Digswell Arts Trust and Bodhini Gallery.

He continued as a touring musician all over the UK, Europe and the US, using his free time to apprentice in bespoke furniture making under Mauricio Dominici drawing on his years of self-taught double-bass repairing.

Around this time he became involved with Electric Umbrella, a charity run by musicians for people with learning disabilities running music workshop sessions.

After leaving the band in 2020 he began working in sash restoration and studying life sculpture under Alessandro Cervizzi at Hampstead School of Art and became a member of Hertfordshire Woodcarvers.

He continues working with Electric Umbrella including the reimagining of instruments to be more accessible for disabled people.