Icebreaker Festival 2025: Fast Trains invite you to escape into ourWorld

Now they’re back there, and headlining the same stage, in The Vaults, where they made their debut.

Icebreaker is the annual celebration of new and unsigned music which sees dozens of bands play across numerous stages in Southsea in a single day.

Much has changed for Fast Trains since that live debut. While the band is a vehicle for the music of Tom Wells, he is the only remaining member of the band who played that day.

As the former bassist for Portsmouth hopefuls Kassassin Street, Wells was joined for that Fast Trains debut by his old colleagues, drummer Nath Hill and his brother Ryan Hill, who depped on bass at the last minute.

Tom recalls: "Dan [Sawyers], who was on bass, couldn’t play because he was ill. Ryan learnt the set literally that morning, otherwise we would have had to pull out. He had to learn the set, and then play it, which was ridiculous.

"Dan is the only one still with me in the live band, but he couldn’t be there for that gig.”

This time around, Dan is now on guitar with the rest of the band completed by Matthew Tiller on guitar, Roy Ludford on bass and Chris Arrowsmith on drums.

And there’s a debut album – Escape to ourWorld – which was released yesterday (January 30). The album is a natural extension of Wells’ ethos for the project – it has always been about building a community of likeminded souls, whether in his creative circle or for the fans.

They have previously released two EPs – Welcome to ourWorld volumes one and two, and fans who sign up to the mailing list are described as ‘citizens’ of ourWorld.

"That's the whole point of why it started,” explains Tom, “to give people an alternative space to escape to. And that's what the album's all about.

"The album is all about escapism – all the characters in it are trying to escape certain situations, be that physical places or emotional places, and get somewhere else.

"That's the same as us getting people to escape to 'our world', as it were, to somewhere a bit different, that's a bit outside of their day-to-day lives, and then, yeah, to offer some kind of escapist relief.”

In keeping with this theme, the Fast Trains project has become somewhat immersive – it’s even got its own written language.

"If people hear it on the radio or see us at a gig and that's it, that's absolutely fine, but it's got multiple layers to dig into should they want to.

"If you want to get into all the codes behind all the artwork that goes with it, then you can go down that path and try and crack that, or all the lyrical themes that are in there, or all the hidden little Easter eggs that I put into the music and into the art that are there to give it a bit more of a sense of depth than just skirting on the surface of it.

"You don't have to go that deep to enjoy it, I hope, but it's there if you want to.

"And that's the same as when we do gigs and stuff - how can we do something a little bit different and bring people into a different space, or form a sense of community, rather than just saying, 'we're doing a gig'?

"Can we do something visually that's a bit different, or use spaces that people don't normally use and decorate them in our own way, or do something sonically a bit different? It’s really fun, and this stops gigs from being run-of-the-mill, and hopefully people look forward to a Fast Trains gig, because there's something a little bit different that's been thought about, rather than just thrown together.”

And that hieroglyph-like text on all the releases and social media posts?

"One of the band members' friends said to me: ‘The latest post you put up, it says this’, and they were right! I love it. I love it when people get into it and try and crack it.”

The album has been a long time coming and reflects “a massive sense of personal achievement” for the songwriter. "I started writing it in 2021. I did a two-week creative retreat over in Suffolk. I locked myself in this little bungalow, and took my acoustic guitar out there, and there's a piano there and stuff, and wrote all the songs in two weeks.

"But then, because of things being what they are, then we did gigs, and there’s been lots of change around lineups and stuff like that, and I've been touring since whilst trying to record it. And now, three-and-a-half years later, it's ready, mixed, mastered, I've got the artwork, I'm literally waiting on the vinyl to arrive as we speak.

“It's the biggest thing I've ever undertaken, having been in a situation previously with a band that fell apart during this process, and seen lots of friends’ bands who try and get the album done and never quite get there, I'm feeling very, very proud of getting it all done.”

Turning to the old cliché of “I do this for myself, and if anyone else like it, it’s a bonus,” he adds: “The achievement of getting it done, is massive, and now I really don't care whether people like it or not, in the nicest possible way,” he laughs. “It's done, and it's very us, and I think people really will like it, and I think it's a very good bit of work.

"People who like us already will think it's a step up from anything we've done before, but I'm totally in the mindset of: it doesn't really matter what the other people think.”

And the band lineup?

"We're in a really good spot now where we've got the definitive line-up, and all the shows I'm booking in are all band ones, because I know they're going to be The Band.

"As much as I love the solo gigs”, Wells also plays some Fast Trains gigs solo, “we know our roles, and we know each other and how it's all going to come together.

"It's been quite changeable in the past, but for the last six months it's been spot on. I think we're, touch wood, over the worst of the incidents and accidents!

"We'd not been able to really get that momentum for the last year or two because of all the changes we've had, so every time we started, it's like, oh no, we've got to change, we've got to find our feet again with new people, whereas at the moment I can look ahead and we can start putting things in and doing things again. I'm very lucky that they want to do it, and are willing to give up their time to do it, I'm blessed.”

The visual aspect has always played an important part in Fast Trains’ world-building as well. Debut single and video Measure by Measure back in 2019 featured art and animation by Sam Brandon, which provided a distinctive identity to the project.

For the album’s artwork and the accompanying visuals, Tom turned to Andrew Foster. The two have been longstanding friends from both being part of the local music scene – Foster is also a solo singer-songwriter, but in recent years he has been focusing more on creating visual art.

"We've known each other for years, and we always said about doing stuff together. When I saw his latest work, I just thought he could really fit with the kind of alternative world that we're creating.

"His work's very layered and detailed, and when you start digging into it, you spot little details, and I think that lends itself really, really well to what we do. He'll also put in little printed messages as well, and it's still being abstract.

“What I did musically, it was kind of familiar, but otherworldly, you can see where the influence is being drawn from, but it's something new, and I think Andrew's artwork is very similar to that.

"You can see the influences there, it’s very abstract, and he's got that kind of Brutalist thing going on that I had in the early artwork as well, so it just lends itself really, really well to what we’re doing.

It's been a really good, easy collaboration.”

It’s all part of the extended Fast Trains family of creatives that Wells has been trying to foster.

"I’ve got these really talented people who get it, and understand what I'm about, and want to do things, because Fast Trains provides a platform to do things a bit differently, which is the whole point.

"Fast Trains is a mask that we can all hide behind and do something cool, rather than something that I feel is sort of self-absorbed.

"I could never go out there and be just ‘Tom Wells’, even though, obviously, all the music and stuff, I've got a massive hand in it, and I'm the consistent figure in it all the way through whatever iteration it takes, but it has to be a thing that's bigger than me.”

Icebreaker Festival

Icebreaker Festival began in 2014. The event champions new and unsigned performers from across the south.

Dozens of acts from a wide variety of genres play in venues along Albert Road and Elm Grove in Southsea.

This year, 78 acts are slated to appear across eight stages on Saturday, February 1.

​​Tickets cost £20, £25 on the day. For more information and tickets, go to icebreakerfestival.com.

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