Tom Cridland interviews Seal after turning his drink-ravaged life around.,,,
A man who kicked 12-hour binge-drinking sessions to launch a music career and a podcast series featuring global music legends credits his faith in Christ for his transformation.
For eight years, Tom Cridland, 31, drank himself to oblivion up to four times a week, his reckless lifestyle causing devastation, a 30-kilo weight gain and endangering his life.
Now, four years sober after having rediscovered his childhood Christian faith, the Londoner has produced 400 episodes of his Greatest Music of all Time podcast and is supporting American soul group The Stylistics on their UK tour this autumn.
Tom’s turnaround came in 2017 after a drunken spectacle at a birthday meal for his girlfriend Deb’s dad.
“We were celebrating in a nice restaurant and I made a total fool of myself. I picked up a chocolate pudding with my fork and put it all in my mouth in one go. It was awful,” he says.
“After I sobered up, I realised how much of a fool I’d made of myself. That day was the final straw.”
Tom decided to take action. He printed out an Alcoholics Anonymous questionnaire detailing why he wanted to give up drinking and pinned it to his wall.
Then he dusted off the Bible his godmother had given him at 18 and began to read, rediscovering the Christian faith and morality that underpins his life today.
“That’s what made me give up drinking. Having God kept me grounded,” he says.
With more free time now the binges had stopped, Tom focused his attention on music.
“My big thing is music from the Sixties and Seventies, so I started the podcast and interviewed some of my idols – Annie Lennox, Smokey Robinson, Seal, Lynyrd Skynyrd and gospel singers like Brian Courtney Wilson.
“I also interview public figures and actors like Kevin Bacon and Christina Hendricks about music and who they consider to be the greatest artists of all time – it’s like Desert Island Discs.”
His highlight, he says, was Smokey Robinson.
“He’s got this incredible high voice. He was talking about growing up down the road from Aretha Franklin and the Four Tops. It felt like I was in the presence of a living legend, but also a really nice person.”
Tom started making his own music and was invited to open for The Stylistics on their 20-date UK tour.
While the thought of playing piano to an audience of thousands is nerve-wracking, Tom says it is an example of what can be achieved when you live a life of faith.
“Alcohol was not the deciding factor for me. I rediscovered faith and a life of sobriety and it’s a pretty exciting life.”
