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Mar 27, 2023 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Nick D'Agostino

After retiring his previous outfit, Active Bird Community, NYC indie singer/songwriter Tom D’Agustino made their debut as Homeschool in 2021 with their Homeschool: Book I EP. They quickly followed the record with last year’s Homeschool Book II EP, all while making new forays into acting on the show Dear Edward.

The past year also has seen them exploring the boundaries of their music and masculinity, searching for more honest and authentic modes of being. That searching process serves as the foundation for their newly announced EP, Just Now, due out on May 19th. As D’Agustino explains, “The bulk of these songs were written as one-off experiments where I tried to really question what it was I wanted out of music and out of my day-to-day experience of life.”

The record’s focus on identity finds them exploring different characters, revealing new aspects to themself they hadn’t yet revealed in their art. They say, “As a nonbinary, genderfluid person, I felt that my biggest obstacle in truly understanding myself was finding permission to express my fluidity to the world but also to myself,” says D’Agustino, “and that permission has to come from within.”

Accompanying the news of the forthcoming EP, D’Agustino has also shared the record’s lead single, “Loving You To Death,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Loving You To Death” finds D’Agustino returning with one of their most fervent and explosive efforts yet. Where other tracks have leaned into shades of indie folk and anthemic pop rock, their latest track is upbeat and propulsive, driven by a driving bassline and an animated vocal performance. At moments the track has an almost punk energy, but D’Agustino also softens some of the jagged edges with dreamy synth textures and a blissful hook. The result is one of their most electrifying tracks, but it also retains D’Agustino’s powerfully vulnerable songwriting.

As D’Agustino explains, “‘Loving You To Death’ was written during the tail-end of the Covid lockdown when my partner and I had just moved into an apartment together. We had spent a year living with her parents before that, and this song explores my neediness, clinginess, and overall attachment to her. It’s a fun, upbeat way to interrogate my constant need for love and reassurance that I have value. I think by reminding someone how much I love them, I can be sheltered from how I don’t love myself enough. I’m sure all that affection can get annoying though, so in the song I am trying to convince her of all of these positive things about me so she won’t think I’m a needy little baby. But I so am.”

Check out the song below, along with our exclusive Q&A with D’Agustino.. The Just Now EP is out everywhere on May 19th. To celebrate the EP, Homeschool is also playing a release show at Baby’s All Right with Libby Larkin. Tickets are available here.

How would you describe this upcoming EP in the context of this new Homeschool era? What about it are you most excited for listeners to hear?

I think this upcoming EP takes a lot of leaps creatively and thematically. Since this project is my first time tracking the majority of the material myself, I felt free to take a lot of risks with how I chose to record certain instruments, which genres I tried to channel, and how honest I could be about how I am thinking and feeling. I’m most excited to show listeners another dimension of Homeschool, one that welcomes experimentation while not being too self-serious.

Can you describe the story behind “Loving You To Death?” Do you feel as though writing a track this vulnerable and personal has helped you in your relationships with yourself and others?

It’s funny because when I think about this song I don’t necessarily think about vulnerability, although I am sharing a lot of personal thoughts and feelings. I am more drawn to the way the song lists all of my flaws and quirks in my relationship, without being too dark or depressing. It’s more, “I know I am a lot to handle sometimes, but I am here, and I believe I am good enough.” I think it’s definitely helped because the more you reflect on how your actions affect your partner, the more you can show up for them - even if you’re a hangry little baby sometimes…

Sonically, where have you been deriving inspiration from?

That’s a tough one. It’s hard to isolate which influences pop out on these songs, from Pedro the Lion to New Order to Alex Cameron. I’m sure there were a hundred artists that were floating around my subconscious when I was making this. But these songs really took me back to being 13 in my bedroom, experimenting with synths and drum machines, trying to see how far I could push myself to make something that resonated with me.

As an all-around artist, from musicianship to acting and everything in between, how would you say that these different mediums of creativity have informed each other?

I think my history in music and performing has really helped me feel comfortable being vulnerable in public when it comes to acting. While I am new to the medium, it seems to me that acting has a lot to do with figuring out what your character wants and using language and behavior, and decision-making to get there. Songwriting and experimenting with sound have really helped me understand what it is I want out of life or how I am feeling at a given time, pushing myself to make decisions to move forward honestly and authentically. Also, pursuing a career in acting means signing up for consistent failure and rejection. I’ve experienced pretty much every kind of failure when it comes to music, and without sounding too corny, it’s truly where I learned the most about what it means to pursue a creative life. Failure is the most important part, the more you fail the better you get.