Warminster's Tom hopes for rap song success

Tom Hendry, 23, of High Street, is hoping his rap song They Don’t Know Jack will help him make it big and inspire sufferers not to let the syndrome hold them back.

He said: “It is great. I am very excited about the single. I am promoting Tourettes through my music, but at the same time promoting my music through Tourettes. You have got to make the most of what you have got and use the creativity that comes with the condition.”

His single has been adopted by Tourettes Action UK who have written to Mr Hendry saying they would like to feature the song on their website.

Mr Hendry has been writing and recording his own music since his early teens and performed his first rap song in front of his class at Bratton Primary School on his 10th birthday.

Despite only being diagnosed with the condition in February, Mr Hendry has suffered with Tourettes all his life.

His symptoms, such as clapping, shouting and touching his face repeatedly, were heightened after his father Ed – a freelance photographer who had worked for the Wiltshire Times – died from lung cancer when he was 13.

He said: “When I was 12/13; that was the hardest part. I couldn’t stop touching the floor and screaming things out and touching my nose. It’s not anger; it is a malfunction in the brain. My mum, Sally, first noticed it when I was nine as I started touching my nose a lot and coughing.”

The musician, who also draws animations and restores motorcycles, believes his experiences at Matravers School, in Westbury, and Warminster School helped him craft his music to be a mix of intellectualism with a streetwise attitude.

Mr Hendry, who has done a lot of charity work for Age Concern and Help The Aged, said: “I am the only hip hop artist that doesn’t swear. I get more impact that way and have more space to say words that actually mean something.”

To find out more about Mr Hendry’s music, visit www.reptunes.com or see www.tourettes-action.org.

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