Thomas has dedicated most of his life to studies in percussion/drums and his career as a free-lance musician. His never ending drive and motivation for expanding his knowledge has taken him to places of special musical interest like New York, Rio de Janeiro and Havana for in-depth studies.
Among his teachers is nuyorican latin jazz legend Bobby Sanabria, the premier specialist in Afro-Cuban and Afro-Haitian percussion in New York, John Amira, the Brazilian pandeiro virtuoso Sergio Krakowski and the musical director at the Conjunto Folclorico de Oriente in Cuba, Juan Bauste Granda.
Though the folk music tradition always has been the starting point, the use of percussion in jazz and progressive electronica has been Thomas’ focus the last couple of years. By widening his field of work in this direction a lot of new possibilities have opened up with the use of samplers, looping-techniques and the computer based gear used in the DJ industry. The integration of this new technology in acoustic music is Thomas’ speciality. His semi-live performances based on this concept are very popular among clubs.
The project in which Thomas has brought these ideas the furthest is the quintet Soundscape Orchestra.
Another project based on these ideas is his experimental trio with mallet specialist Anders Åstrand and drum virtuoso Hux Nettermalm. The trio was invited to perform at Pasic in 2016, the worlds premier percussion festival.
