Welcome to my website! This is a simple site where I can just post what I've been up to, thanks for checking it out!
I am a performer, producer and educator currently living in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.
My musical journey to now:
After completing a degree in jazz performance (drumset) at Massey University Wellington in 2005, I secured a fulltime performance role with the Wellington-based ensemble Strike Percussion, which saw extensive national and international touring for the next five years with the group twice attending and performing at the Taiwanese International Percussion Convention. Much as I love my Strike brothers, all god things must come to an end, and once my son was born (we spent a month in Singapore touring when he was a month old) I decided to move on and focus on teaching closer to home. I left Strike in 2009 and worked as a session player and itinerant teacher in the Wellington area. As a drumset player and percussionist you can hear some of my playing from that time on recordings such as Rhian Sheehan’s ‘Standing in Silence’ (2009), Strike Percussion’s ‘Sketches’ (2009), The Family Cactus’ ‘Spirit Lights’ (2011) and more.
I moved with my family to Hawkes Bay in 2011 to take the role of Head of Music Studies at the Eastern Institute of Technology and has developed programmes as well as numerous online teaching resources, including the website ‘The Modern Beat’ which hosts a number of comprehensive video and written courses and practise tools for drumset players. At the moment we're all in Covid-19 lock down so I thought I'd make this resource free and open to all - you can check it out here.
As a solo artist Tom has produced four EPs and one full-length album to date (The Devil You Know, 2013) under the alias Kingfischer. You can find those on spotify - or just head to the Listen menu up top.
In 2018 I started composing commercially with a good friend of mine Jonny Pipe , called Bandolier. Since then this has been a major focus of mine and I've been branching into film and tv - more of that later.
I completed a Master of Music in contemporary composition through the University of Auckland in 2016, my thesis and body of compositions focusing on atypical rhythmic stress and transfigured audio in contemporary popular music. I have since begun doctorate studies through the University of Auckland, the topic of my research being pedagogical applications of Digital Audio Workstation-assisted practice.