January 2006

New year -- new life! All new everything! We settled
in nicely in Los Angeles and the boys are enjoying the
sunshine as much as mum and dad.

The day before NAMM 2006 kicked off this year, I
performed together with Steve Smith and JoJo Mayer at
the official press/launch event of the new Sonor SQ2
series.
I had a great time rehearsing and jamming with Steve
and Jojo and we will definitely do this again later
this year. The SQ2 series are the latest and best in
modern acoustic drum-kit manufacturing and they sound
absolutely incredible. My X-ray kit is part of the
SQ2-series and I love the sound and the look of it.
(Check out the pics.) The SQ2 drums look incredible,
amazing finishes, brand new hardware and fittings, new
logos, all new everything yet again for me in 2006!

At NAMM I performed daily for Roland on the TD-20
V-drum kit in the showcase theatre in their booth.
Thanks to everyone who dropped in to see me try new
things with this amazing piece of gear. It took me a
while to program my 2 TD-20 brains (I have too many
inputs for just one!) but I got there in the end.

I did a few signing sessions and hung with all my
friends and colleagues. NAMM is always a great hang.
Be sure to check out the pics.

Speaking of all new everything, for the first time in
my life (!!!) I am renting a rehearsal-studio and I
have been going down there almost daily to program my
gear and to bash around on the drums. It’s the first
time in years that I’ve had a bit of regular practice
and it feels great. I’ll be doing a lot more of that
this year!

I’ve also started writing with my friend Nick D’
Virgilio (Spock’s Beard, Tears For Fears). We are
writing and recording pretty crazy stuff, I’ll keep
you all posted on what’s happening The rest of the
month was filled with house hunting and work on
various new CD and DVD-projects.

We have been hunting for a nice house since we got
here and things are looking good, hopefully I can
start working in my own home studio again soon.

Cheers, Tom

Los Angeles

Hi everyone!

I closed out 2005 with a LOT of traveling! In November
I took me to South Africa although I was nearly forced
to cancel due to a severe flu attack and a completely
jacked up lower back. It all worked out in the end and
thanks to my frequent flyer upgrades (thanks Star
Alliance!) and some potent medication I was able to
get to Capetown in a decent condition. The sun in S.A.
helped me get over my cold and a week of heavy
drumming helped work out the kinks in my back.

We finally sold our London home, so my family and I
had to embark on a forced 2-month holiday (darn!). We
spent time in Belgium, Vienna, Tyrol (Austria) and
Florida. We finally arrived in L.A. on December 31st
-- just in time to start the new year with all new
things!