Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas Lang.
Thomas, before we jump into specific questions about your music, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was born in Vienna/Austria and grew up in a musical family on the outskirts of the city. At age 4, I watched a weekly, 30-minute live-music show on television called ‘Spotlight”. This was the only show on TV that featured international artists in a live performance show. I remember seeing a drummer with a very large drum set counting off a song and then playing a massive drum fill that led into the tune. I was intrigued. A few days later, my parents took me to a local fairground with live music. As the band was playing, I walked up onto the bandstand, aimed straight for the drum kit and held on to the bass drum from the front as the drummer was playing. I was barely as tall as the bass drum itself and I remember being blown away by the power and volume of that drum set. I felt the air pressure from the bass drum hitting my chest and to this day I get chills and goosebumps when I think back to that moment. Something magical happened and I was instantly hooked on “all things drum”… I was looking up at the drummer from the front, I felt the power of the instrument in my whole body, I was mesmerized by the repetitive rhythms that sounded like mantras to me and I was amazed by the physical aspect of drumming, the coordination and independence and the incredible energy the drummer brought to the music.
I asked my mom for drum lessons that day and she found a local teacher for me and sent me to get proper instruction right away. I lucked out with my first teacher, who happened to be the chair of the percussion at the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. He was a strict and old-school, authoritarian teacher, but also very inspiring extremely thorough in his instruction. I spent about seven years learning from him before he handed me off to more drum-set focused teachers and helped mentor me into the conservatory of music in Vienna. Fast forward many years and I graduated from the conservatory at age 18 and started working right away. I happened to get some great gigs with popular Austrian artists, toured and recorded with those artists internationally right away and started to get connected in the international music scene. One of the artists I was working with back then was Austrian Pop-star “Falco,” who had scored several numbers one hits worldwide with songs like “Amadeus” and “Der Kommissar.” I decided to move to London from Vienna in 1990. I began working with a lot of British artists and bands for the next 15 years, including many of my favorite Progressive Rock artists like John Wetton, UK, Asia, King Crimson and also a whole roster of Pop artists like Bonnie Tyler, Robbie Williams, Annie Lennox, Sugababes, Atomic Kitten, George Michael, Brian Ferry, Rod Stewart, Peter Gabriel and many more. After 15 years of touring and recording with many more artists from all over the world, I met my wife on a plane between London and Los Angeles.
After getting married on our second date, we decided to relocate to Los Angeles. I continued to tour and record, build my recording studio and began focusing on remote session work, more production work, composing and songwriting, and releasing several award-winning instructional books and DVD’s. For the past 16 years, I’ve been enjoying life in Los Angeles with my wife and twin-sons, writing, producing, recording and performing music all over the world with incredible artists and collaborators, as well as releasing solo-albums and more instructional material. From my early days as a musician, being able to get thorough and competent instruction from a qualified teacher, music education has been a huge part of my life and career. Naturally, I gravitated towards teaching myself when I realized how great the impact of a great teacher could be on a person’s life. After releasing a string of instructional videos and publishing several method-books with Hal Leonard and Hudson Music, I started an online drum school (www.thomaslangsdrumuniverse) to provide the best possible drumming lessons to students who have no access to a local teacher or music school. On one of my educational clinic tours to China about 12 years ago, I met the founder of the world’s largest music school franchise, Mr. Li Hongyu. His music school franchise “Nine Beats” consists of over 1200 schools all over China, with more than 350 000 physical students and millions of subscribers on their App. After several years of collaborations and many masterclasses, clinic tours and drum-festival appearances with Nine Beats in China, Mr. Li and I partnered and founded Nine Beats USA, which is headquartered in Oak Park in the greater Los Angeles area. My wife Elizabeth Lang is the CEO of the new company. Our mission and goal is to provide the best possible music education and fill the gap that is the result of cuts to funding of music and arts in public schools. I continue to work as a composer, producer, recording-and touring musician and educator, entertaining and hopefully inspiring the next generation to live a life in music and art.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Luckily, it has been a very smooth road for me. I started at age 4, got lucky with my first teachers, had wonderful support from my parents, grew up in a very artistic and inspiring environment and was allowed to pursue my passion from day 1 with support and great guidance. I honestly can’t say that I ever felt that my path was a difficult one or that I had to struggle to keep moving forward. I was lucky and had a lot of help. I was lucky because I found my passion at such an early age and was able to indulge and live that life to the max with help and support from family, teachers and friends. I worked much harder on developing my skills than pretty much anyone I knew growing up. I spent 8, 10 -or more hours a day practicing and working on my craft. I played until I passed out from exhaustion and the next day, I bandaged up my bleeding hands and did it again. I loved it and no matter how hard, painful or exhausting the practice, the rehearsals, shows and tours were, I never felt it was a struggle because I loved every minute of it. It was a joy and it still is.
Please tell us about your music.
Nine Beats USA is a franchise of drum-and music schools in North and South America. We are a subsidiary of Nine Beats China, the world’s largest franchise of music schools. Nine Beats has developed a unique method to teach music lessons and Nine Beats is known for it’s Hi-tech and extremely successful group-lesson concept that takes a lot of pressure off the individual student and focuses on group-dynamic in learning.
We are very different from other music schools because traditionally music lessons are a one-on-one experience. Nine Beats focuses on group lessons for very young children and follows a unique syllabus designed to instruct, entertain and inspire kids in a very social environment. Nine Beats provides the most advanced music education taught by some of the world’s best musicians for our older and more advanced students. No other music school covers all these bases, from very young beginners to professional players, as Nine Beats does.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
It’s not one particular memory. It is more of a general feeling. When I think back to my childhood, I remember feeling protected, safe and supported in everything I did. I felt like I could do anything, become whatever I wanted and pursue what I loved with total devotion and support. That general feeling of optimism and positivity is my favorite childhood memory.
Contact Info:
- Address: 612 Lindero Canyon Road
Oak Park CA 91377 - Website: www.thomaslangdrummer.com
- Email: thomaslang@9beatsusa.com
- Instagram: @thomaslangdrum
- Facebook: Official Thomas Lang
- Twitter: @thomaslangdrum
- Other: www.9beatsusa.com
Image Credit:
Francesco Desmaele
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