Tom Bona's drumming philosophy is to play it simple with a solid conviction and a good groove: "The less I play, the more work I get! I like to play dynamically and leave plenty of room for the vocalist or soloist." Tom Bona enjoys playing Blues, R&B, Pop/Rock, Funk, Swing, and Jazz.
His Career Goals:
To be respected and recognized as a fine musician and to be blessed with the pleasure of playing and recording music for the rest of my life.
To play drums in every country, on every continent, and for every person on this earth.
To continue to develop my songwriting skills, my piano and guitar playing chops and my producing/engineering abilities.
Background:
Tom Bona's been drumming professionally since 1980. He is originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, where he was fortunate to have a very musical family background. Tom: "I have been playing drums for as long as I can remember, starting out on a 4-piece Silvertone, blue-sparkly drum that my father actually bought for my mother in 1974. Silvertone drums were manufactured by Pearl Drums in the late 60's, and distributed by Simpson-Sears. So because of this fact, I have been playing Pearl-made drums since 1974, and I have always had one or two Pearl kits on the go, over the last 30 years.
From 1983 to 1986, I performed in the High School Band Music Program (jazz, dixieland and pop charts), under the direction of Tom Rusinak.
At the age of 14, I performed with my uncle's band, Spice, the hottest band on the east coast at that time, 1982.
I studied jazz percussion with Mike Vosbein at Saint Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, 1989-1990."
Tom Bona has lived in Toronto since 1995.
Inspiration: Jeff Porcaro, Vinnie Colaiuta, Fred Below, Al Jackson Jr., Joseph Modeliste, Pat Mastelotto, Brian MacLeod, Mike Urbano, Donny Chapman, Paul Eisan, and Mike Sloski among others.
Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez
