Tommy White played drums in Dutch "theater metal" rockers Cirrha Niva until he quit in April 2010 due to health issues.
In November 1997 a "difference in musical interests" resulted in a line-up change with Jack Puijker leaving the band. Tommy White became his successor. Previously White played with Asylum, M Bush, Goize Ludwigson, X Nowhere and Alter Ego.
Tommy White will feature on the 2007 Alter Ego X DVD with the title "Not For Intellectuals". The concert was filmed in November 2006, just a few weeks before current drummer Björn Scheers joined Alter Ego X. Tommy White also appears in the Rockumentary that is added as an extra to this DVD.
Musical biography of Tommy (in his own words:
I really can't tell you why I wanted to play drums in the first place, and who influenced me, but as a little kid I always liked music. KISS was one of the first bands I discovered, and to this day, they are still my favourite band.
Like I said, I don't remember what started me to play drums, but I do remember that around 1982 I decided that I wanted to play drums. I didn't had any money back then to buy such an expensive instrument, so I improvised a drum kit in my bedroom, which consisted of two chairs, a pillow and some knitting- needles…
It wasn't until 1985, that I finally could afford to buy my first set of drums. I bought a black 5 pcs "Linko" drum kit.
I practiced each day for a solid 2 hours, 7 days a week! As time passed by I added more and more to my drum kit. By the end of that same year, my 5 pcs set of drums was changed into a 26 pcs drum kit.
Somewhere in 1986 I started thinking about joining a band. And that's where all the trouble started…
Asylum
From what I remember from that very first audition…
I never had to learn certain songs, just go in and see what happens… Some songs they were covering at the time, I was familiar with like, "Doctor Doctor" from UFO, "Restless and wild" from Accept and "Mr. Crowley" from Ozzy Osbourne. I don't remember if I played them well, but after the audition they told me that I was hired.
For me Asylum was all about learning how to collaborate with other musicians, and writing songs. They were all very nice guys, and on the same level as I was at the time.
I decided to quit the band after 18 months, and the band fell apart after that. We only played three live-concerts as far as I know.
A rehearsal tape exists of this band.
M-Bush
Shortly after the break-up of Asylum in the end of 1987, I joined M-Bush early 1988. Also for this band I remember very little from the audition.
They sent me their first official demo with three songs on it, which I had to learn. When I actually auditioned, one of their guitar players was ill, so he wasn't there. Nevertheless, I played with the other guys, and they promised to call me back. After a few days they did, and told me that I was in…
After about three months of rehearsals, I played my first gig with the band. We also had some line-up changes during this period. With new members we recorded the second demo of the band.
This was also the first time for me that I actually recorded in a professional studio. We released this demo in 1989 entitled "Heart of stone".
I was going through some personal problems at the time, and as the band couldn't handle the situation I was in, I decided to leave the band after being with them for little over one year. As far as I know they tried a new drummer for a while, but that didn't work out very well. The band broke up shortly after that.
I'm not sure how many shows we played, I think around 16 shows while I was in the band.
There are a few live-tapes available from this band. Only one videotape has been found so far.
Goize-Ludwigson
It took me six months to get healthy again, and during that time, I never touched my drum kit or was even thinking about playing in a band.
I really don't remember anything from the audition for this band… Although it was not exactly hard rock, more like pop rock, I really liked their music.
During the time that I was in the band, I recorded two demos with them. The first one in 1990, we didn't give it a name. The second one was recorded in 1991, this one also didn't have a name.
We didn't play that much live because this kind of music wasn't really popular back then, but we were one of the very first bands that performed a concert "Unplugged".
I left this band in 1992 because of musical & personal differences.
A few videotapes are known to exist. Also some live-tapes have been found.
X-Nowhere
Also for this band I don't remember a lot about the audition. I responded to their ad for a drummer early 1993.
They were playing progressive metal and they sent me a tape with a few songs on it. I joined the band, and a few weeks later the female vocalist and one of the guitar players left the band.
After a few months when I was familiar with all their material we were looking for a new guitar player and vocalist. Within' one year we finally found a suitable guitar player, but we never found a new vocalist.
Despite two years of rehearsing we decided to call it a day, and broke up the band. There's one rehearsal-tape of this band in the vaults…
Alter Ego
While I was still playing in X-Nowhere, Chris van Uden approached me from the band Alter Ego. He asked me if I would like to do a gig with them, as they had just fired their drummer, but still had to do a show. As I wasn't planning to do live-concerts with X-Nowhere anyway, I agreed.
It was supposed to be only one show. I learned the songs from a tape, and after three weeks I played this gig with them. Funny detail was, that I never even met their lead guitar player until the gig, as I hadn't rehearsed with the band.
After this gig they were offered another gig, which I also played with them. Me and the band got along great, and as X-Nowhere was disbanded by that time, I joined Altyer Ego permanently.
With this band I recorded one CD: "No Holding Back". After many shows, between 1993 and 1995, the band broke up because of musical & personal differences. Recently its original members have reformed the band again.
A few videotapes and live-tapes are known to exist.
Side-projects
It was also during this time that a friend of mine called me, and asked me if I was interested in doing some recording-sessions for other musicians.
Hans van den Heuvel, a well-known name in the music-business, was looking for musicians for his projects. Besides his work for OOR-magazine, he's also a songwriter and guitar player and owns a recording studio. (Raisin' Hell studios)
I started out by receiving finished songs on a tape, which had only drum loops or a click tracks as a guide. Memorized them at home, and recorded them a few weeks later. Hans gave me a lot of freedom to come up with my own ideas, and when he didn't like something, he made suggestions in trying something different.
In 9 years of working together we became good friends, and nowadays he's just telling me that he wrote some new songs, invites me to listen, and record them at the same time. Usually, only a keyboard- or guitar part and a guide vocal have been recorded, when I put down my part. I lost count, but guess I must have provided drum tracks for approximately 250 songs over the years.
The great thing about these projects is, that I worked with a lot of different (famous) musicians over the years. Many of them I haven't even met…
CIRRHA NIVA
In the beginning of 1998 I joined Cirrha Niva. In order to audition for the band, I was sent a tape with three songs on it. It took me a few weeks to learn this stuff, as it was very complex music.
But when I auditioned, everybody was very enthusiastic, and from that moment on I became the newest member.
I've been with Cirrha Niva for six years now, and there are some great stories to tell…
I regret the fact that Peter, Liselotte and Rommert aren't part of the band anymore. To me, they will always belong to this "family" called Cirrha Niva, and it won't be the same without them…
But I'm also confident that Cirrha Niva will continue as a solid unit, and still will be able to create some beautiful music.
Sander Glas
