Drummerszone: Let’s start with you first: what were your early influences and musical inspirations?

Thomas Kalksma:
Maiden was the first metal band I ever listened to. After that Metallica, Slayer, Death and Sepultura followed. The song that got me into (air)drumming, was Inquisition Symphony of Sepultura’s Schizofrenia. I would airdrum along that song and would be totally glad if I kept it up ´till the end of the song.

Are you fully autodidact?

Yes, I never had any lesson. Maybe I should take some lessons to improve. Taking lessons from a jazz-drummer would make me feel like I´m starting all over again…

For those who are unfamiliar with Detonation: can you give a short introduction of the band and the music?

We´ve been playing since 1997, our style is thrashy melodic death metal. We´re on Osmose Productions. Through the years we developed our own sound which is pretty brutal, although we´re always compared to Swedish bands. We have played with The Haunted, Within Temptation, Orphanage and many others. We toured Europe one time with Dimension Zero. Also we did a self-organized tour in the UK in 2003.

How many copies of \"An Epic Defiance\" has your record label Osmose sold so far?

“An Epic Defiance” sold a few thousand copies, but I don\'t know the exact numbers.

So, no endorsements coming up?

No, unfortunately no endorsements yet. It\'s harder than you think to get endorsements, and anyway the first kind of endorsement I would
ever get would be a sort of discount deal. That\'s how it works for drummers of relatively small bands. You have to at least play in In Flames or something to get your stuff for free :(

Initially you self released “An Epic Defiance” without a label, until Osmose Records showed interest and re-released it worldwide in 2003. This is quite similar to Textures. Could this be the beginning of a growing trend?

It could be. Labels don´t base their judgment on one demo any more. In times of downloading and decreasing influence of bigger labels, bands realize they can accomplish success with working hard which means rehearse a lot, and make sure you have a killer debut album. Modern bands like Soilwork, Killswitch Engage, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Textures play their instruments on a very high level and that partially causes their success.

Looking back at all the different recordings sessions, tours, etc. during the years, what has made the most impression on you as a musician?

I can’t point out one experience in particular. I love doing studio work, and working with Hans in Excess studios has always been great. Our last tour with Dimension Zero was just really cool. Despite the fact we played to not more then ten people half of the gigs, it was the best tour we had. We had a great time and gave our best every night. But the coming tour will probably top that!

Could you tell a bit more about the latest Detonation recordings?

We actually wanted to have “Portals to Uphobia”, our second album, recorded in the summer of 2004. Because of my arm injury the writing and recording of “Portals” was delayed. Afterwards it was good for the band to have - kind of - a break. We did a pre-production on my hard disk recorder and listened to the songs and adjusted them until we were satisfied. I went to the studio on my own and recorded the drum parts in three days so we took our time. We recorded all songs with click track, to get things extra tight. I didn´t play my snare drum with rimshots, so we had to trigger the snare because we missed some frequencies. We spent three weeks in the studio. The recording went without any problems.

In what ways does “Portals...” differ from \"An Epic Defiance\"? What aspects have remained the same?

I think all things that could have been improved compared to “Epic” have improved on “Portals”. We just grew comfortable in our own style. “Portals” is a bit more brutal and slightly less melodic and the vocals are definitely more powerful. Our will to do better has remained the same haha! Today I´m not totally satisfied anymore about my playing on “Portals” but that´s okay, this way I stay focused.

What aspects of your playing on \"Portals\" does not satisfy you anymore?

Overall, I\'m pretty satisfied with the drums on \'Portals\', but I should have played harder, because that makes your sound more \'explosive\'. John Tempesta on Testament\'s album “Low” has the perfect drum sound to me. That\'s because he hits hard on that album. Besides that there are some drum fills and some backbeats here and there that aren\'t timed as precise as they could have, although every part was played with a metronome.

Could you tell us a bit about the process behind the recording?

When we enter the studio the basics of the songs are finished. We add some extra harmonies to make the music better, but do some experiments as well. We want to use more effects in the future, that didn´t happen with “Portals”. Because we had three days to record drums I could try different drum fills and stuff. [Guitarist/vocalist] Koen and [producer] Hans Pieters (and me occasionally) spent most of the studio time mixing the album.

What is your favorite studio in which to track drums? Why is it your favorite?

I´m not experienced with any other serious studio than Excess studios in Rotterdam, although I´ve been in more then 5 or 6 studios. It´s a great studio because Hans is a really cool laid back guy, there´s no stress. I could recommend anyone to record over there. For the next album we´ll probably attend another studio, which is good for my overall experience as a musician.
People looking at you playing may notice your incredible speed, which only can be achieved with a proper technique. Yet you’ve suffered from an arm injury. Can you tell how this happened?

My arm injury was caused by different factors. In the beginning of 2004 I got a new day job for which I sat behind a desk three days a week behind a computer. It weakened my back. Combined with playing almost every day and playing guitar a small pain in my right shoulder built up slowly. A few weeks after our tour in February 2004, which went by without any problems, I felt pain in my hand, arm and shoulder at first from sitting behind the desk. After a show in March 2004 it was at its worst. Half a year of therapy followed, and since November 2004 it´s no problem any more. I attend a therapist every now and then, because nowadays a have a full time job behind a desk, haha!

What do you do to prevent yourself from a returning injury?

I lift weights every day and do different work-outs.

Is it true that Textures drummer Stef Broks has played with some Detonation rehearsals during the period you were forced to keep rest with your arm?

Stef hasn\'t rehearsed with Detonation, but we did ask him to be kind of a spare drummer for the recording of \"Portals to Uphobia\" because we had to book the studio. We agreed to let him know by the end of October 2004 if I was ready to record or if we needed him, in case my arm still wasn\'t okay. He agreed to that, which was really cool. Fortunately for me, eventually I was able to play on \"Portals...\".

Is there anything you would like to learn or to develop more as a musician?

Of course. I always want to be more powerful, more subtle, faster and try to do the right fills at the right time. As a songwriter and guitarist I´d also like to develop. Trying different arrangements with the songs of Detonation and stuff.
What do your colleague drummers think of you?

You should ask them? I hope they think I´m a nice guy.

Can you imagine Detonation, yourself included, as an inspirational or an enlightening example for the local scene in and around your hometown Utrecht?

Not really no ? I don´t have the slightest idea how we are regarded by the local scene. But I think it´s motivating to have bands in your town that are doing well too. If you´re impressed by another band, it keeps you focused.

Can you tell us a bit more about your new side-project Cardamon?

Cardamon is actually a full band nowadays. The band was formed by me and Koen. We had a lot of ‘softer’ ideas and we wanted to do something with it. I am a great fan of Depeche Mode, A Perfect Circle and Anathema so there you have some of the influences. But don´t worry, it´s still heavy. When you only play death metal, as a musician you just need to do something else from time to time. Diversity is essential.

In 2003, we where looking for a singer. Whether it was a guy or a girl, it didn´t matter to us at first. Then I ran into Floortje, a friend of mine whom I had lost contact with, and it turned out that she could sing very well. So she entered the band. Now we´re almost finished writing our first album and we will start doing some try-out shows in October/November. The band is completed by the talented guys Michiel Bikker (guitars) and Patrick Velis (bass). You can check out www.cardamon.nl for more info and our song ´The Sleepless World´.

What are your current influences and musical inspirations?

I listen to a lot of Porcupine Tree, Depeche Mode, Anathema, Opeth, but I´m also into Soilwork, Killswitch Engage, Scar Symmetry and of course Textures who are fucking awesome. More or less any music that´s emotional or groovy and melodic suits me.

What do you think of these five Dutch metal drummers:
Sjoerd Visch
Ariën van Weesenbeek
Michiel van der Plicht
Stef Broks
Gavin Harte

I know Sjoerd Visch from playing in Altar of course. He earned his credits by playing in a lot of bands. Ariën is probably any sound engineer´s ideal drummer because he´s tight and plays hard. I can only judge him from God Dethroned albums, but he´s great. I don´t know Michiel van der Plicht´s playing, but I´ve heard good things about him. Of course Stef Broks is totally great. He has a great sound on Textures´ debut, which makes all the difference. He´s an intelligent drummer. Gavin Harte rocks! He plays more functional, which suits Callenish Circle´s music perfectly.

What are your plans for the near future?

Finding a job for 2006, hahaha! Serious, my plans are to record the Cardamon debut album. After that I have tons of ideas ready to record for an album I will be playing all the instruments on. First I will demo all the songs on my hard disk and then I´m going to find me a male singer for this new project (volunteers? anyone?). I´m also planning on a doom project, but it’s a bit too early to talk about that. At the same time, the cycle will continue. With Detonation things have never been better, Osmose is totally into “Portals…” so we´ll see.

Can you tell us something surprising about yourself?

I´m a reborn Christian... Kidding!

Thanks a lot! Anything to add about drummerzone.com?

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