Tom Grosset (b1990)
GRANTHAM-born Tom Grosset is not only a drummer, but a very fast drummer. In fact he is officially the fastest in the world.
Born in August 1990, Tom grew up in Denton, where he attended the village school.
The family moved to Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada in 1996.
Tom started showing a great interest in music at a very early age and began playing drums at the age of 12.
He was influenced by drummers, Buddy Rich and Phil Collins and as he started to develop his craft, he drew influences from jazz drummers such as Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, and many others.
As Tom grew older, he quickly became recognised as a professional and high-in-demand player around town and played in various jazz groups.
By the age of 15 he was seriously considering a career in the music industry.
A year later, he made an appearance at Summer NAMM in Austin, TX in 2007 and was introduced to Louie Bellson who was already familiar with Tom’s fast hands.
Tom competed in the WFD-World’s Fastest Drummer competition against ten other finalists that year with 1,156 single strokes (the highest record ever achieved at a WFD Final Round) and his
preliminary score was a staggering 1,194 beats in one minute (bpm).
This speed-drumming record labelled him as the 16-and-under world record holder and the third fastest drummer in the world in all age categories.
After winning the WFD finals, Tom was no longer allowed to compete again but was strongly encouraged to return and break his old record and perhaps even try and beat the two other fastest drummers in the world – 1,199 bpm held by Jotan Afanador and 1,203 bpm held by Berkley professor and Steve Vai / Dream Theatre drummer from Boston (Mass), Mike Mangini.
While temporarily retiring from speed drumming activities, Tom moved to Toronto for college where he would learn from Canada’s best musicians and mentors in the industry. He was accepted into the Humber College music degree program in 2009 and became a Toronto resident.
Through the years, Tom has studied with drum instructors such as Barry Romberg, Mark Kelso, Don Vickery, Paul DeLong, Larnell Lewis and Ari Hoenig. Throughout his college career, Tom has played in numerous ensembles and performed in many music venues throughout Toronto including The Rex, Lula Lounge, The Central, The Horseshoe Tavern and many other locations.
Since 2009, Tom has developed a strong online following on his YouTube channel where he uploads drum covers of movie and game soundtracks. Mark Kelso, head of the drum department at Humber College, has cited that he was very impressed with Tom’s movie soundtrack videos on YouTube especially his “Jaws” drum cover. Most recently, Tom made a drum cover for the “Man of Steel” soundtrack, which was quickly recognized by Hans Zimmer (main composer) and the additional composer,
Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL). Tom’s video was so exceptional that it was featured on the Huffington Post and even shared on Zimmer’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.
As busy as Tom is performing, he still continues to broaden his fan base with video content.
Hans Zimmer sharing Tom’s “Man of Steel” Drum Cover on F On July 13th, 2013, Tom returned to the WFD at Summer NAMM in Nashville, TN. That day, he not only broke his old record but he also
managed to beat Mike Mangini’s record with 1,208 single strokes. That day, he officially became the fastest drummer in the world.
Bernard Purdie, the world’s most recorded drummer of all time, congratulated Tom immediately after the record was broken.
Tom recently graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music and continues to create a variety of professional video content and perform around Toronto with his six-piece jazz-fusion band called Snaggle consisting of Humber College graduates.
see Tom in action on
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