Tommy Ruggero

I was born in 1982, and I started playing drums at the age of 11. I've always been fascinated by rhythm, in every shape it could assume. I first traveled to Africa in 2000 and since then I fell in love with it, I really believe that we all come from there, at least musically speaking. I started playing in different bands, taking private lessons and letting my music grow up little by little. I managed to play in several venues, including dance courses, and theatres, with west african percussions. I lived for a year in NYC, studying at the Drummers Collective, and playing some West African percussion as well. I absolutely dig the concept that every object on the planet has a proper pulse, and everything could be transformed into music. Basically there are two big influences in my playing: west african percussion, djembe and doun doun drums from the Mali - Guinea - Senegal - Burkina Faso - Ivory Coast area, and the more "western" concept of modern drumset. Always trying to mix together those two different musicalities