THOMAS CORN – A busy drummer

Tsjekkiske trommeslagere er garantert ikke de mest kjente her hjemme, men vi tok tak i en kar som heter Thomas Corn. Thomas spiller for tiden i et black metal band som heter Solfernus men har også fartstid i death metal bandet Despise. Han er kjent for sin kjappe spillestil og viste seg å være en utstyrsfrik han også, som mange av de øvrige trommeslagerne vi har vært innom i Blast Beast serien.
 

ET – When did you start to play the drums?
CORN – It was quite late. I was 14. But I found an old picture of me hitting cans and pots with spoons when I was 2 🙂 Now I'm 28 and I still love it 🙂  

ET – Why did you start playing drums?
CORN – Coz I started to hate piano at the age of 14. I love how the double bass kit looks. It was the first impulse. Second one was how different the drum kit looks from the drummer's side 🙂

ET – How old were you when you got your first drums/drum set?
CORN – One month after my 14th birthday. It was really shitty piece of crap, czech brand "Amati" – R.I.P. 🙂 It was second (better twenty-second) hand "set" for 70 Euros 🙂

ET – How often do you practice?
CORN – 3-times in a week on a drum kit, daily (30min) on a practice pad set. It's not enough, I know…… 🙁  but I spend 10 hours a day in work I like a lot (I am drum manager in distribution company), I am married,…..there is no time to practice more without sacrificing something 🙂

ET – Which drummer did you look up to when you were young and is there anyone today that you admire more than the rest?
CORN – My first idol was Chris Witchhunter (SODOM), I love Persecution Mania. My "idol revolution" was initiated by Brutal Truth´s "Extreme Conditions…." with Scott Lewis and Cryptopsy ´s debut with amazing Flo Mounier. Nowadays I am worshipping Derek Roddy, Reno Kiilerich, Romain Goulon and George Kollias.  And, of course, the godfather of blast – mighty Pete Sandoval!!!

ET – What kind of equipment do you use? Which equipment is in your ears the best?
CORN – I play Mapex Orion kit in imperial burst lacquer / black chrome hw (2x 22×20" kicks, 10×9" + 12×10" toms, 15×15" floor tom, 14×6,5" snare), Mapex 900 series hardware, Trick Pro-1 V Detonator Big Foot pedals, Anatolian Ultimate series cymbals (22" heavy ride, 16" + 17" + 18" crashes, 20" china, 20" swish, 13" power hh), Remo heads (Pinstripes on toms, Ambassador coated on snare, Powerstroke 3 on kicks), Balbex Signature stix (5A fusion, premium hornbeam), Ddrum4SE + acoustic triggers on whole kit, SM Pro Audio sound solutions (DI8, VU8, TB202), Beyerdynamic DT770M headphones (soon ill be replaced by Ultimate ears UE-10 PRO in ears), EMS rack. I used much more cymbals and drums before (as you see on the picture) but I am trying to keep the things as simple as possible now. I LOVE my kit but nowadays I am totally "possessed" by Trick drums, so I am planning custom double bass kit for summer 2007 🙂 I am the fan of maple drums in combination with triggers, I love my Trick pedals and after some years with Z customs and Rudes I am really enjoying musicality of Anatolian Turkish handmade cymbals.

ET – Which qualities do you think is most important to succeed as a drummer today?
CORN – The most important is to choose the right band 🙂 or be a real "blast beasts" like Reno or Romain – these guys are real pros in my eyes. Precise, tight, nice guys BTW.

ET – Have you ever played a solo during a gig?
CORN – No, I am not good enough to do that (yet) 🙂 I just played 20th Century Fox theme on snare when our guitar player fucked up the string 🙂

ET – If you haven't become a drummer, what would you most likely been doing?
CORN – Definitely singer!!! I will shut my mouth up and my equipment will be packed and loaded in one second 🙂 It must be amazing 🙂 I can also imagine I can be a collector of US muscle cars from 70´s, which would be cool too 🙂

ET – Do you workout a lot?           
CORN – I promise I will do that, but now I am working out less than I need 🙁

ET – Do you have any special rituals you have to go through before you enter the stage?
CORN – I am always nervous and scared a bit so I have to visit the toilet before the show. I am also checking if all wing nuts are tightened on all stands all the time 🙂 And I always loose my playlist 20 seconds before the show 🙂

ET – Which releases have you been a part of so far? (Band name, title, release year)
CORN – I remember this:
Krles "Stin Predtim" MC 1996 heavy/speed
Garbage Disposal "Union Carbide" CD 1997 death (reedition 2004)
Lykathea Aflame "Elvenefris" CD 2000 death
Breaking Beads "Ze Zivota Slizu" CD 2001 thrash/death   -session drums
Lykathea Aflame "To Give 2002 version" CD compilation for Obscene Extreme fest
Solfernus "Hysteria In Coma" CD 2005 black        
Despise "Live in Prague" DVD 2006 death
Solfernus "Metal Swamp 2006" DVD 2007 black (DVD festival compilation)
Despise "Fragments of Reprisal" CD 2007 death (will be released in April)
Solfernus "Brutal Assault 2006" DVD 2007 black (DVD festival compilation)

I hope there will be new Solfernus, Lykathe and Imperial Foeticide CDs too in 2007, looks like a busy year for me 🙂

ET – Before we end this, you now have the opportunity to challenge another drummer to take part in this series. Pick a drummer and explain why?
CORN – Reno Kiilerich, he IS THE BLASTBEAST, he has the tightest double bass I have ever seen, he spend more than two hours to answer all my questions with incredible patience 🙂 and he is really "materializing" my vision of perfect drumming. Reno rules!
From Czech Republic I can recommend Martus (joined Cradle of Filth in 2006), Cepa from Ador Dorath or Jurgen from Uprise. These guys are interesting drummers and good friends too.