Cologne composer, downtempo, psychill and many other styles. I was born in 1960 in a small remote town in the middle of Germany. My father was a craftsman without a high school diploma. I learned keyboard at the age of 14 and drums at 16. I wanted to become a composer even before I learned my first musical instrument. But since it is very difficult for a latecomer like me to establish himself as a composer (especially if you have no relatives in show business and come from a remote town with non-academic parents), I first became a musician. Since 1992 I have been the leader of the "Thomas Arens Combo". We musically accompany more than 50 carnival shows in Cologne every year. For this band I also wrote seven different shows. In these shows I perform as host, comedian, drummer, background singer and mixer. I write most of the arrangements for my band. I've written two books on drumming explaining several groundbreaking rhythmic ideas - most notably my concept of "Chromatic Tempos". Since 2013, I have also been working as a DJ. From 1994 to 2000, I wrote several film scores. I composed all the songs for the experimental music project "Die Fußgänger" (the pedestrians) 1988 - 1990. My new album "Atem aus Stroh" (Breath of Straw) will be released on August 10 this year. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)