Thomas Wydler (born 9 October 1959), is a Swiss musician, best known as the drummer of

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are a Rock music, rock band formed in Melbourne in 1983 by lead vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and German guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throug ...

, which he has been a member of since 1985. Prior to joining the band, he was a founding member of the experimental German band Die Haut. Wydler has also released albums as a solo artist. Wydler has appeared on almost every Bad Seeds album, making his debut appearance on the group's third studio album ''

Kicking Against the Pricks ''Kicking Against the Pricks'' is the third studio album released by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. First released in 1986, the album is a collection of Cave's interpretations of songs by other artists. The title is a refe ...

'' (1986). After the departure of founding member

Mick Harvey Michael John Harvey (born 29 August 1958) is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his long-term collaborations with Nick Cave, with whom he formed The ...

in January 2009, Wydler became the longest-serving member of the Bad Seeds apart from singer and frontman

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...

. In addition to drumming for the band, he performs backing vocals and sang lead vocals on a verse from the song "Death Is Not the End" of the ''

Murder Ballads ''Murder Ballads'' is the ninth studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 5 February 1996 by Mute Records. As its title suggests, the album consists of new and traditional murder ballads, a genre of songs ...

'' album.

Career

Wydler was one of the founding members of the experimental German band Die Haut in 1982. The band released their debut album, '' Burnin' the Ice'', the following year, featuring lyrical and vocal contributions from

. Wydler joined

in 1985 and made his recording debut with the band on the 1986 album ''

''. He was the band's sole drummer until

Jim Sclavunos James Sclavunos is an American multi-instrumentalist, record producer and writer. He is best known for his work as a drummer, having been a member of two seminal no wave groups in the late 1970s, Teenage Jesus & the Jerks and 8 Eyed Spy, both a ...

joined in 1994. Wydler generally plays a standard

drum kit A drum kit or drum set (also known as a trap set, or simply drums in popular music and jazz contexts) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and sometimes other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one p ...

while Sclavunos handles a variety of auxiliary percussion (e.g.,

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

maracas A maraca ( , , ), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas, also known as tamaracas, were rattles of d ...

cowbell A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell (instrument), bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. ...

tubular bells Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the Percussion instrument, percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillons, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the soun ...

), but occasionally this is reversed and sometimes both members play conventional drums alongside each other as a form of

double drumming Double drumming (sometimes referred to as double drums) is a musical technique, used mostly in rock music, where two drummers each play a drum kit at the same time. One may play the rhythm while the other may play another style, or both may play t ...

. Wydler made his debut as a solo artist on the 2004 collaboration album ''Morphosa Harmonia'' with Toby Dammit. Due to unspecified health problems, Wydler did not tour with the band from around 2013, but he remains a member of the group and has contributed to all subsequent studio albums. Founding Bad Seed

Barry Adamson Barry Adamson (born 11 June 1958)Biography
. Barryadamson.com. is an English pop and rock music ...

temporarily rejoined the group during this era as a drummer, given that many of the band's newer songs were arranged for two percussionists. Wydler rejoined the Bad Seeds on tour in 2017.

Discography

Solo

* ''Morphosa Harmonia'' (2004) (with Toby Dammit) * ''Tribute To Walter Stöhrer'' (2005) (with Martin Peter and Yoyo Röhm) * ''Soul Sheriff'' (2007) * ''On The Mat And Off'' (2012)

With Die Haut

Studio albums * '' Burnin' the Ice'' (1983) * ''Headless Body In Topless Bar'' (1988) * ''Die Hard'' (1989) * ''Head On'' (1992) * ''Spring'' (1997)

With
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are a Rock music, rock band formed in Melbourne in 1983 by lead vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and German guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throug ...

Studio albums * ''

'' (1986) * '' Your Funeral... My Trial'' (1986) * '' Tender Prey'' (1988) * '' The Good Son'' (1990) * '' Henry's Dream'' (1992) * '' Let Love In'' (1994) * ''

'' (1996) * '' The Boatman's Call'' (1997) * '' No More Shall We Part'' (2001) * '' Nocturama'' (2003) * ''

Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus ''Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus'' is the thirteenth studio album by the Australian alternative rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 20 September 2004 on Mute Records. It is a double album of seventeen songs. History The al ...

'' (2004) * '' Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!'' (2008) * ''

Push the Sky Away ''Push the Sky Away'' is the fifteenth studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 18 February 2013 on the band's own label Bad Seed Ltd. Recorded at La Fabrique in southern France, with producer Nick La ...

'' (2013) * ''

Skeleton Tree ''Skeleton Tree'' is the sixteenth studio album by Australian Rock music, rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It was released on 9 September 2016 on Bad Seed Ltd. A follow-up to the band's critically acclaimed album ''Push the Sky Aw ...

'' (2016) * '' Ghosteen'' (2019) * ''

Wild God ''Wild God'' is the eighteenth studio album by the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released on 30 August 2024 on PIAS Recordings, PIAS. Produced by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (musician), Warren Ellis, the album was mixed by Dav ...

'' (2024)

References

External links

Thomas Wydler
on

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

Imdb entry
1959 births Swiss drummers Swiss male drummers Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds members Living people Die Haut members Musicians from Zurich {{drummer-stub