Christopher William Tomson (born March 6, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the drummer for New York-based

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band

Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson ...

. He is also the lead vocalist and guitarist for a side project called Dams of the West, for which he writes and records the entirety of its music.

Background

Tomson grew up on a farm in the Imlaystown section of

Upper Freehold Township, New Jersey Upper Freehold Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the township's population was 7,273. History Upper Freehold Township dates back to 1731, when it was formed from por ...

, and later recorded parts of Vampire Weekend's first album there. His father is an engineer whose family is of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

heritage (he studied abroad in Ireland in college). His mother is an administrator whose family is of English and German heritage. He graduated from the Peddie School as a salutatorian and then from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

where he studied economics and music. Tomson enjoys

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

and is an avid soccer fan; his favorite club is

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

. Tomson is also a huge fan of Phish, The Band, and the Grateful Dead. After living in the Greenpoint neighborhood of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

for several years, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

in 2019. In 2008 he was involved in a

hit-and-run In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions. Additional obligation In many jurisdictions, there may be an ...

incident in London after the

Shockwaves NME Awards The ''NME'' Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine '' NME'' (''New Musical Express''). The first awards show was held in 1953 as the ''NME'' Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding ...

. He was taken to hospital to be treated for neck injuries but was released with no notable injuries.

Musical career

Prior to forming Vampire Weekend, Tomson played with

Ezra Koenig Ezra Michael Koenig ( ; born April 8, 1984) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, producer, and internet radio personality. He is best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of indie rock band Vampire Weekend. Additio ...

in the "serious" rap group called L’Homme Run. Tomson met the members of Vampire Weekend while attending Columbia University—he took music classes with Rostam Batmanglij and started the group in their senior year. The name of the group comes from the movie of the same name that Ezra Koenig and his friends made over a summer vacation. They self-produced their first album after graduation while concurrently working full-time jobs (Tomson worked as an archivist for a record label). Their next three albums – ''

Contra Contra may refer to: Places * Contra, Virginia * Contra Costa Canal, an aqueduct in the U.S. state of California * Contra Costa County, California * Tenero-Contra, a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland ...

'' (2010), ''

Modern Vampires of the City ''Modern Vampires of the City'' is the third studio album by American indie rock band Vampire Weekend. It was released on May 14, 2013, by XL Recordings. The group began to write songs for the album during soundchecks on the supporting concert t ...

'' (2013), and ''

Father of the Bride The Father of the Bride is commonly one of the wedding ceremony participants. Father of the Bride may also refer to: * ''Father of the Bride'' (novel), 1949, by Edward Streeter ** ''Father of the Bride'' (franchise), media franchise based on the 1 ...

'' (2019) – all reached number one on the US album charts. In February 2017, Tomson released his first solo album, '' Youngish American'', under the pseudonym Dams of the West.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomson, Chris Living people Vampire Weekend members American rock guitarists American male guitarists American indie rock musicians Columbia College (New York) alumni Grammy Award winners Peddie School alumni 1984 births People from Upper Freehold Township, New Jersey 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male musicians People from Greenpoint, Brooklyn Musicians from Brooklyn