Tom Larkin (born 18 September 1971) is a founding member of the New Zealand band

Shihad Shihad are a rock band formed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1988. The band consists of founders Tom Larkin (drums, backing vocals, samplers), Phil Knight (lead guitar, synthesiser, backing vocals) and Jon Toogood (lead vocals, rhythm guitar ...

, band manager, and music producer. He grew up in Wellington, New Zealand but now lives in Melbourne in Australia. He is often mentioned as one of the greatest hard rock drummers that New Zealand has ever produced.

Early life and family

Larkin was born in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, New Zealand to parents Thomas Cedric Larkin and Sarah Marianne Williams. As a kid, he often played the drums so loud in his parents big Kelburn house in Wellington, that the neighbours sometimes complained. While at school at Wellington High in the late 1980s he met

Jon Toogood Jonathan Charles Toogood (born in Wellington, New Zealand, on 9 August 1971) is the frontman (lead vocals and guitar) of the New Zealand rock band Shihad. He formed the band in 1988 with fellow Wellingtonian Tom Larkin. Toogood and Larkin met a ...

and together they former Shihad back in 1988. The first gig was at the Clarendon Tavern in Courtenay Place which was the first of thousands of live gigs performed by the band over many years. Shihad's first release was back in 1990 with the single 'Devolve' which went to number 13 on the New Zealand charts. Tom Larkin is the son of former New Zealand cricketer (he played for Taranaki and Wellington) and New Zealand diplomat Thomas Cedric Larkin who died at the age of 103 in 2021. He has a sister Daisy and a brother Adam who tried his hand at making films in the early 2000s but was not successful.

Career

In addition to being one of the founders, Larkin was Shihad's manager and tour manager during the band's early era. As of 2022, Shihad have released 12 albums and 8 EPs over 30 years. Shihad's most recent studio album '' Old Gods'' was released in 2021 after a seven-year break and reached number one on the New Zealand charts. In addition to his involvement with Shihad, Larkin runs a recording studio in Melbourne calle
Homesurgery Recordings
As of August 2014, Homesurgery represents the bands The Butterfly Effect, Cairo Knife Fight, Calling All Cars, The Sinking Teeth, Strangers and Villainy. The recording facility is located in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick. In the role of producer, Larkin has worked with bands such as Bodyjar, Alien Weaponry, Young and Restless, The Galvatrons, Calling All Cars,

The Getaway Plan The Getaway Plan are an Australian rock music band, which formed in 2004. Founding mainstays are Matthew Wright on lead vocals, piano and rhythm guitar and Clint Ellis on lead guitar. They were joined in 2014 by Dan Maio on drums, and his br ...

, Rook, Reptiles,

Red Ink Rubrication is the addition of text in red ink to a manuscript for emphasis. Practitioners of rubrication, so-called ''rubricators'' or ''rubrishers'', were specialized scribes who received text from the original scribe. Rubrication was one of s ...

Fur Patrol Fur Patrol is a rock band, originally from Wellington, New Zealand. The band formed in Wellington in 1996. Their debut EP, ''Starlifter'', was released on the independent Wellington label Wishbone in 1998. Their debut album ''Pet'' was produced ...

, Villainy, Strangers, High Tension, Shihad, King Cannons, Arts Martial, Young Heretics and

Ceres Ceres most commonly refers to: * Ceres (dwarf planet), the largest asteroid * Ceres (mythology), the Roman goddess of agriculture Ceres may also refer to: Places Brazil * Ceres, Goiás, Brazil * Ceres Microregion, in north-central Goiás ...

Aotearoa Music Awards

The

Aotearoa Music Awards The Aotearoa Music Awards (previously called the New Zealand Music Awards), conferred annually by Recorded Music NZ, honour outstanding artistic and technical achievements in the recording industry. The awards are among the most significant tha ...

(previously known as ''New Zealand Music Awards'' (NZMA)) are an annual awards night celebrating excellence in

New Zealand music The music of New Zealand has been influenced by a number of traditions, including Māori music, the music introduced by European settlers during the nineteenth century, and a variety of styles imported during the twentieth century, including ...

and have been presented annually since 1965. ! , - , 2010 , , Tom Larkin (as part of Shihad) , ,

New Zealand Music Hall of Fame The New Zealand Music Hall of Fame , Te Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa is a figurative hall of fame dedicated to noteworthy New Zealand musicians. The hall was created in 2007 by Recorded Music NZ (then known as the Recording Industry Associati ...

, , , , , - , rowspan="2", 2018 , , Simon Gooding, Tom Larkin, Hammerhead for ''Tū'' (album by Alien Weaponry) , , Producer of the Year , , , , rowspan="2", , - , Simon Gooding, Tom Larkin, Scott Seabright & Samuel Sproull for ''Tū'' (album by Alien Weaponry) , , Engineer of the Year , , , -

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larkin, Tom 1971 births APRA Award winners Living people Musicians from Wellington People educated at Wellington High School, New Zealand New Zealand drummers Male drummers 21st-century drummers 21st-century male musicians Shihad members Johnston family Riddiford family