Tomas Costanza

Tomas Costanza
Background information
Born	(1974-09-02) September 2, 1974
Origin	Long Island, New York
Genres	pop punk, pop, alternative rock, rock, hip hop, singer/songwriter, country, blues, rap, metal, folk
Occupation(s)	record producer, musician
Instruments	Guitar, Vocals, Piano, Drums, Keyboard, Bass, Synthesizer
Years active	1999–present
Associated acts	Blues Traveler, Clinton Sparks, Macklemore, Secondhand Serenade, Boys Like Girls, Benny Benassi, 2 Chainz, Diffuser
Website	www.killingsworth.info

Tomas Costanza is an American record producer, songwriter, and CEO of Killingsworth Recording Company (Los Angeles/New York).^[1] Born in Long Island, New York, he was first noted in the music industry as the lead singer and guitarist for his band Diffuser.^[2] In addition to being signed to the major label Hollywood Records in 2000,^[3] several of the band's songs were featured on various movie soundtracks including Freaky Friday and Mission: Impossible II. As a record producer, Tomas has worked with artists as varied as Boys Like Girls, Benny Benassi, Blues Traveler, Clinton Sparks, Macklemore, Secondhand Serenade, Rick Ross, This Is Hell,^[4] Katie Waissel. In 2011, he broke through as a producer after Katie Waissel's debut album reached No. 1 on the U.K. (Amazon/iTunes) charts and remained there for 5 weeks.^[5]

Life and career

Childhood and Youth

Tomas was born and raised in the North Massapequa neighborhood of Long Island, New York. His father was a NYC police officer and his mother a school bus driver for the local middle school. While in his pre-teens, Tomas discovered the liberating bombast of hard rock, listening to bands like Van Halen and Black Sabbath while also becoming infatuated with the musical styles of Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley. At the age of 10, he began to teach himself guitar and bass. Costanza explains, "When I first heard Eddie Van Halen's guitar solo on Michael Jackson's "Beat It", I knew I wanted to be a rock star."

Career Beginnings and Diffuser

Tomas attended the High School of the Performing Arts and studied with professors from the Juilliard School. He later attended Berklee College of Music, but dropped out to pursue a career as a recording artist. In 1998, Costanza founded the band Flu Thirteen^[6] which later became Diffuser. Hollywood Records signed the band in 2000 and released two critically acclaimed LP recordings Injury Loves Melody (2001)^[7] and Making the Grade (2003).^[8]Alternative Press magazine recently cited Diffuser as "One of the Top 22 most influential bands of the 2000's that no one's ever heard of."^[9]

Diffuser disbanded in 2003 to pursue other musical interests. Due to the overwhelming support from a small but loyal following, Diffuser re-united in fall of 2007 to release their third studio album, Sincerely, Wasting Away.^[10] The band still plays shows on occasion.

Artist & Repertoire (Disney/Universal)

Tomas was hired by Bob Cavallo ^[11] in 2003 to work A&R under Jason Jordan^[12] for Hollywood Records.^[3] He also signed a publishing deal with Seven Peaks/Disney^[13] during the same time period. In 2007, he became Head of A&R for Chamberlain Records^[14] (Universal) where he worked with and produced artists such as Cold Forty Three,^[15] The Anix,^[16] Brianna Taylor,^[17] and Katie Waissel.^[18] In 2005, Costanza was noted in Blender magazine^[19] as saying, "I'm not chasing after what's current. The music I sign has to be compelling and two steps ahead of the curve. I always hope people will like the artists I work with, but at the end of the day, I'm the one that has to love it."

Producing, Songwriting, and Recognition

Tomas established the Killingsworth Recording Company in June 2007.^[1][20] Beginning with a facility in New York, he expanded to Los Angeles in 2008.^[21] In January 2009 Costanza was recruited by Academy Award winning music supervisor Richard Glasser (The Illusionist, Crash, Revolutionary Road) to write for his film and TV placement company. Costanza broke through as a producer and songwriter in April 2011 when X-Factor finalist Katie Waissel's debut album reached #1 on the U.K. (Amazon/iTunes) charts and remained there for five weeks.

In 2013 Killingsworth Recording Company partnered with Music Licensing company Hitcher Music to create custom music catalogs for Film and TV. Currently, Killingsworth is scoring music for network shows such as Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin, Lucky Dog, One Life to Live, All My Children, White Collar Brawlers, North vs. South, Party On and Game Changers.

Recent producers and artists that have worked out of Killingsworth include Martin Johnson (Boys Like Girls), Icona Pop, Clinton Sparks, Benny Benassi, Hollywood Undead, SkyBlu, We The Kings, Rick Ross, Paradise Fears, Macklemore, Secondhand Serenade, Dawaun Parker, Tosh.0, Boyz II Men, Nasri, Matt Nathanson, The Writing Camp, Tiffany Alvord, and The Moglis.

Tomas co-produced and mixed the latest Blues Traveler studio Album "Suzie Cracks the Whip" with Sam Hollander and Dave Katz (Sluggo). Most recently, he Produced, Mixed and Co-Wrote "Gold Rush" by Clinton Sparks featuring Macklemore and 2 Chainz.

Songwriting credits

Songwriting credits include soundtracks such as Mission: Impossible II, Freaky Friday, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Summer Catch and Zathura have collectively sold over 4.2 million copies worldwide R.I.A.A.. Costanza also wrote and produced two of the theme songs for Kelly and Michael as well as various tracks for the The Good Wife, MTV, Entourage, CSI: Miami, Grey's Anatomy, True Blood, Ugly Betty and Dexter.

References