Denarius Thomas was born on October, 1984 on the West Bank of New Orleans, Louisiana. Of humble beginnings, growing up in church exposed to music at a young age, he developed a love for music. He can remember as a child hearing music being played by his mother all day long. He listened to all genres of music, from Motown to Country to Rock & Roll. This started Denarius on his way to learn elements of several different forms and styles of music.
Denarius’s undeniable fascination with rhythm and percussion began at an early age. He acquired an interest in drums while in elementary school. Denarius wanted to immolate his cousin and other local church musicians. It fascinated him how they could listen to a song and play it. Sometimes when his cousin wouldn’t show up to church Denarius would play for him.
Denarius got his chance to shine, performing with the African dance and drum team in elementary school. His music instructor saw his zeal for music. She let him borrow instruments from school. Denarius would always visit her during recess and after school. The group had the opportunity to perform on TV and thought out New Orleans. Their first major event was the New Orleans Jazz Festival in 1998. Overwhelmed, after this experience, prompted Denarius to practice. He knew that if he wanted to be successful he had to work diligently.
Denarius and his family moved to North Carolina in 1999. They eventually settled in RDU area, there they joined Mt. Calvary Word of Faith Church where the pastor is the Grammy award winning Shirley Caesar. Church became Denarius’s home and sanctuary. Pastor Caesar and his other mentors took a huge liking to Denarius immediately. This brought about several relationships and career opportunities. Pastor Caesar recognized his awesome gift and hence gave Denarius his first drum set.
In high school, Denarius took music theory and jazz band to increase his knowledge of music. This allowed him to experiment more with time signatures, rhythms, odd meters, melodies and chord changes. He started reading books on songwriting and music business. Denarius soon discovered a natural ability to write songs and ventured out playing other instruments.
Denarius isolated himself devoting endless nights, with no sleep and went to school the next day restless. His teachers would get on him for nodding in class. Everyone knew that Denarius was up all night doing music. Before he knew it he had several of clients and recorded and produced countless projects. Denarius helping around the church granted him the opportunity to exercise his skills in a privileged but, yet challenging environment. It served as a major foundation for his music. He has been operating the sound system for the church periodically, since he was 18. Which gave him the opportunity to work with some of the biggest names in the gospel industry. He was the sound engineer for the Shirley Caesar Outreach Ministry Conference in 2006.
Upon graduating high school, Denarius took some much needed time off to work on his craft. It was during this period that he began to develop a passion for perfecting his talent, garnering inspiration from Shirley Caesar, Michael E. Mathis, J Moss, Dennis Chambers, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Prince, David Foster, Teddy Riley, Whitney Houston, The Clark Sisters, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, The Winans, The Hawkins, John P. Kee, Andrae Crouch, Miles Davis, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Tony Royster Jr., Calvin Rodgers, Dave Weckl, Vinnie Colauita, Earth, Wind and Fire, Fred Hammond, Tonex, Mary Mary, P. Diddy, Timbaland, Dark Child, Just Blaze, Jill Scott, Scott Storch, and Mint Condition, to name a few.
Denarius’s multi-faceted; blessed with a relentless zeal and leadership that fuels him. He however, still has light years of success ahead of him. He hasn’t started to tap into to the surface of his talent. With a tremendous amount of hard work, practicing and determination, Denarius Thomas is set to take over the world, and is light moments away from achieving his ultimate goal, one step at a time. He explains, “If I have a task that’s too easy, I get bored easily. I like to push myself and my creativity to the limit then its always a phenomenal and adventurous experience when I get there.†Proverbs 18:16 states, “A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men.†Denarius knows this.
Presently, Denarius is staying quite busy currently working as a freelance musician. He is also serving as CEO of his recording company, D & El Studios Inc. as a engineer and a producer.
