Biography
Thomas Zwijsen is best known for his arrangements of famous rock and metal songs for Classical/Spanish guitar. He has the ability to play vocal melodies, guitar licks, chords, baselines and even drum parts at the same time. With these arrangements he has gained over 30 million views on YouTube and almost 140.000 subscribers.
Dutch guitar virtuoso Thomas Zwijsen studied classical guitar at the Artez conservatoire in Arnhem and Latin/jazz/Brazilian guitar at Codarts in Rotterdam. In combination with his interest in flamenco and metal, this strongly influenced his style of guitar playing.
Thomas’ most popular project is Nylon Maiden; Iron Maiden songs arranged for classical
guitar. Most popular is his version of Fear Of The Dark, which has over 4 million views
now: https://youtu.be/6vE0oFFSE7c.
For his first Nylon Maiden album Thomas invited ex Iron Maiden singer Blaze Bayley as a
special guest. Blaze and Thomas have been collaborating ever since, touring all over the
world together and releasing multiple albums including King Of Metal, Russian Holiday and
2018 release December Wind.
Following the first Nylon Maiden album Thomas has released the following solo albums:
- Nylon Maiden II: Iron Maiden songs and original compositions. (video for “Hallowed Be Thy
Name” with 1 million views)
- Nylonized: Famous Rock/Metal arrangements and original compositions. Guest musicians are
Kee Marcello (Europe), Derek Sherinian (ex Dream Theater), Damian Wilson (Ayreon) and
more. (video for “Perfect Storm” featuring all the guests)
- Divide & Unite: 11 original compositions, includes violin, viola, cello, drums, bass and choir.
(video for “Fireflies” with Thomas’ complete band)
- Master Guitar Tour: Guitar duo CD with Ben Woods (USA) and an annually returning
European tour; two virtuosos playing Metal on Spanish guitars. (video of “The Final
Countdown” performed all over Europe)
- Nylon Maiden - Preserved in Time: Thomas’ most popular album. A double CD with 18 Iron
Maiden songs arranged for Classical guitar. Features Blaze Bayley. (video for “Judgement Of
Heaven” featuring Blaze)
- Nylon Metal (2018): 28 songs! Virtuosic solo
arrangements of songs by bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica, Dream Theater, Deep
Purple, Led Zeppelin, KISS, David Bowie and three original songs. Blaze Bayley is a guest on the
album, as well as guitarist Bruce Kulick (KISS) who plays a guitar duo with Thomas on
Forever. Watch here
- Nylon Metal II (2019): The CD contains 16 classical guitar arrangements of metal and rock songs by Iron Maiden, System Of A Down, DIO, Black Sabbath, KISS, Deep Purple, Van Halen, The Scorpions, Blind Guardian, Helloween and more.
- Nylon Maiden Lives On (2020): 18 Iron Maiden songs virtuosically arranged for Classical Guitar. The album takes you on a time traveler’s journey through Iron Maiden’s catalog featuring songs from every era. Some are famous hits, some are unexpected epics… All of them sound like they were written for the Classical Guitar.
6 songs feature very special guest Wiki Krawczyk on Violin.
- a companion EP Uke 'Em All was released simultaniously. The EP features 10 metal classics played on ukulele.
Along with his albums Thomas published two books; Nylon Maiden and The Book Of Tabs. These contain tablature and standard notation of Thomas’ arrangements. Both books are accompanied by online video lessons for each song.
Due to a high demand for Thomas’ guitar lessons he started a successful online guitar school called King Of The Strings. Two complete guitar methods (for beginners and advanced players) are especially developed for those who are interested in learning Thomas’ style of guitar playing and are available at www.Kingofthestrings.com.
In April 2017 Thomas had the honour of presenting his Signature Guitar to the public at the Frankfurt Musikmesse. Thomas went to Spain to design this guitar in collaboration with his official endorser; Ortega Guitars. The TZSM (Thomas Zwijsen Signature Model) is available in instrument stores worldwide. In 2019 two new versions of the signature guitar will be released.
To support his releases Thomas has toured extensively in Europe, Asia, The Middle East and South America, playing over 600 concerts and guitar clinics in the past six years. Thomas will continue to do so in 2019 with solo shows, guitar clinics and masterclasses, a tour with Blaze Bayley and duo shows with violin player/singer Wiktoria Krawczyk.
Thomas Zwijsen is officially endorsed by Ortega Guitars and Aranjuez Strings.
“Thomas Zwijsen will blow your mind with
his guitar skills, we love that guy!”
Metal Hammer Magazine
“Amazing skills and coordination”
Classic Rock Magazine