Tam Bor is the solo project of Giacomo Bastianelli, a Swiss-Mexican drummer well-known for his powerful presence in Peter Kernel. After years of experience on stage and in the studio, with his first full-length release Intense & Ciao (2025), Giacomo brings to completion an artistic journey that merges the physicality of drumming with the endless possibilities of electronic music. Born in Italy and raised between Italian-speaking Switzerland and his mother’s Mexican roots, Giacomo grew up in a culturally vibrant family, where Italian and Spanish intertwined with a mosaic of sounds and influences. As a child, he absorbed music through MTV and his older siblings’ records, while the drums became his primary voice — a tool through which he developed a visceral, physical approach to music. Tam Bor represents the meeting point between the analog drive of a live drummer and the digital creativity of a self-taught electronic producer, drawing inspiration as much from the grooves of Pharrell Williams and Timbaland as from the raw, punk energy of performing live with Peter Kernel. His sound lives in a constant tension between precision and chaos, where rhythm is always the beating heart, but where vocals and lyrics reveal a new maturity and intimacy, the result of a personal and artistic awareness reached over time. With Intense & Ciao, Tam Bor presents himself as a mature, contemporary project — one that merges melody and rhythm, emotional fragility and physical power, sonic grit and digital clarity. It’s an album about integrating opposing worlds, music that is felt as much in the mind as in the body. Tam Bor’s live shows are rituals in which the audience surrounds the drummer-vocalist, dissolving the usual barriers and creating an intimate, immersive atmosphere where voice and rhythm intertwine in a continuous dialogue. Giacomo is also exploring new performative approaches to further free his voice and deepen his connection with the audience. A designer by training (ECAL), Giacomo personally oversees every aspect of the project — from sound to visuals — striving for a strong aesthetic that reflects both the music and the visual identity of Tam Bor. With the release of Intense & Ciao, Giacomo Bastianelli not only closes a circle that began years ago with the drums, but also opens a new chapter in contemporary electronic and indie music, always with an eye toward an international audience.
