SFC Tomi Kauppila is currently serving in the Conscript Band of the Finnish Defense Forces. His instrumental professionality is in classical percussion which he has studied in Central Ostrobotnia Conservatory and Tampere university of applied sciences.
He has worked as percussion section leader before the current position at the Conscript Band in the end of 2015. In 2016 with help of Risto Skrikberg Kauppila started new style of drumming to unify the styles between Finnish military band drummers. Kauppila has made research and gathered information about different styles (US,GRB,RUS,CH,FR)
After starting the new rudimental style the conscript drumline has had international co-operations for example with Swiss Army Central Band.Kauppila was involved in forming the first ever reservist drumline in Finland The Conscript Band(Lion Drum Corps) in 2015, the Guards Band( Guards Band drumline) in 2019 and the Finnish Navy Band(Sea Lion Drum Corps) in 2020. The speciality in the Finnish drumlines is that there is no professional marching drummers in them. All of the drummers have either drum kit or classical percussion as their main instrument.
Kauppila has been involved with SIRD since the beginning(2016) He is also one of the founding members of the National Association of Rudimental Drummers Finland(N.A.R.D. Finland) which is the first official international chapter of the original N.A.R.D.(US)