 At 14 years of age, he changed his name from Magnusson to Di Leva, inspired both by his mother's Italian maiden name and idols like Leonardo da Vinci and Charlie Chaplin.Thomas started his career with the band The Pillisnorks, debuting with the EP "4 Visitors" on 1 January 1980.Later, Di Leva formed the band Modern Art, which subsequently became Modærn Art.