My musical journey has been a winding road with a lot of different focuses. In my 10 years in Chicago, I have had the pleasure of performing at venues around the city such as Constellation, The Green Mill and the Chicago Jazz Fest, as well as recording on many different projects. I have also had bursts of intensely studying classical piano and creating electronic music. These different interests and experiences have contributed to the sound I am developing on the drums and have helped me find my own voice in music.
I believe that the most important thing to do as a human is to chase presence. It doesn’t matter what you find yourself doing, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else and makes you happy and focused, that’s what you are meant to be doing at that time. Some of the recent shifts in my playing have come from an intense study of billiards. The presence, body awareness, and dedication to practice that billiards has cultivated has transferred to the drums in ways I did not anticipate.
This reflects in the philosophy I have as a teacher. I want to help people find their way back to themselves in making music. I believe that deep within us lies a creativity that can be accessed through a commitment to authenticity and self-satisfaction. I encourage students to slow down and find joy in dedicating a small amount of time each day to being present at the instrument. My hope is that through our study, you will cultivate an awareness of the different spectrums in technique and sound that will allow you to find your own place in music.
ALTA VISTA-WON’T BELIEVE IN DUST
Alta Vista is a trio co-led with Chet Zenor and Jakob Heinemann. This album consists of all original material minus one cover of a Scriabin Piano Prelude. The music is a kalidescopic journey through American kitsch, free jazz, post-rock, noir film soundtrack.
LUCKY CLOUD-FOREGROUND
Lucky Cloud is the songwriting project that Chet Zenor leads. Foreground is a beautiful record that weaves indie-rock, alt-country, and jazz themes into a unique personality. I had the absolute pleasure of playing on 4 of the tracks (2,3,6,7) and often times sub with the live band.
YOU ARE THE GARDEN-SIX LEAF CLOVER
You are the Garden is a project I lead that features a unique instrumentation. Clarinet, bass clarinet, guitar, cello, and drums come together to put the themes of indie rock and folk into a sort of minimalist chamber ensemble setting. This album features my compositions and one arrangement of an Adrienne Lenker song.
KNECHT-LAMINAE
A short EP of electronic music I wrote in 2019. Organic compositions that flow from one idea to the next and back again, with forms that were created like dropping a rainbow of ink into water. Sounds created from bits of social media, video games, and synthesizers.
PATRICK JASPER-LORETO
Patrick’s music is ambient, folky, and post-rock influenced. It draws from many disperate sources. If Elliot Smith made math rock, this is what it would sound like.
ISAIAH KEITH-SUKO AT THE ORGAN VOL. 1
Isaiah is an inspirational guy. He came up playing drums and started teaching himself organ a few years ago and started booking gigs almost immediately. Its been a lot of fun to explore how I can bring my voice to soul-jazz organ music.
ALTA VISTA-ALTA VISTA
This album takes all of its compositions from an old sheet music collection of generic country songs originally arranged for piano, ukulele, and voice. We took the songs and rearranged them for guitar, bass and drums with an experimental edge. Affectionately we call this “melted country.” It ends up recontextualizing these themes of the old west into post-rock, ambient jazz, drone, and noise forms.