Kevin Drumm

by Jason Ankeny Avant-garde tabletop guitarist Kevin Drumm was born and raised in South Holland, IL, playing in a handful of rock bands before relocating to Chicago in 1991 to work at the city's Board of Trade. He soon began his experiments with prepared guitar, applying objects including magnets, binder clips, chains, a violin bow and even toenail clippers to distort the instrument's sound; in time Drumm befriended a number of members of Chicago's growing improv community, including Jim O'Rourke (with whom he served in Brise-Glace, additionally contributing to Gastr del Sol's Upgrade and Afterlife album) and Ken Vandermark (appearing on the reedist's Standards). In late 1997 Drumm made his solo debut with a self-titled effort for Perdition Plastics; Folie a Deux, a split release with Japanese guitarist Taku Sugimoto, followed a year later, and in early 2000 he resurfaced with Comedy.