Julian Calv
Julian Calv is an American composer, singer, and trimbist. Born February 18 1999 in New Brunswick, NJ, Julian grew up in Bethlehem Township, NJ. He graduated from Moravian University in 2021 with a Bachelor’s of Music focusing on composition, education, and classical piano. While there he studied piano with Barbara Thompson and Dan DeChellis and composition with Larry Lipkis and Scott Watson. In 2021 he completed an independent study of 20th c. American composer Louis T. Hardin, AKA Moondog's, creative life. Throughout the course of this impactful project he established an apprenticeship with Stefan Lakatos.
Self proclaimed as Moondog’s grand-student, Julian is the sole prodigy of Stefan Lakatos– who, to quote Moondog himself, is “the leading [and only] exponent of the Moondog method of drumming.”1 Through both this mentorship and dedicated study of Moondog's creative life, he upholds his grand-teacher's dying wish to “please take care of my music.” Learning to build and play the trimba and oo, two of Moondog's invented instruments, Julian has sculpted a unique soundscape, preserving the sonic tradition of his mentors. He re-imagines that same tradition in his original compositions.
In early 2023 both “Route 4” and “Thorn and Roots” were released. These place-based percussion compositions were conceived following the start of Julian's street performances in Burlington, VT. "Route 4” combines samples of the US Interstate Route 4 with a drum collage defined by the trimba's repetitive groove. "Thorn and Roots” is a fast paced musical impression based on an improvised melody performed in front of a juice bar having the same name. The trimba and balafon play in tandem with one another, creating a percussive flurry in perpetual motion.
Recorded in late 2023, Calv's first album Nonstop Motion debuted November 9 2024. It features Ava Bloomfield on piano and the vocal sextet Non Prophets– led by Calv. Comprising both original and Moondog music, some of which was never previously recorded, the album's nine song track list is unified by the nonstop trimba present throughout.
On July 18 2024 Non Prophets performed a concert at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, Vermont, under the direction and guidance of Julian. The show, titled "On Mortality, Life and Death" acted as a memorial in honor of men who've passed at the facility. The hour-long act featured a selection of vocal rounds by Moondog and Julian– the cyclical nature of the rounds and their lyricism all unified the concepts of life, mortality, and death. Following this impactful performance, the group performed at Epsilon Spires in Brattleboro, Vermont, on August 3rd the same year in a double feature concert with Trimbtych, Calv's accompanying band with an ever-changing lineup.
1 . Quote from Louis T. Hardin AKA Moondog from the liner notes of Bracelli und Moondog– released on CD in 1986.
The Trimba
A trimba can be thought of as both an instrument and a term for a specific form of percussion kit. A pair of two attached horizontal laying trums traditionally played using a maraca and clave as mallets. An attachment containing a woodblock and dragon’s teeth is fixed on top of the smaller trum. Both trums have a cymbal fixed to them to create a metallic-sounding reverb during performance, the big trum having two. Trums are triangular drums.
Calv first learned how to play the trimba using a pair of bongos with a maraca and clave to learn the patterns. He built his first trimba in June of 2021. Later in August 2022 he met Stefan Lakatos at his home in Stockholm, Sweden. Here he learned Moondog's design for the trimba. Provided on the right are pictures of Julian's trimba. This trimba is not the same dimensions as the original trimba.
