Booker Stardrum

Booker Stardrum works out of Los Angeles as a percussionist, improviser, composer, and educator whose inventive approach has placed him alongside Weyes Blood, Lee Ranaldo, and Cloud Becomes Your Hand while also fueling his own projects. On his 2021 solo album Crater he assembles dense, pan-tonal collages built from abstract rhythms and processed samples, all drawn from improvisations that keep their fluid and unpredictable character intact.

His foundation lies in experimental and classical traditions: his mother, flutist Stefani Starin, and his father, microtonal composer Dean Drummond, who collaborated closely with Harry Partch. After studying jazz at SUNY Purchase he joined several Brooklyn ensembles, among them the art rock bands Landlady and Cloud Becomes Your Hand plus the absurdist experimental quartet VaVatican. His first solo record, Dance And, centered on percussion instruments and prepared drum kits; VaVatican’s Nathaniel Morgan supplied additional synthesizer and joined in mixing and production, after which NNA Tapes released the album in 2015. The following year Stardrum contributed to Weyes Blood’s Front Row Seat to Earth and Kid Millions’ 100 Disciplines.

Temporary etc., his 2018 follow-up, unfolded as a pan-tonal, pan-rhythmic collage that incorporated input from co-producer John Dieterich of Deerhoof along with Jaimie Branch and Starin. Between 2020 and 2021 he undertook multiple cross-disciplinary projects and commissioned pieces. His third album, Crater, built on those earlier methods by methodically shaping busy, intricate compositions from sampled improvisations performed by a wide range of collaborators.