Hi! My name is Amanda. I'm a drummer in Chicago. I want to play more often! Here are some things about me.
What do I want? I want to play music with more people. I do not need to be a permanent part of your musical outfit, and I feel comfortable improvising as well as playing composed songs. What type of music do I want to play? I don’t know – music that I like? I have a catholic (not Catholic) taste in music that developed over decades of caring. There is a long list of things I don’t want, but what I do want is very simple: I want to play music. Most of the music I like to play is instrumental, but I have no problem with your voice or mine.
Why me? I am a responsible, reliable, professional adult. I have a lot of energy. I teach writing, public speaking, ESL, and music appreciation at a small bilingual nonprofit college. In the summer, I also teach drums and lead an improvisation workshop (that I designed) at Girls Rock! Chicago. I have references and my own transportation. I am not afraid of anyone and have an interesting life story. I am clean and have a good sense of humor. My drumming is sensitive, responsive, consistent, and informed by decades of listening. I am a human jukebox. I am a good dancer.
What have I done? Let me show you some things that I have done in the last 5 years:
https://arcpair.bandcamp.com/
Long distance recording project with Matt Weston. Noteworthy on the following points: we had never met in person while making these recordings, I recorded my drum parts on my phone because that was all I had at the time, Matt Weston is an accomplished and creative musician who studied with Milford Graves and plays with Arthur Brooks. Check him out
http://www.mattweston.com/mattbio.htm
https://sabertoothdream.bandcamp.com/releases
Guitar-drums duo with my stalwart buddy and frequent collaborator, guitar player, librarian, and family man Nick Ammerman, our first & only show! Very elusive project, not likely to make a comeback but who knows?!
https://boobsweat.bandcamp.com/
Bouncy fun improvised music for keys and drums – on bandcamp we have a live show + some demos recorded live in my basement with Natalia Smirnov, who is a scholar and a genius as well as a scholarly pianist. Recommended track: $A$$Y 7 https://boobsweat.bandcamp.com/track/a-y-7-2
and two live tracks recorded at Club Soda in Pilsen (summer 2018) https://soundcloud.com/marshmallowy/boob-sweat-watery
https://soundcloud.com/marshmallowy/boob-sweat-spores-bra
https://planquartet.bandcamp.com/releases
This is my most recent ensemble (lineup has since changed slightly) and another one I assembled with a particular sonic vision in mind. The recording is from our show 1/16/19 at the Empty Bottle. Do not skip part 2 -- we really started to cook and it was all one long improvisation in spite of what bandcamp wants you to think. Someone after the show said we sounded like Albert Ayler with NEU! Ok! IDK about that but I'll be glad to remind people that such combos are possible and also enjoyable to listen to.
Jam leadership: These are two sessions of fresh new improvisers playing together for the first time, led by me.
Beginner improviser jams 2017 (this is the Friday of a weeklong camp; many campers do not know how to play their instruments on Monday)
https://girlsrockchicago.bandcamp.com/album/girls-rock-chicago-2017-session-1-july
https://girlsrockchicago.bandcamp.com/album/girls-rock-chicago-2017-session-august-2
Other: I played auxiliary percussion (toms/snare/cymbals, bongos, drum pad) for two shows with Kent Lambert’s project Roommate in 2018 – at Sleeping Village and the Hideout. It was super fun and we sounded great, but I don’t have any recordings of it. I do have witnesses, ask me!!
From May 2016-August 2017 I played standing up with a floor tom/snare (most of the time) with superstar civil rights lawyer/guitar player/songwriter/producer/label owner Adele Nicholas in her Axons project. We didn't release any recordings, but we did go on a short tour where we played in Rochester, Brooklyn, and Akron. We played Adele's originals + a Devo cover ("Gates of Steel") and I have recordings of that. It was rad. You can scroll down in this blog and find some artifacts if you want. Fun fact; we played at the Burlington the night the Cubs won game 7 of the world series.
Solo: I have played solo (with recorded accompaniment and unaccompanied, twice in 2018) and I have some recordings but they have been removed from the internet. The photos survive and you can find them on this very blog. and if you really want to hear the recordings, I have them. I have also recorded a number of synth + drums and drums + voice jams but honestly, with me alone the skill is very limited. I do them because they're fun and practice does genuinely lead to improvement in at least a technical way, if not a creative and expressive way as well (in varying amounts).
In sum TL;DR: If you would like to talk with me about playing music, email me at askraus@gmail. If you have my #, text or call me! Let’s talk! This general interest introduction to me and my musical services is merely that: an introduction. I’m here and I am not going anywhere. I'm reminded of a show where an acquaintance asked me about the concept for Boob Sweat. He asked "do you have other ideas?" and I laughed. Yes, I have other ideas. I have many dreams.
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