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, Moondog's invented percussion instrument, Julian has sculpted a unique soundscape by preserving the sonic tradition of his mentors. He re-imagines that same tradition in his original compositions.
1 . Quote from Louis T. Hardin AKA Moondog from the liner notes of Bracelli und Moondog– released on CD in 1986.
Recordings
Calv’s music is a meticulous fusion of tonal avant-garde heritage and contemporary environmental reflection, anchored by the rhythmic precision of the trimba. His debut full-length album, Nonstop Motion (2024), serves as a definitive introduction to this sound, blending original compositions with archival pieces by Moondog to create a seamless, hypnotic cycle of counterpoint and percussion. Calv expanded his sonic palette in 2025 with Solid Gold Timepiece, a collaborative project under the name Shagbarn with punk pioneer Derwood Andrews, which weaves Moondog-inspired beats into a tapestry of Celtic folk, blues, and industrial psychedelia. His shorter works are equally evocative, notably the 2023 single "Route 4," which transforms the ambient "highway drones" of his surroundings into a meditative, trance-like composition.
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.
Calv's debut album Nonstop Motion released on 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.
Live Performance
He's directs and performs with his ensemble Trimbtych, a musical collective dedicated to performing Moondog's music. They've performed concerts like MOONDOG: On The Keys in June 2025 and November 2024, with shows slated for 2026. They also regularly perform as a rhythm trio with trimba, bass, and a melodic instrument. Along with Moondog's songs, canons, and compositions, they also perform original works.
Non Prophets was a vocal sextet established for a selection of concerts in 2024. They performed at the Southern State Correctional Facility, Springfield, VT, for a private concert of inmates and guards. 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 Calv and Hardin. The cyclical nature of the rounds and their lyricism unified the concepts of life, mortality, and death. This concert is being planned for vinyl release in 2026.
They performed publicly at Silver Lake State Park, Barnard, VT, and for Calv's concert "MOONDOG: Contemporary Reflections" at Epsilon Spires, Brattleboro, VT. Contemporary Reflections featured an instrumental trio and Non Prophets, and was recorded by Brattleboro Community TV:
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 originally learned to play the trimba using a pair of bongos with a maraca and clave. 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 studied Hardin and Lakatos' design for the instrument. Provided here are pictures of Julian's trimba. This trimba is not the same dimensions as the original trimba.
Stefan Lakatos
Stefan Lakatos is a Swedish trimbist, percussionist, and singer. He is "the leading exponent of the Moondog method of drumming”, said Louis Thomas Hardin, a.k.a. Moondog. He has built trimbas, dragon’s teeth, and other percussion instruments according to the traditions taught to him by Moondog. For over 40 years of his life he performed the music of Moondog in both small and large groups and has collaborated with artists like Dominique Ponty, Andreas Heuser, Javanese gamelan composer Iwan Gunawan, Transorient Orchestra, Sebastian Åberg, Stephan Eicher, and Moondog himself.
He was born in Katrineholm, Sweden, on Dec. 21, 1955 and passed away on Feb. 10, 2023.