(c. 2007) Delivering a dizzying array of grooves, clacks, snaps and thumps, she is Bigger and Badder than her motorized spinning mechanical drummer predecessors.
The HORNICATOR
(c. 2000) Thomas’s prime cohort and “Left Hand Man”, pimped-up gramophone the Hornicator is “More akin to a William Burroughs-style hallucination than an instrument.” -ProperTop.com
The STRINGALING
(2003) “…and then there’s The Stringaling (don’t ask).” -Dazed & Confused
The CADILLAC BEATSPINNER
(c.2000) Thomas’s first motorized mechanical sound sculpture/drummer. Seen here at Sidewalk Cafe, NYC. She was featured prominently on the first album, including ‘Ocean Orphan’. Currently retired.
SISTER SPINSTER
(c.2002) The second of Truax’s motorized mechanical drum machines, Sister Spinster was built for the road, and made somewhat collapsible so that she could be flown overseas.
The BACKBEATER
(2003) “He wore something on his back that looked a little like a UFO…goodness knows what the heck that was made out of…probably a real UFO given the unworldly noise […]
MARY POPPINS
(b.2006) Combines spoons, aerodynamics, centrifugal force, a motorcycle headlamp and a playing card. On the road through 2007. “She provides great accompaniment on ‘Stranger on a Train’ replicating the sound […]
DOCTOR PACEMAKER
(Germany 2013) The Doctor was an extra-large spoked-wheel drum machine built into a large metal performance cage which held Thomas and his other instruments suspended by cables from the rafters […]
SAXOGRAMOPHONE
(Germany 2013) Created for ‘Peer Gynt’ which ran through Theater Dortmund’s 2013/14 Season
The SLINKOPATOR
(2011) Born from a need for a Slinky and some ‘drums’ to get together, The Slinkopator appears on the September song of the Monthly Journal album. See it in action […]