Home SpunRhythmotomy: An American PrayerSay what?: Band names don't always come easy, evenwith the aid of a thesaurus. In Rhythmotomy's case, it was-n't just a name they were looking for. Their whole soundtrip was a language, and a word had to be created totranslate their sonic hieroglyphs. On the CD, Rhythmoto-my is defined as 1) surgical severance of rhythmicalboundaries; 2) a group of like-minded individuals whotake percussion to new dimensions; 3) Steve Sandstedt,Jim Long, Tom Hollow, Bob Dreisbach.Sacred grounds: The men found each other at a Thou-sand Oaks drum circle in 1993. Thanks to Robert BIy andthe men's movement, drum circles were all the rage, butthe men who would form Rhythmotomy were alreadywell versed in the rudiments of drumming. The group stillresides above the grade (literally and figuratively) and canbe found the third Sunday of every month at ConejoCreek Park invoking the drum lords and indoctrinatingthe curious.Psychedelic paradiddles: Rhythmotomy's self-titled,self-produced debut CD is a percussive peace pipe that"combines ethnic rhythms and technology" to createwhat they call a"new music for the 21st century." It'smusic to be to, do to, dream to and most definitelydance to. It's been called psychedelic drumming andcould be classified under"new age," but will never be found in a woodenrack full of"soundscapes" at Target; it'stoo good. When pushed to categorize their atmospheric,playful and provocative compositions, the term"worldfusion" is favored.Bang a gong: If Rhythmotomy's sound is light years from garage rock, their extensive and eclectic collection ofinstruments would leave little room foran automobile. Aluminum and ceramic doumbeks, anklung, artillery casings, balafon, djembe, ngoma, shaman drum, slit drums, apple chime, gongs, congas, harmonium, garage door spring, energy chimes, Tibetan singing bowls and a variety of synthesizers and samplers are some of the tools the group employs to effect the textural complexity heard on the CD. For their next recording (they're currently in the studio), Rhythmotomy is experimenting with glass chakra bowls, which are tuned to resonate with the human body's energy centers, or chakras. The idea is to create music that's not only pleasing or evocative but also healthy.Banking on bliss:"Do what you love and the rest willfollow," is a noble dictum to be sure, but the cost of blisscan be steep. Just one instrument in Rhythmotomy'scache, the bass waterphone, is made by just one man inHawaii and runs about $1,600. Unlike many of their fel-low musicians in the rock genre, these guys don't resenttheir day jobs. They understand that having extra doughin the pantry allows for more freedom on the cuttingboard. The lack of financial pressure serves the creativeprocess. That's not to say they haven't tasted success.Rhythmotomy is regularly solicited for soundtrack workand the field is wide-open in terms of opportunity. Rhyth-motomy can be found at cdbaby.com, Wally World Musicand the outer realms of consciousness and possibility.Michel CiceroVCR June 20, 2002