Duo and trio improvisations from Taku Sugimoto (Japan) guitar, Günter Müller (Switzerland) percussion and electronics, and Kevin Drumm (Chicago) tabletop guitar and electronics.

Taku Sugimoto (b.1965, Tokyo, Japan) started playing guitar when he was a high school student. Early projects were influenced by the Velvet Underground and MC5. In 1988 Sugimoto released his first solo LP, Mienai Tenshi, which had a big, heavy sound. He started playing cello in 1991, and was briefly a member of the psychedelic rock band Ghost in 1993. In ’94 he joined Tetuzi Akiyama’s avant-garde classical music band Hikyo String Quintet. Later that year Sugimoto gave up the cello, and he and Akiyama launched their guitar duo. Over time his sound has evolved from loud, dense volumes to extreme quiet, marked by passages of silence. In 1998, together with Akiyama and Toshimaru Nakamura, he launched a monthly concert series at Bar Aoyma, which he continued to organize until February 2001.

Günter Müller (b.1954, Munich, Germany) is sound artist, who originally performed as a percussionist and drummer, active primarily in free improvisation. He uses contact microphones to amplify his drum set, and has incorporated various electronic effects, sometimes using an iPod or MiniDisc recorder to loop or otherwise process his performances. Müller was a founding member of the groups Nachtluft, poire z and Taste Tribes, and has collaborated with Gastr Del Sol, Christian Marclay, Keith Rowe, Voice Crack, Alfred Harth and others. He founded the record label for4ears. He has lived in Switzerland since 1966.

Kevin Drumm (b.1970, South Holland, Ill.) emerged from Chicago’s improvised music scene in the 1990s as a tabletop guitar player. In his early works, he made spare and detailed recordings, laying the instrument on its side and playing it with different objects, like magnets, paper clips and violin bows. Since 1991 his approach has expanded to include electroacoustic compositions and live electronic music made with laptop computers, pulse generators, effects pedals and synthesizers.

Earlier Lampo performances include a solo performance in December 1999, in a split bill with Ryoji Ikeda; and a September 1999 concert with Martin Tétreault and Jim O’Rourke.