Press Kit
Quick Bio
Donald Knaack (aka The Junkman) travels to the beat of a different drummer. As a conservatory-trained percussionist who has been a member of the Louisville Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic and a studio percussionist and drummer in the studios of Hollywood, he now exclusively composes-for and performs-on junk and recycled materials. And it's called Junk Music and its a unique collection of infectious grooves and musical styles that's gaining audiences from every spectrum of the music business - from rock to jazz to world music. Impossible to categorize, worldwide audiences are recognizing Junk Music is eye-opening, provocative and entirely new.
One-Page Bio
Donald Knaack The Junkman
The Junkman™ travels to the beat of a different drummer. As a conservatory-trained percussionist and composer, he has been a member of the Louisville Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic, as well as a studio percussionist and drummer in the studios of Hollywood. He now exclusively composes-for and performs-on junk and recycled materials. It’s called Junk Music™ and it’s a unique collection of infectious grooves and musical styles that’s gaining audiences from every spectrum of the music business- from rock to jazz to world music. Impossible to categorize, worldwide audiences are recognizing Junk Music as eye-opening, provocative and entirely new. Brat magazine called it hip, unique and totally cool!
It all began when Knaack studied with the reknown composer John Cage, who introduced him to using recycled materials as instruments of music. Knaack went on to record and tour with Cage and over the years, developed his own unique style of music: Junk Music. Recent performances have included The Van’s Warped Tour (with Ice T, Eminem, Blink 182, and others), Lemonwheel and the Great went with Phish, World Environment Day at the United Nations, 2003 Sundance Film Festival, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, the Kansas City International Jazz Festival, Discover Jazz Festival, and numerous colleges, universities and public schools in the US and Europe. He has composed two major scores (Known by Heart and Surfer at the River Styx) for famed choreographer Twyla Tharp. Both received great critical acclaim worldwide. Surfer was a joint commission from The Kennedy Center and The American Dance Festival.
The Junkman has been featured on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, CBS Sunday Morning, Here and Now for National Public Radio, in an article for the Associated Press, and a front page story in Billboard.
A track off his new CD entitled Junk Music 2 appears on a new television commercial for ESPN entitled Makeshift, which was directed by award-winning director Mark Romanek (Lenny Kravitz, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Beck and more...). A second track was used by ESPN for the promotional commercials for the 2005 NBA Playoffs. A third track is currently playing on a worldwide television commercial for EA Sports Games. His CD Junk Music was nominated for a Grammy in 1999.
In April, 2006, his full length opera ODIN, for spoken word artists and amplified percussion orchestra - all performing on recycled materials, was premiered at the Loewe Theatre in New York City. Highlights of this work were successfully presented at the Aspen Music Festival in August, 2005.
The Junkman has developed a new program for the schools of Vermont in which he teaches and involves students in the Three Rs and better environmental citizenry. The program is entitled HOP (Help Our Planet). The Junkman also constructs Junk Music Playstations, sound sculptures made exclusively from recycled materials in which large numbers of persons can simultaneously have a Junkjam. The Playstations are constructed for schools, festivals and museums.
...The website is: www.junkmusic.org
The Junkman™ travels to the beat of a different drummer. As a conservatory-trained percussionist and composer, he has been a member of the Louisville Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic, as well as a studio percussionist and drummer in the studios of Hollywood. He now exclusively composes-for and performs-on junk and recycled materials. It’s called Junk Music™ and it’s a unique collection of infectious grooves and musical styles that’s gaining audiences from every spectrum of the music business- from rock to jazz to world music. Impossible to categorize, worldwide audiences are recognizing Junk Music as eye-opening, provocative and entirely new. Brat magazine called it hip, unique and totally cool!
It all began when Knaack studied with the reknown composer John Cage, who introduced him to using recycled materials as instruments of music. Knaack went on to record and tour with Cage and over the years, developed his own unique style of music: Junk Music. Recent performances have included The Van’s Warped Tour (with Ice T, Eminem, Blink 182, and others), Lemonwheel and the Great went with Phish, World Environment Day at the United Nations, 2003 Sundance Film Festival, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, the Kansas City International Jazz Festival, Discover Jazz Festival, and numerous colleges, universities and public schools in the US and Europe. He has composed two major scores (Known by Heart and Surfer at the River Styx) for famed choreographer Twyla Tharp. Both received great critical acclaim worldwide. Surfer was a joint commission from The Kennedy Center and The American Dance Festival.
The Junkman has been featured on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, CBS Sunday Morning, Here and Now for National Public Radio, in an article for the Associated Press, and a front page story in Billboard.
A track off his new CD entitled Junk Music 2 appears on a new television commercial for ESPN entitled Makeshift, which was directed by award-winning director Mark Romanek (Lenny Kravitz, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Beck and more...). A second track was used by ESPN for the promotional commercials for the 2005 NBA Playoffs. A third track is currently playing on a worldwide television commercial for EA Sports Games. His CD Junk Music was nominated for a Grammy in 1999.
In April, 2006, his full length opera ODIN, for spoken word artists and amplified percussion orchestra - all performing on recycled materials, was premiered at the Loewe Theatre in New York City. Highlights of this work were successfully presented at the Aspen Music Festival in August, 2005.
The Junkman has developed a new program for the schools of Vermont in which he teaches and involves students in the Three Rs and better environmental citizenry. The program is entitled HOP (Help Our Planet). The Junkman also constructs Junk Music Playstations, sound sculptures made exclusively from recycled materials in which large numbers of persons can simultaneously have a Junkjam. The Playstations are constructed for schools, festivals and museums.
...The website is: www.junkmusic.org
beat the can
ESPN Makeshift Commercial (Long Version)