ommi Zender is a multi-instrumentalist from Evanston, Il. Zender wears and has worn many musical hats: Songwriter/singer, producer, guitarist, music teacher, bandleader, collaborator, studio session hired-gun, children’s rock concert drummer, and he often acts as an accompanist to other singer/songwriters...to name a few. How did he end up in these lines of work and play?

TZ: “My parents used to put the headphones on me to keep me from crying when I was little. Later on I became obsessed with records. My father couldn’t keep me away from his stereo. They still tell the story of how I would slap a 45rpm singles on the carpet, and proceed to run circles around them, making mouth sounds emulating the music. They thought something was seriously wrong with me. I picked up guitar at age 8 & my parents eventually bought a Stratocaster copy and a Fender Champ amp from a neighbor. I used to hang out at a high school kid’s house on the block & he had a band that practiced in his basement. They played Yardbirds, Stones, and Beatles. I would beg them to let me sit in with the 3 chords I knew, or beat on the drums, but mostly I’d just listen. I made my own group in the 5th grade. I think we managed to put together a bad version of “Smoke on the Water” and an original or two.”

Zender split his youth pretty evenly between Evanston and Phoenix, AZ after his parents divorced, with a stint in the San Fernando Valley of California in the late 70’s. ("A great place to go through puberty.") Music and sports were his main interests, and remain so to this day. The biggest key in his musical development was listening to a wide variety of music...often right before bedtime. He played in bands all through high school, and studied some classical guitar as well.

As college approached, Zender opted to wait it out. A meeting with guitarist Steve Vai changed his mind about attending the Music Institute in California, but Zender didn’t take Vai’s recommendation that he attend Berklee School of Music in Boston. He played in bands and worked at American Express until age 23.

“The weird thing is, had I gone to Hollywood to the MIT, I’ve since learned the late Jeff Buckley would have been my classmate. Freaky! My dad lost the $100 deposit on the registration, but that was a drop in the bucket compared to his disappointment that I chose not to go to college. I just waited until I was ready for it. I stunted my growth musically by waiting; by being ignorant about learning the language and theory of music. I skated by a long time because I had a quick ear, but I hit a wall finally. I really missed Chicago and I was starting to hate Phoenix. I wanted my roots back”

A dryer sense of humor, Zender in college

In 1989 Zender headed back to Chicago to attend Columbia College, graduating with honors and a music performance degree in 1993. Zender played in various bands and worked at an independent music store in Evanston for 7 years, teaching music privately on the side, which he now does full time. In 1999 he released his first record under the moniker Trinkets of Joy, titled “Just Like Mom Used to Make” (temporarily sold out) on the local Hear Diagonally record label. It was self-recorded, produced and largely performed by Zender on a 4-track. He describes the record as “mid-fi”.

“I like to tell people it took me 33 1/3 years to make that first record (laughs). I didn’t give it a chance though really. I didn’t promote it at all. I had a lot of issues to work through at the time. I couldn’t keep a band together. I was overly sensitive to feedback from my peers & even strangers. It was the best I could do at the time and I’m still proud of it though. The most common response I got from people was ‘I can’t believe you did that on a 4 track in your basement’. And I'd have to say it wasn't exactly EMI studios down in that basement either. Egg cartons all over the ceiling and no sign of George Martin!”

In the time since releasing “Just Like Mom Used to Make” he has kept busy. He’s produced “Tear Me Down” for Shelley Miller. He's played drums on Justin Roberts children’s records and performances & also percussion/drums for Ralph’s World records and concerts, He and Mark Johnson co-founded the pop/soul group Ruben Waters Loves You which Zender left in 2002. He's also been an accompanist for the likes of Dag Juhlin (Poi Dog Pondering, The Slugs, The Goldstars), The Bon Mots, Matt Tiegler Band, Ellen Rosner, and Ryan Auffenberg. He has taken part in many of Tom Dunning’s legendary Hoot Night’s at Schuba’s Tavern. It’s not out of character for him to jump up on stage unrehearsed with people he barely knows to accompany them for a song or two on various instruments.

“I’m really excited that I get to do a lot of different things musically. I love teaching, I love producing, accompanying others in studio and performance, and I'd love to find the right fit with being in a band again and do some more music for film. I have plans to release some ambient guitar music someday...along the Brian Eno tip of 'ambient'...in fact I've got one album done already."

The new record "Will Work For Harmony" was done with Jeff Oliver engineering at Riverbend Studio in Chicago from 2003-05. "Jeff put a lot of time and effort into making it sound really good, and was very gracious with me as an artist. I'm very proud of the work and very thankful to him because the record wouldn't be here if he hadn't cared as much as he did."

Zender is in the process of finishing the second Shelley Miller record for release in spring 2006. There is a new Tommi Zender MYSPACE page available with streaming audio and current performance updates, etc.