Leon Lamont
Bio

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Leon Lamont started playing drums at the age of nine. Cutting his teeth on R&B covers, Lamont later graduated to heavy-metal, banging out tunes by the likes of Motley Crue, Kiss, Metallica, and The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Eventually growing tired of playing other peoples' music, Lamont began writing his own metal songs, forming the band T.H.U.G.S. (Treacherous Human Underdogs Going Social) to play them. Doubling as lead singer and drummer, Leon guided the band to the number one spot in a local reader's poll as top metal act.

Years later, T.H.U.G.S. was discovered by Rollins band bassist Melvin Gibbs, who produced the band's first record for the Rage label. The record's release consolidated T.H.U.G.S.' reputation as the top local metal band in St. Louis for two years running. In the middle of working on their follow-up album, however, T.H.U.G.S. broke up, leaving Lamont free to pursue his newest interest, drum and bass.

In the spring of '99, Lamont was asked to join DJ Logic's band in support of the album Project Logic (Rope-a-Dope Records), which he also played on. While working on the record, Lamont relocated to New York doing several live gigs with luminaries from the downtown music scene such as Medeski, Martin, and Wood, Joshua Redman, Melvin Gibbs, Marc Ribot, and Graham Haynes.

After a DJ Logic show at Wetlands, Lamont was asked by K.G. of the ColdCrush Brothers to play drums at a Cold Crush reunion concert featuring Biz Markie. Lamont was also called into the studio by Vernon Reid to play drums on his new album. Others artists Lamont has collaborated with include Anti-Pop Consortium, Dr. Israel, and Ded Prez. Breakbeat Mechanic (WSCD038) is his solo debut for WordSound.