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Drum As You Are | Mona Tavakoli

December 09, 2022

Mona Tavakoli discovered the drums at age 11—and hasn’t stopped playing them since. Her career as a drummer, percussionist, singer, and performer has taken her to all seven continents; she was a founding member of the all-female rock band Raining Jane, and wrote and recorded multiple albums with Jason Mraz. She is known for adapting the cajón, a box-shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru, and bringing it to unexpected genres such as rock and pop, eventually designing a signature cajón of her own, The MT Box.

For Tavakoli, making music has always been about connecting with and uplifting others. As the co-founder and co-director of the nonprofit Rock n’ Roll Camp for Girls Los Angeles, she is dedicated to helping girls, women, and female-identifying youth find their voice through music. In 2017, she traveled as a cultural diplomat to collaborate with local artists and facilitate workshops in Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, and Malawi, using the power of music to promote women’s entrepreneurship and empowerment. She is currently working with the U.S. Embassy in Zimbabwe to create social change through songwriting.
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