Leonard Solomon Shares His Inspiration for Creating Unusual Instruments Like His Incredible Bellowphone

The incredibly talented Leonard Solomon sat down with Wired to talk about the fantastical and unusual instruments he’s created over the past 30 years and shared how he came about making his first instrument, The Majestic Bellowphone.

Solomon’s foray into instrument making began in earnest in the early 1980s when he was working as a professional cabinet maker and dabbling in street performing. I had a pretty hot three-ball juggling routine but I needed more and I got the idea to build the bellow phone which is sitting there behind us. My very first weekend of street performing, I made a little bit more than I would have made for the entire week.