Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, Trautmann started playing drums along to records when he was 11 years old.[1] He has cited KISS' appearance on The Paul Lynde Halloween Special in 1976 as influential in his decision to play music.[1] Trautmann began playing in punk bands in high school and eventually joined the garage rock band The Miracle Workers.[1] After graduating from Oregon Episcopal School in 1985, Trautmann moved to Los Angeles with the band and played with them on several albums, in addition to touring the United States and Europe.[1]
Following Brant Bjork's departure from Kyuss in 1994, Trautmann auditioned for the band and played with the group for two weeks before the spot eventually went to Alfredo Hernández.[1] Trautmann was later briefly a member of the band Dig from 1997 to 1999, playing on their 1998 album Life Like.[2] In 1999, Trautmann contributed to The Desert Sessions compilation Volumes 5 & 6. He joined Josh Homme's post-Kyuss band, Queens of the Stone Age, in June 1999 and contributed drums to four tracks on their 2000 album Rated R.[3] Trautmann departed the band in September 2001 during the recording process for Songs for the Deaf due to scheduling conflicts and featured on two tracks off the album released the following year.[4][3] He would later join Homme's other band Eagles of Death Metal as a touring member from 2006 to 2008.[5] In 2017, Trautmann formed the bass-and-drums collaboration Sumo Princess with Abby Travis.[6]
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