cars & trains
Electronica / Folk / Indie
portland, or
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About
As a child, Tom Filepp inherited an odd pairing of passions from his father (a computer programmer gone rock bassist): he was exposed to both the technical & artistic angles of life well before knowing how to put them to good use. Whether it had been that, or the many nights spent in band practice spaces watching grown men cover New Wave anthems that made him the multi-instrumental fanatic he is today, is up for debate. But one thing is certain: Tom has established himself as a legitimate song-writing force in cars & trains.
Filepp picked up guitar and drums at age seven. Although he spent more time jumping on his bed pretending to play while blasting Michael Jackson than actually practicing, it was the beginning of something. Meanwhile, his interest flourished in something much more difficult and less entertaining to pantomime. He began programming simple video games on the family PC and putting together computers from spare parts before they had any cool cachet (post-War Games, pre-Hackers).
As time went on Filepp picked up several other instruments. His second grade music teacher recognized the talent hidden in his paste-smeared fingers, picking him for an all-star concert for his ability to fumble through Twinkle Twinkle Little Star almost in key. Catapulted by such resounding success, he picked up trumpet the following year.
His relationship with the guitar was reinvigorated a few years later when he saw one of his crazed longhaired classmates rock out a version of Malaguena. Filepp decided it was time to lean the instrument properly, soon forming the first of several ill-fated rock bands. He moved onto hardcore and metal for a while, shredding and screaming his way through high school. Filepp's music tastes widened with time, and he became keenly interested in folk in the vein of Guthrie, Seeger and Dylan. Around the same time Filepp became enamored with hip-hop and many types of electronic music.
Inspired by projects like Boards of Canada and cloudDEAD, Filepp discovered a new direction for his music. He started working at what would soon become cars & trains, an attempt to marry his love of folk earnestness and electronic immediacy. After much trial and error and experimentation, cars & trains was born.
Filepp is constantly learning new instruments to add to the mix, both for new sonic possibilities and the sheer fun and humbling nature of learning a new instrument.
As cars & trains Filepp has done remixes for and collaborated with boy in static, Sole, Demune, Restiform Bodies, King Rhythm, Two Ton Sloth and K-The-i???. He has shared the stage with folks including Sole & The Skyrider Band, Telephone Jesus, Astronautalis, WHY?, and Demune.
Text(8)
May 19, 2009
Kenji from Boy In Static interviews Radical Face
Mar 13, 2009
west coast dates for april
West coast dates for April!
Hey folks! Going on tour with Astronautalis and Bleubird starting April 3rd. Details here, and pasted below. Hope to see you there!
April 3, 2009
Badlander | Missoula, MT
April 4, 2009
The Bouquet | Boise, ID
April 5, …
Nov 13, 2007
rusty string out now!
good news folks... the new rusty string hit the streets today... you can now grab it from the circle into square store (http://www.circleintosquare.com/index.php?page=item&item=36) in CD, Mp3, and FLAC format, or on Itunes, Emusic, Napster, Rhapsody... and a whole …
R.fm, May 8, 2009:
Hi,
our new site is up and running now, check it and let us know what you think.
Love from R.fm crew
RESTIFORM BODIES, Apr 9, 2009:
We Call It a Sound, Apr 5, 2009:
Please help us!
We need your help in contest for polish festival! For you it's only a little while, for us it's a very big deal! To vote on We Call It a Sound you should only enter this site:
http://muzyka.onet.pl/0,1941299,newsy.html
and at the bottom in the sound you should choose We Call It a Sound
and press "Głosuj" button! Please, help us, we will appreciate this!
Thanks for every Vote, you can vote until 15 April.
Greetings from Poland!
Masmöd, Mar 2, 2009:
At the moment I'm trying to concentrate more on my second release, but I'm hoping to play out again in a few months. I suppose it's also dependent on the weather working with me, instead of against me. hahaha...
Nueva Forma, Feb 25, 2009:
Hey Tom, thanks for the purchase. :)
Masmöd, Feb 25, 2009:
Thanks again for the kind words, Tom. :)
RESTIFORM BODIES, Feb 13, 2009:
Ziplok, Feb 8, 2009:
Pedram, Feb 6, 2009:
I like the electro-acoustic mood!
I'm listening to "Sometimes Falter", it's like Jack Johnson meets Mum.
Gd Luck!
The Time I Was Dead, Feb 5, 2009:
Hey love your "sometimes falter sometimes sway" music. Folk and electronica is so good
Nick
www.thetimeiwasdead.com.