Oregon Music News

The mixing together of electronic and acoustic instrumentation is nothing new, and, frankly, there aren’t that many people out there doing something new with that concept. So when you do hear a group that transcends the rabble, you do well to listen up.

One such project is Cars & Trains, the music nom de plume of Tom Filepp. His artful melding of shambling mechanical beats – many of which sounds like they were constructed meticulously from samples of someone hiking through the woods, shuffling and crinkling and splashing as they do – and the ramble of folk elements (acoustic guitar, viola and glockenspiel) feels absolutely natural. As if these pieces were lying around for someone to finally have the smarts to stick them together at long last.

Filepp is gearing up for the release of his second full-length, The Roots, The Leaves with some shows at the Doug Fir Lounge (with Logan Lynn) and at Mississippi Studios (with Lymbyc Systym and Helios). The multi-instrumentalist spoke with Oregon Music News about the new album and looking for the grass that grows up through cracks in the pavement.

On your website, the header refers to as simply an “electronic music project” but your music seems much more complex than that. Was that you just trying to sum it up as simply as possible?

When I first started the project, it was definitely a lot more electronic based. Over time I’ve figured out ways to better and more subtly to integrate my folk side of things. There are definitely a lot of electronic elements but I’m very particular about the way sit. I like them to be as organic as possible so you have a hard time telling what is actually live instrumentation and what are samples and found sounds. Long story short: I should probably update that.

Were you playing a lot of folk stuff at the same time you were trying your hand at electronic music?

That’s essentially what happened. I used to play in a bunch of bands when I was younger, but when I went to away to college, I didn’t really have access to that same sort of environment. I ended up playing lots of stuff acoustically which I did begrudgingly at first but it grew on me. I started to acquire a taste for the different kinds of folk stylings. So when I was approaching these things, I was envisioning a way to integrate them at some point.

What attracted you to electronic music?

It was the possibilities more than anything. I grew up listening to a lot of different kinds of music. I started listening to hardcore and metal and worked my way into industrial and then electronic music through there. I was always sort of intrigued by the process and how you could manipulate things and really just make them whatever you wanted them to be and to be able to do it on your own.

The new record – both in the title of it and the lyrical content – references the natural world quite a bit. What was the inspiration behind that?

I’ve always been obsessed with the relationship of nature and urbanity. A lot of the different juxtapositions of nature breaking through into urban life whether it be grass coming up through sidewalk cracks or decaying rusting things, its always fascinating to me. Because all of these things have been paved over but in the end nature is more resilient than any steamrollers or plows that we have. It’s something that I really love. There’s a wealth of imagery that I like to build around.

Are you involved in the environmental movement at all?

It’s a big part of my life. I’m definitely not quite as active in that area as I’d like to be. But I am a very avid vegan and try to be involved with that stuff when I can be.

The song “Asleep On A Train” really stood out for me, particularly in this expression of the mark that someone leaves behind them. Is that speaking of the environmental impact or are you talking about mortality?

A lot of stuff gets kind of muddy. It’s the combination of personal experiences that I’ve had and just wondering what their impact is and I guess it’s into questions of immorality via what survives you after death. I’m a strong adherent of the belief that ultimately no matter what we do here, at some point in the very distant future nature will intercede and correct itself.

How has it worked trying to combine these acoustic and electronic elements in a live setting?

That has been an interesting process that I’ve been working on for a couple of years now. When I play live, I do everything. It’s all live looping. I use a laptop and put an audio interface through that. I use some MIDI controllers for some of the more percussive elements and then usually run in a synth, guitar, viola and some toy instruments and stuff like that. I just kind of build it all up. The idea has been being really adamantly opposed to just hitting play and singing over things. Really having my hand in everything. It’s been interesting seeing it come together over the years and being able to do things like live looped harmonies with the vocals. I think it really makes it more of an intimate experience. It’s been created in real time. Usually translates really well in an intimate setting. Sometimes less so in very large clubs. On the whole it’s very interesting for me and keeps me on my toes.

Do the songs then change drastically from their recorded versions?

Depending on the complexity of them they tend to be more interpreted versions of them. If you’re familiar with some of the records, you’ll recognize the songs but either structurally they’ll be different or I’ll be using some of the samples from it. When I play a song live, it’s usually not exactly the same every time I play it. Some of those tracks I love the little details and so I’ve got easy 70 or 80 separate tracks on of those song arrangements. It’s almost like I’m covering my own songs. I definitely have to reinterpret them there’s no way I could do that.

You’ve also done a lot of remixing work. Is this from people seeking you out or are you chasing down this work?

It’s been sort of a mix. Definitely stuff early on that I went out and sought after the projects. In the past couple of years, it’s been people asking me whether its friends or friends of friends or just random people. I really love doing remixes. It’s really a great way for me to try new stuff that I probably wouldn’t otherwise when I’m working on my own things. There’s sort of a longstanding tradition with a buddy of mine we were friends back in Boston when I lived there a few years back. He plays under the name Boy In Static. He would always release an album right before me and I would remix one of the tracks for him and that track would always the techniques and the feeling of them they would always set the tone for my next record. It didn’t happen this last time around but there was this development process that was interesting to the two of us. I have to say I owe a lot to him inspirationally and doing the ping-pong thing back and forth helped me grow quite a bit.

What is next for you?

It’s been a one man band for such a long time I would be very interested to try to get some other folks involved somehow. I’ve got these fantasies of enlisting a cello player even some other strange instruments. Even if it wouldn’t end up developing itself into an actual band, just something to mix it up. There’s that and I want to I would really would like to produce music for other folks as well. I’ve definitely done a couple of things for some hip-hop artists and could potentially have some things on the horizon. This past record that I did, I obviously recorded everything myself but it was the first time that I did all the mixing and everything from beginning to end which was a huge achievement for me. It was something that I’ve battled for years and years now. I feel a lot more confident in my production and mixing skills and would really love to take that into a different context and work with other people just to see what that experience is like.