cars & trains

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CHYZ Interview (English Translation)

CHYZ : The first few times I listened to « Rusty String », I tought that Cars and Trains was a group, because of all the lush intrumentations. When I found out later that you were the only man implied in this project, I was staggered. On this album, you’re playing banjo, trumpet, clarinet, xylophone, synth, accoustic guitar, drum and maybe other intruments as well. Is it somewhat of a challenge for you to play a new intrument or you’ve been learning to play all those intruments to compose music all by yourself? How are you performing your compositions on stage?

Tom : It's definitely a challenge. Some of them I've been playing for years, like the trumpet and guitar. But some of them, like the banjo or clarinet I've picked up in the last few. I've sort of set this bar for myself where I try to learn a new instrument every year or so. It's been a trip so far... Picking up the clarinet and viola in the past year was really humbling. The clarinet was especially hard because I've never played a woodwind instrument before... but it worked out pretty well I think. The problem now is trying to keep on top of all of them.. Practicing has sort of become a full time job.

A big part of it has been to become a lot more self sufficient. You're sitting down working on a song and you think, "Hey, this could really use some (cowbell?) in it"... I hated being pigeonholed by not having more options. The way I write a lot of times is on the fly, I sort of build up the song as I go, so having that immediacy of being able to just reach for the viola or glockenspiel really helps me a lot... I have a hard time visualizing something with placeholder cheesy synth trumpets and stuff like that.

Playing live has been a intense challenge... when you've got these songs with thirty-plus tracks layered over each other, you really feel compelled to try to approximate them, which will never work, whether you've got a band or you're looping things live. I do a lot of live looping with Ableton Live and some controllers. I've learned to kind of sit back and not take the songs so literally. It's taken the better part of the year to really understand that, but things have seemed to have come together in the past few months. I'm starting to play out more now and I'm having a lot of fun doing it. I usually stick to banjo, synth, electronic drums, and viola when I'm playing live... but will sometimes through in some glockenspiel, trumpet, and clarinet if I can fit them all in the car.

CHYZ : Your music is very unique and has been qualified as the perfect union of folk and electronic music. You said you’ve been influenced by some well-known folk artists such as Dylan and Guthrie as much as some electronic bands like Boards of Canada and cLOUDEAD. After the release of two albums, do you think you’re as much influenced by what you’re listening or did you find other ways to get inspired? Wich bands / artists are you listening to these time around?

Tom : A lot of pre-war folk definitely had a big influence on me... the stuff I really love, is the old field recordings... you get these folks like Alan Lomax that went out in the field with these huge acetate recording machines, that have this really eerie quality to them. I think I'm as influenced by the music itself as I am by that super abrasive hissing and scratching you hear on a lot of those recordings.

I listened to a lot of Tujiko Noriko and Doseone's Ha this time around... I really love how they build an intimate space that you can kind of crawl into when you're listening to the music. It sort of carries you away. I've also had a lot of late sixties rock and psych on repeat. I love a lot of the plate/spring reverbs you find on albums like Pet Sounds, or some of those early Hollies records. One of these days I will get rid of all of my furniture and just get a big 6 foot x 10 foot reverb plate... maybe I can put it where my bed is now.

CHYZ : For the recording of « Rusty String », you’ve spent some time in a urban area (Boston) but you’ve done some of the work in backwoods Appalachia as well. What these two opposite backgrounds did bring to your album?

Tom : I spent about a week in Pennsylvania recording the beginnings of the album, in a house by myself, on a lake. It was really great. A lot of the more intimate sounding parts of the album were probably recorded there. You sort of get the mixture of the neuroses of the city mixed with the laid back atmosphere of the countryside... I'm not sure that it was even all that intentional, but it seemed to fall together pretty well. I think "painting over it did no good" was the first thing I put together in that house. I was still kind of fumbling around with the clarinet at that point too, so it was nice to not have anyone around while I was making calls to geese on that thing. I'm pretty sure I recorded the clarinet/synth combo part for "the singing will never cease" there too, which I'm not sure if I could have done back in Boston at that time.

CHYZ : You’re one of many artists to put online a free EP. You named it « Consumer Confidence vol. 2 ». You did the same thing for the launching of your first EP « 2 AM », with « Consumer Confidence vol. 1 ». Do you feel it’s a good way to get exposure and to be discovered? Did you compose songs specially for those digital albums or is it songs that you didn’t pick out for your « official » albums?

Tom : Oh yeah, I think it's a great way to get yourself out there, especially if you don't have good distribution. You've still got to hit promotion pretty hard, but it's great for folks to have something, especially if it's to tide them over in lieu of the proper album release.

Consumer Confidence #1 was sort of an afterthought, I pretty much just picked a few random old tracks I had laying around that needed a home. #2 was different though, I planned that EP out like an album, and made everything specifically for that release. Even though it's a free release I wanted it to show the same sort of craft that I put into Rusty String... I had a lot of fun in the process, and tried a lot of new things. I think my favorite off that second EP is "stand still like the hummingbird"... I love the way that fell into place.

CHYZ : I think you have worked quite a bit with some Anticon artists. On « Rusty String », Sole has collaborated on « The Sky is Clear » and on « Consumer Confidence vol. 2 » you’ve remixed a song of Telephone Jim Jesus. When we’re listening to your album, some compositions aren’t that far from what some Anticon artists make. Am I right to think that you have some kind of affinity with that label?

Tom : I'm a big anticon fan. They're super nice folks and have been really helpful with everything as I've gotten cars & trains moving. It was huge when Tim (Sole) asked if I wanted to collaborate on a song, I've been a fan of his stuff for some years now. I got into them after listening to Alias' "Other Side of The Looking Glass", and never turned back afterwards... It was fun chopping up Telephone Jim Jesus and Bomarr's Chapel of the Chimes album... it's got some really pretty moments in it.

CHYZ Exclusive Interview With Cars & Trains!

CHYZ : All the work that you’ve done so far has been released by a small label named « Circle into Square records ». We know very little about it. Would you tell us a bit about this label?

Tom : Sure. Circle into Square is actually my label. I was shopping out Rusty String quite a bit and was getting really great feedback from labels, but everyone was saying the same things, roughly something along the lines of "the music industry isn't doing so well right now, maybe next time". So I decided to take it into my own hands and do it my way. It's nice because I've got my hand in every aspect of it; talking to vendors and distributors, promoters, etc... I even built the entire site and store from scratch. It's an outlet for my friends and myself to release albums in a collective sort of way... It takes up a lot of time. But this way there's no "label" to owe money to, while still having the common front and name recognition. We're able to adapt to changes more easily this way too, without much overhead or anything. We're releasing a few albums this year, including a new album by San Franscisco based Skating Club.

CHYZ : Let’s talk about your name. I know it sounds kind of cliché but I’d like to know where it comes from. « Cars and Trains » is also the title of an EP by The Notwist. Is it where your project name comes from? If yes, why this EP has been important to you?

Tom : Folks ask me that a lot. I love the Notwist, but that's actually just coincidental, as far as I know. I spent a good six months to a year trying to come up with something witty, subvertly political, etc etc... and decided in the end I wanted something that was light and subjective to everybody that reads it. I didn't want something with a whole lot of meaning behind it, so you can get your own sort of interpretation out of it. I know that's sort of cliché and evasive, but that's what I was thinking.

CHYZ : 2007 has been such an unvelievable year for indie bands in Portland. The Shins, Menomena, 31 Knots, The Blow, YACHT, Cars and Trains and many others have released amazing albums. How do you explain this effervescence? What do you think of the Portland indie scene right now?

Tom : I think a lot of it is just that there's so many great bands here... and everyone really seems to have their eye on the city... It's definitely a lot more accessible than say, Boston or New York, so it seems easier for folks to gain momentum here. In Boston or New York you're politicking all the time to get your name out and play shows. I've run into some really nice groups here, and things seem a lot more cohesive. People seem to care.

CHYZ : Younger, you were playing in a metal music band, like a bunch of other indie artists. Is it a prerequisite to make inspired music when you get older? Do you think those years were necessary to your musical evolution?

Tom : Yeah that does seem to be the way it usually works, doesn't it? I'm not sure I would say it's a prerequisite... but I think in a way I maybe appreciate what I do now more because of the wide gamut of bands I've played in... I'm sure it was important for one reason or another, if even just for the experience. I definitely learned I can scream really loud like a bear, that's for sure.

CHYZ : What can we expect from Cars and Trains in 2008? Do you plan to tour or even releasing another cd?

Tom : Lots of stuff. I'm already working on new material, and have plans to tour around later this year. I've got a whole slew of shows planned in Portland in the next month or so, and plan on branching out in the coming months. I really need to get out to Quebec.

CHYZ : Finally, if you want to get in trouble making absurd comments or starting a polemic, this is THE place! Seriously, do you want to share something else with CHYZ 94,3 auditors / readers?

Tom: Nice... the possibilities... can I borrow some health insurance?

CHYZ : Thank you so much for your time and kindness! We hope to see you somewhere in Quebec pretty soon!

Interview by Dany Plourde
CHYZ 94,3 FM - January 2008

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CHYZ Interview (English Translation)

2 am

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rusty string

the roots, the leaves