The Man Behind the Microphones

Phil Elvrum Seems Primed to Be K Records' Next Big Thing

Ross Raihala, The Olympian

Originally published Friday, March 29, 2002

OLYMPIA -- Remember this name: Phil Elvrum.

The 23-year-old Elvrum, who records under the Microphones moniker, has the potential to become K Records' biggest breakthrough star in years.

Amazon.com named his most recent release, "The Glow, Pt. 2," the best independently released album of 2001.

The influential indie-rock Web site Pitchforkmedia.com also named it record of the year, claiming it "is to big-budget rock epics what camcorded home movies are to sci-fi Hollywood blockbusters: infinitely more affecting and sincerely moving."

Chris Swanson, one of the owners of the Indiana-based Secretly Canadian record label, practically gushes when asked about Elvrum.

"The Microphones are, hands down, my favorite band alive," says Swanson, whose label handles manufacturing and distribution for Olympia's K Records.

"He's like a bedroom Phil Spector. And he's doing it all on his own, it's not like he's out there hobnobbing with the elite. It seems like it's all very intuitive for Phil."

Elvrum, who performs Saturday night in Olympia, seems to take all the praise in stride.

"I mean, it's cool, I've read a lot of good reviews and lots of people tell me they like it," Elvrum says. "But I feel sort of removed from it now. I finished ('The Glow, Pt. 2') a year ago. It's pretty abstract now. And every time I do an album I try to make it as good as I can.

"Besides, my ego needs to be put in check every once in a while."

Elvrum grew up in Anacortes. At the age of 14, he met Bret Lunsford of Beat Happening, who turned the teen-ager on to the fertile independent music scenes in Seattle and Olympia.

While playing in other bands, Elvrum began messing around with his own music.

"The Microphones stuff was just late-night recording experiments," says Elvrum. "I was figuring out how to use (recording equipment). It wasn't even like I had real songs, just weird experiments with noise."

Eventually Elvrum began releasing some of those experiments on Lunsford's KNW-YR-OWN record label. After high school, Elvrum moved to Olympia to attend The Evergreen State College.

At that same time, Elvrum began touring as the Microphones and continued to make music in K Records' Dub Narcotic studio. The self-taught engineer and producer quit Evergreen after two quarters.

"I took a recording class and I really hated it," says Elvrum. "The first thing we learned was how to completely soundproof and balance a studio so your recordings sound exactly perfect. That whole way of thinking was to record bands so they'd get played on the radio.

"I was glad to be exposed to that sort of thinking, but I didn't learn anything from it. I'm really interested in trying new things and being sloppy."

That said, Elvrum's most recently released work is anything but sloppy.

He collaborated on K Records artist Mirah's new album "Advisory Committee," which hit stores earlier this month. And that album's single, "Cold, Cold Water," may well be Elvrum's most ambitious project to date with strings, a choir and production values that rival any major-label product.

"When Mirah played the song to me on her guitar, it blew me away," says Elvrum. "I was, like, 'Oh my God, Mirah wrote that?' "

The duo spent three full weeks turning "Cold, Cold Water" into a sort of big-screen cowboy epic.

"We were challenging ourselves as much as possible," Elvrum says. "We had all these crazy charts for different sections of the song. It was all planned out, not really like a score, but a chart. It was the most work I've ever put into a song."

Elvrum sounds both thrilled and proud of the result.

"I guess it's the sort of thing that people do on computers pretty easily, but we did it all on a broken 16-track."

Elvrum is currently planning an April tour of the Northwest. Later this year he's hoping to tour Europe and, with any luck, set up temporary residence in Norway for the winter.

And he's got a host of new projects ready for release, including a new Microphones single slated for July, a singles compilation set for August and two all-new Microphones records.

"I don't have a job, I don't really have anything else to do," says Elvrum. "I get antsy when I don't have a feeling of accomplishment every day."

Ross Raihala covers entertainment for The Olympian and can be reached at 360-754-5406 or rraihala@olympia.gannett.com.

In concert

- What: Indie rock stalwart Will Oldham will perform an all-ages show under his current pseudonym, Bonnie "Prince" Billy. He'll be joined by the Microphones, Little Wings, rainYwood and Entrance.

- When: 7:30 p.m. March 30.

- Where: Socket, which has an entrance in the alley between Jefferson and Cherry streets in downtown Olympia. (The concert was forced to move from its original location, the Midnight Sun, but there will be a sign posted there with directions to Socket.)

- Tickets: $6 at the door. The show is expected to sell out and there are no advance ticket sales, so fans are advised to show up early.

- For information: See www.kpunk.com.

On the Web:

- The Microphones

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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