Fact: Filter began with Richard Patrick (vocals,
guitars, bass, programming, drums) experimenting
with a small eight-track in his parents' basement in
Cleveland. While Richard was writing songs, Brian
Liesegang (programming, guitars, keyboards, drums)
was sequestered away at the University of Chicago
completing a degree in philosophy and experimenting
himself, in a small electronic studio across the hall
from Bob Moog (the inventor of the modern
synthesizer.) Later, Richard and Brian would meet
through a mutual friend.
Fact: Richard and Brian decided to work together
musically while visiting the Grand Canyon, during the
middle of a cross country trek together.
Fact: Filter produced, recorded and engineered Short
Bus in a small brick house on the outskirts of
Cleveland during the summer and fall of 1994.
Fact: The album title, Short Bus is in reference to the
different kinds of school busses that carry kids to
school in the morning. The short bus transports the
"challenged" kids. Note that the title Short Bus is in
no way a sarcastic joke at the expense of the
handicapped, or a celebration of idiocy in the line of
Forrest Gump. Rather, Filter believes there is much to
be learned from the special and the different.
Difference is just that, and it is only through the
vision, ambition, and drive of those with an outlook
and perspective outside the norm that original
thought and real change can actually occur. (Stephen
J. Hawking, physicist and author of the best seller "A
Brief History of Time," is such an example.) Filter
believes one should strive for the beauty of the short
bus and reject the cattle morality and thought of the
masses.
Fact: The lyrics on the album reflect both the
discoveries and discussions experienced by Filter
during 1993 and 1994. Each song has its own
specific intent and meaning, but it is preferred that the
listeners read the lyrics and listen to the music and
develop their own conclusions. Maybe it's just more
fun that way. Who likes to be bashed over the head?
Statement: There is a certain subset of musicians
who for reasons unknown adhere to the false premise
that "electronic" music or the tools involved imply a
lack of creativity or inspired performance.
Technology, in the hands of creative, intelligent
individuals is a tool for art, not a hindrance. Filter,
being members of the current millennia, admit freely
to the use of such devices.
Fact: The above statement is in response to the
numerous albums since the advent of the computer
and synthesizer that make such asinine declarations
as: "There are no samples used on this record."
Richard and Brian were born in 1968 and 1970,
respectively, and have since experienced a life filled
with such wondrous devices as the remote control,
automated tellers, video games and computers.
There are few that can claim that such devices have
hampered art in its many forms. The computer is a
compositional tool, one which Filter uses to compose,
arrange, and produce their songs. If a writer uses a
word processor instead of a typewriter, does that
make him or her any less an author?
So why should it be suggested that the use of
technology makes one less a musician?
