Former Nine Inch Nails members Richard Patrick and Brian Liesegang's
new band Filter will release their debut album, Short Bus on Reprise 
today. The band consists of only Patrick and Leisegang, both of whom 
appear as "singers and multi-instrumentalists"--but if the truth be 
told, they recorded the entire thing on computers. When asked why 
computers, Richard Patrick replied "Brian and I did the entire record 
on a computer because computers are what we grew up with. A few vocal 
bands have decided that computers and samplers are not tools for creativity, 
but crutches that hamper it. Anyone who says music isn't music unless 
you have a guitar, isn't seeing the whole picture." We can't wait for 
the live shows. 

Besides making utterly amazing music (think Nine Inch Nails with more 
irony and better lyrics) this is a band that has an answer for 
everything; but ATN likes that in a band. Leisegang, who has a degree 
in philosophy from the University of Chicago, told one reporter that 
the name "Filter" comes from a theory of mind. "We live in an infinite 
world, yet are dealing with our own finite consciousness. I don't mean 
to sound pompous, but our minds tend to depart what they want out of 
what is, so everyone has their own way of dealing with life." Could 
you condense that? Patrick, who does not have a degree in philosophy, 
and is in fact a college dropout, has another take. He says that 
"Filter" comes from using his songs to filter out his emotions. You decide. 

This band also had a very enterprising method of getting noticed. 
During last year's Lollapalooza, they gave away over 12,000 four-song 
cassettes to the attendees at the shows. As a result, they aren't really 
starting from ground zero with Short Bus . In addition, Reprise president 
Howie Klein set up a site on the WWW and a post office box for early Filter
enthusiasts to interact with the band as they finished recording their 
album in their native Ohio. Fans might know their music, but they may be 
in the dark about the album title (like we said, this band has an answer 
for everything). It refers to special students who don't travel on the 
regular school bus, but ride the vehicle that accommodates their challenges.
Patrick and Leisegang told Hits that all of us are handicapped in some 
way and our shortcomings are our greatest opportunities to contribute to 
the world. Their album aims to show us how.