Music: TwoPine

While most artists yearn for the spotlight, Evansville's Tayler File is happy to exist in the shadows, quietly producing some of the tri-state's best electronic music - primarily ambient creations that truly soothe the soul, providing a muchneeded respite from the constant white noise of daily life in the 21st century. The irony here is that File used to play guitar in various high school metal bands. But feeling a bit boxed in, he started exploring synthesizers on the side and eventually his peripheral interest in electronics blossomed into a solo project dubbed TwoPine, a moniker based partially on a famous quote by Scottishborn naturalist/writer John Muir ("Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world") and the simple fact that there are two pine trees outside File's window at home. It's an apt name that perfectly captures the tranquil atmosphere of instrumental tracks like "Timberly" and "Dusk" from 2020's Fall EP - a promising debut that laid the blueprint for future releases. "I was still trying to figure things out," File explains. "But I knew that this is what I wanted to sound like." The sound of TwoPine grew from several distinct influences. File cites beat-based music by artists such as Flying Lotus and Tycho as a primary source of inspiration but in particular, the album 22, A Million by indie folk band Bon Iver. "That had come out and it was heavily electronicallyinduced and that's what really launched the effort of TwoPine," File notes. "I wanted to make electronic music [like these artists] but with that organic sound skewed and chopped-up and glitched-out." To achieve what he was hearing in his head, File began acquiring various pieces of equipment, including a MPC (music workstation) and two Korg synthesizers discovered while cleaning out his greatgreat uncle's house. Plus, a buddy kindly donated a reverb effects pedal which proved to be a hugely important addition to his arsenal. File then spent hours scavenging online electronic forums and watching YouTube videos to figure out how to bring his musical vision to life, duly pouring all that education into the aforementioned Fall EP - but he really hit the mark on last October's followup, Gratitude, and its two expertly-constructed tracks, "SlowDown" and "BeGrateful." The former's beat-based mastery shows just what a quick-study File is, while the latter's gorgeously serene piano refrain recalls Brian Eno's ambient classic Music for Airports.

Though it can take File up to two years to perfect his pieces, he's already set to release another EP on December 18. Titled Cold Moon (referencing the name of the full moon this month), this 3-song collection features his most danceoriented track to date. "And then I might just do an acoustic track after that," File says. "I still want things to sound kind of sweet and daytime-ish - and definitely organic electronic, if that makes sense."