Thomas Feiner - biography

Born 1968 outside Gothenburg on the Swedish west coast. Parents of Russian and Polish origin. Started taking trumpet classes in public music school at the age of 10, playing in various youth orchestras throughout the school years. This gradually gave way to less formal musical experiments as synthesizers started to become accessible. During and after the mid-teen years came the first attempts at forming bands and recording music with younger brother among others. Started singing for lack of other volunteers. Demos and some scattered gigs amounting to nothing substantial.


1989 saw the formation of what eventually evolved into the band Anywhen. As various members came and left over the following years, a core crystallized with Thomas Feiner on vocals, Mikael Andersson Tigerström on bass, Kalle Thorslund drums, and Jan Sandahl guitar. The band gave some few rare concerts and put out three full length albums: "As We Know It" in 1993 on Gothenburg label "Roligan". "Anywhen" in 1996 on Roligan and German label Clearspot 1997, and "The Opiates" in 2001 on Clearspot.


While the first record contained a kind of airy, skewed pop, the second record, produced by drummer and percussionist Michael Blair (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello etc) put out much more aggressive energy - music perhaps best described as power pop, or rock even.


The release of the self-produced "The Opiates" was a venture into more brooding moods and melancholic soundscapes, and the band more or less dissolved itself in the process. Priorities shifted among many of the members, ultimately distancing some from the project. Feiner gradually started adding more songs of his own, in the end bringing the entire project home. The record was completed in 2000, with Kalle Thorslund as assistant producer.


In 2003 Feiner was commissioned to score the soundtrack of German movie "Love in Thoughts" (Was nützt die Liebe in Gedanken, X-filme 2004), which also featured his song "For Now" in the end credits.


Thomas Feiner currently resides in Gothenburg and divides his time between graphics and music, working on his first solo-album.