Film School

Indie Rock Band from San Francisco

Film School is an American indie rock band from Los Angeles and San Francisco, California. Inspired by post-punk, dreamy pop and a touch of electronica, Film School started in 1998 as a two-piece band. Greg Berten played guitar, keyboards, sang and wrote songs whilst Paige Weber played drums. The pair recorded material together, a lot of which never saw the light of day, whilst the rest they distributing on their own. The collaboration lasted a couple of years until around 2000, when both members chose to go their separate ways. Greg began to write some new material and with Paige out of the picture he joined forces with a rotating cast of musicians to make 2001's full-length A Brilliant Career. Involved in the sessions were keyboardist Jason Ruck and guitarist/vocalist Nyles Lannon, who both went on to become permanent members of the band and Scott Kannberg from Pavement. For the tour supporting A Brilliant Career, Film School recruited Lannon's fellow Technicolor bass player Justin LaBo and drummer Ben Montesano. This lineup recorded 2003's Alwaysnever EP for Kannberg's boutique label Amazing Grease. After appearing at South by Southwest early in 2005, Film School signed to Beggars Banquet and began recording, joined by new drummer Donny Newenhouse. The On & On EP arrived that fall and heralded the release of their self-titled album in winter 2006. Film School's lineup had almost completely changed by the time Hideout, their third album, arrived in 2007; bassist Lorelei Plotcyz, guitarist Dave Dupuis, and drummer James Smith added to the album’s darker, more cohesive sound. The group spent most of 2008 touring in support of the album and contributed a cover of "An American Dream" to the Love and Rockets tribute album New Tales To Tell the following year. When Beggars Banquet dissolved and left Film School without a label, the band members planned to release their fourth album, Fission, by themselves. However, Hi-Speed Soul, which issued albums by the group’s former tourmate Adam Franklin, stepped in and gave Fission a mid-2010 release. Film School has also provided music for a series of short films by Demetri Martin, known collectively as "Clearification", an advertising campaign for Windows Vista.