Abandoned Pools
| Tommy Walter | |
|---|---|
| Born |
October 30, 1970 Thousand Oaks, California, United States |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California |
| Genres | Alternative Rock, Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Synthpop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer |
| Instruments | Vocals, bass, guitar, drums, keyboards, French horn |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Labels | DreamWorks, Extasy, Universal, Visionary Music, CreateSpace, I Miss You, Tooth & Nail, Hype Music |
| Associated acts | Abandoned Pools, Eels, ON, Glacier Hiking, Oliver the Penguin |
| Website | Abandoned Pools |
Thomas Edward "Tommy" Walter (born October 30, 1970, Thousand Oaks, California) is an American musician and songwriter, best known for his alternative rock band, Abandoned Pools, as well as being the former bassist and one of the founding members of Eels.
Tommy Walter was raised in Westlake Village. His father was an airplane pilot; his mother a stewardess. His father is from Canada, and was almost 47 when he was born. He grew up in a modest, middle-class household. He began playing bass at a young age, and was formally trained on the French horn in college. He attended the University of Southern California, followed by Pacific University. He began teaching classical music theory, and worked with local Los Angeles area musicians.
He met with singer-songwriter Mark Oliver Everett (known as E), and Butch Norton and formed Eels. Prior to their founding, E had already released two records by himself, under his single-letter pseudonym, and their name was decided upon so that their music would be placed next to E's solo works. However, it was in retrospect that they realized that there were bands that would be placed in between, such as Eagles.
Their collaborations led to refining songs that E had previously written, as well as creating new material. They released their debut album, Beautiful Freak, in 1996. However, after a year of touring, Walter left the band. In an interview, he stated his dissatisfaction with E's personality, and the loss of the amount of creative input that both Butch and himself had prior to the success of Beautiful Freak.
Soon after, he formed a band called Metromax. They shortly changed their name to Tely, and released an album over the Internet. However, the band didn't garner much success, and it soon evolved into Walter's solo project, Abandoned Pools.
Walter, using new material, as well as several songs he had worked on beforehand in both Tely and Metromax, composed, recorded, and released his solo album, Humanistic, in 2001 on Extasy Records. While being the creative force behind the project, other musicians contributed to the project, such as Angie Hart of Frente!, who sang backing vocals to "Start Over," "Ruin Your Life," "Sunny Day," and "Seed."
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