Small town to big screen

Local art can be at the heart of a town, or a county. It shares the stories and experiences of those who have walked the same streets, eaten at the same places, shopped at the same stores and known the same people. Tinfoil is a band that, in some ways, encompasses the past 30 years of Seneca County. They are an ever-evolving part of the area music scene. When you listen to Tinfoil's extensive discography, it is hard to define their genre. They are a little bit of everything. The band's motto is "We go where the music takes us" — nothing can sum up their style quite like that statement. Their songs tell stories, from the personal "It's Way Too Crowded In Here" to the speculative retelling of a voodoo priestess whose death supposedly wiped out an entire town through a hurricane in "New Orleans." Both of these tracks are from their latest album, "New Orleans." And, in addition to putting out albums and playing shows, the band will also feature in the soundtrack of an upcoming movie. The movie is being produced by Tiffin native and Calvert graduate Hope Madden and her production company Madd Wolf, based in Columbus. The movie's working title is "Obstacle Corpse" — a horror-comedy. It is currently being filmed. Cher Bibler of Tiffin is Tinfoil's rhythm guitarist and sometimes vocalist and Dave Harms, Tiffin native now living in Rossford, plays lead guitar and also provides vocals. The A-T sat down with them to hear the story of how the band formed and talk about their music and what lies ahead for them. Two other members of the band who could not be present for the interview are bass guitarist Krystal Harms of Ypsilanti, Michigan and drummer Bill Nichols of Toledo. Dave Harms said he had been in a band called The Mongrels before Tinfoil was formed in 1991. "We were a pretty popular band, but I wanted to do originals," Harms said. "The Mongrels and I were doing originals but not enough. So, we split. Then Cher asked me to come down and play guitar while she was doing a poetry reading." At the time, Bibler, who is originally from Green Springs, ran a bookstore in downtown Tiffin. "I thought, well, I'll play acoustic guitar behind you," Harms said. "And she says 'no, you gotta play electric guitar.' "I didn't know how this would go." Bibler said they didn't rehearse — they just went for it. "The reaction from the people, it was like a song," Harms said. "There was actually a poetry readers' group there and everybody was like ... their jaws dropped and they said 'wow, that was really good'." Bibler said they had some songs under Tinfoil at the time. Harms said they got Dave Smith, the drummer from his high school band, involved and they started recording. Tinfoil went to someone's studio in Findlay to record their first two or three albums. "Our first album was lucky enough to be able to chart," Harms said. "We were ahead of Green Day on the college CMJ radio. That's where, back in the '90s, the new bands were going to be discovered." A song on their second album was getting high on the charts, Harms said, but "Creep" by Radiohead started playing, supplanted their song and Tinfoil was never heard on CMJ radio again. The band switched their focus to playing bars in Tiffin. During that time, Tinfoil played at many local bars, some of which no longer exist. The band has also played special events, like Acoustics for Autism. "We opened up for Kid Rock. We opened up for Sponge. We played the same stages as Nirvana. We opened up for Damien in Toledo on their 1996 tour," Harms said of their concert work. "Some musicians, when they get older, they start getting mellower ... and we forgot to do that. There are some times that we walk in somewhere and everyone's young and they just look at us," Harms said. "Until we start playing," Bibler added. "And then all of a sudden, everybody rushes to the steps." "We're not going to be walking in there doing Mamas and Papas music. We're going to be doing punk, hard rock and you know, melt-your-face-off style music," Harms said. "Melt your face off mild," Bibler quipped. When their fourth album came out, they decided to build their own studio across from Tiffin University's campus. They named the studio Junk Studios. Bibler and Harms talked about the challenges that come with being in a band long-term. "Being in a band is like being married to four or five people at the same time," Harms said. A key part of making the band work is collaboration. Bibler and Harms both zone in on certain aspects of music. For Bibler, her focus is on the lyrics. As a singer, her ears are drawn toward lyrics and vocals. Harms said he finds the guitar in the music to be the most important part, but he also finds lyrics and vocals important. This agreement in sound makes creating together much easier, they said. They also go back and forth between themselves and the other band members with ideas they have. Bibler might have lyrics that need music to them, and Harms may have music that needs lyrics to it. It's a melting pot of personal and shared interests that come together to create Tinfoil's sound. As of now, they are working on re-recording their second album as part of a 30-year celebration. "Well, we talked about it. It's like, 'do we want to recreate exactly what we were doing back then? Or do we want to do the best we can now?'" Harms said. "So, we went with the best now. It's really cool. It's turning out great. I sent out a couple of demos to some friends and they sent back feedback and everything's been really positive about this." You can find Tinfoil on YouTube under "Tinfoil Ohio." They can also be found on social media and streaming services by searching "Tinfoil."