Phil Elverum

Philip Whitman Elverum (; born May 23, 1978) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and visual artist, best known for his musical projects The Microphones and Mount Eerie. Based in Anacortes, Washington, in the mid-2000s he began to spell his surname Elvrum as "Elverum". Life Phil Elverum was born on May 23, 1978, in Anacortes, Washington. Growing up, Elverum's father regularly made mixtapes for him and his sister. He soon started to play the tuba but after three years moved onto drums. At age 14, he started his own band "Nubert Circus", playing the drums and writing lyrics. Elverum attended Anacortes High School. After graduating, he traveled across Canada with his then-girlfriend. In the summer of 1997, during his "punk rock experience", he moved to Olympia, Washington, where he lived until 2002. Elverum briefly attended Evergreen State College. He expressed little interest in college, favoring the music scene, although he remained a relative unknown. Elverum would later cite the music scene as the reason he moved. Elverum's primary source of income was music, performing small tours. In his adolescence, Elverum worked at Anacortes-based record store The Business where he would record music in the backroom after hours. During his time there, he met Beat Happening member Bret Lunsford who offered him a job as the drummer of the band D+ alongside Karl Blau. While living in Olympia, he would periodically return when low on money. Elverum described his time at The Business as his "entry point to alternative music", noting how it helped him become immersed in the scene. Also during his adolescence, Elverum expressed a desire to become a filmmaker, frequently making movies with his friends and screening them at a coffee shop.