A brief biography of Philadelphia photographic and musical artist Bruce Reinfeld -- His band and new album: HiFi Disco’s: Analog Style for a Digital World (November 2011, produced by Brian McTear)


In The Secret Life of Walter Mitty the title character transforms and transplants him self
into any manner of circumstance and location through dreamlike whimsy.

Bruce Reinfeld could be Walter Mitty if he really wanted to.

At first glance and listen, the Philadelphia photographer, graphic artist and
musician/composer/singer that fronts HiFi Disco (short for High Fidelity Distribution
Co., like MGMT is with Management) doesn’t initially seem like the whimsical kind.

The images that litter his prints, tiles and t-shirts are culled from miles of driving through
backwater towns and along interstate highways and are focused, journalistic and frank.

The well-heeled lyrics that infiltrate his buoyant brand of pop are ruminative and straight
forward, poetic yet never fussy.

Yet for all this blunt force, there is a capriciousness that belies his lighthearted
lightheaded sense of play and humor.

As a photographer, Reinfeld calls what he does “analog style for a digital world.” Then
again, that’s what Reinfeld calls his new album. So that’s funny.

Working with 35mm film bodies and $25 plastic Brownie cameras – along with infrared
film and black & white stock in 35mm and 120mm format – Reinfeld captures the
everyday. His songs do this as well.

Photographically it is wrecked train tracks, battered sculptures, creaky barns, bruised
busses, dime store Elvis impersonators and the wretched likes that are his subjects. The
photographs are non-manipulated and never staged or set up. Onto this, Reinfeld adds a
gently silly different perspective. “With a decade of traditional hand coloring under my
belt, I now airbrush the color onto each image digitally because of the detail that can be
obtained,” says Reinfeld. This gives each black & white work a surrealist burst of Pop
color that makes the image Reinfeld has captured come vibrantly alive and merges the
beauty and sadness in his art with seamless elegance. “People often view my photography
and see everyday subjects beautified with bright colors - they look at my work and
smile... and really never see the real photo, the desolation, isolation, and loneliness. I see
the destruction of beauty in the name of progress, a reflection of me or at least the “me”
that I was when I shot the photo.” Reinfeld claims it is that the same brand of reflection –
the “me” that I was then – that fuels his songwriting.

It is these self-reflective photographic images – that “me then” brand - that have found
Reinfeld successfully spinning throughout the country at various galleries, pop up shops
and festival showings such as Art Basel; tours that also result in more impromptu photo
sessions. And so on and so on. “I live and work in a warehouse in Philadelphia but stay
mostly half the year in hotels, traveling in a monster Mercedes euro van that kicks ass,”
says Reinfeld. When discussing the notion of location scouting, the photographer says he
gets in the van, stays off main roads, and “if someone tells me of a great place to take
photos, I listen politely, make pretend I give a shit...then never go there.”
Reinfeld has a line of products – t-shits, tiles and coasters - called “Jews Kick Ass” that
features Jesus and several top tier Jewish celebs from Bob Dylan to Henry Winkler.
Many of his highly graphic t-shirts (his Jesus on a motorcycle and rasta ragamuffin
designs) have made their way onto the torsos of Drew Barrymore, Dave Grohl, Pharell
Williams and G.Love. How they got there is unknown and we are currently looking in to
this phenomenon. “After photography led me into computers/graphic design and putting
my art/designs on clothing, I dove into the apparel business and rode that wave.” Reinfeld
has always been lucky in business. Maybe that’s because he graduated from Penn State
with a business degree. Reinfeld has his work shown in single artist gallery presentations
right out of school, before going on to design a successful clothing line and selling his
designs and his photos through his High Fidelity Distribution Company. Then again,
that’s the name of his band. So that’s funny.
Riding the wave means probing the flow through to its peak. It’s a natural leap that is
without barrier or boundary. Music and photography may be different beasts but they’re
symbiotic and symmetrical to Reinfeld even if they weren’t always exactly equitable.. “I
think the skill set for everything I do is kind of tied together like a tree and its roots.
Some roots are bigger then others but they are all connected. They have to be or it is not
real.”

He doesn’t take that many photos or write that many songs, weeding out the photos that
are not where they should be, tearing down the songs that don’t say or sound exactly
what and how they should. “I’m way worse about that editing process with my music
than I am taking pictures because the writing process is not as structured as photography
and it is way harder to write a decent song...way harder.”

The guitar that Reinfeld – a Philadelphia University of the Arts student who spent time at
NYU - picked up the same time as the camera gave him a less-than- instantaneous
sensation. Still something was there. Then something more was there. He had a band
called Polar Creep was weirdly rocking and ruminative. Then he stopped. Now he has a
band, HiFiDisco that’s oddly popping, contagious and ruminative that will not stop. It
can’t be stopped. “I waited a long time for these songs,” says Reinfeld of music fueled
with hints of Springsteen, OK Go and My Bloody Valentine splashed across Analog Style
in a Digital World ‘s wall of sound

There’s a spirited trajectory to Analog Style in a Digital World that can’t be slowed or
stymied.
Part of that comes down to the barreling-forward sound of HiFi Disco and the ten songs
penned by Reinfeld.

“Why” was written on piano (“it started out prettier”) and is about how feelings and
friendships change on a dime. “I Wanna Know” looks at desperation at its worst while
acting nonchalantly at your best. Desperation rears its ugly head again on the stalker-ish
“This Time” (“and knowing exactly why they are doing it, because you have been there
before”). “Next Girlfriend” is a catchy 3 minute song written in 5 minutes about
eventually looking for long haul romance. “Meant 2 B Broken” pictures love as a crash-
and-burn rollercoaster ride. “Great Big Hole” is a yearning rocker that was the easiest to
write and hardest to sing for Reinfeld. “Faith” wasn’t any easier as it found Reinfeld
talking about the disgust of child abuse. “Miss Labor Day” started as a challenge from a
friend to write a song about a holiday and got turned into a “dwelling on the past/hoping
for the future” slice of dream pop.

Part of that comes down to the band and producer that Reinfeld has assembled to work on
his newest songs of woe and wonder.
Brian McTear has produced a glut of the most important records to come out of
Philadelphia from the likes of Burning Brides, Capitol Years, Matt Pond PA and his own
Bitter Bitter Weeks. Reinfeld had long wanted to work with McTear. The music of
Analog Style for a Digital World required the enigmatic producer’s dreamy services.
“The songs were too important to me and Brian has the ability to make each song have a
life of each own while keeping an overall tone to the project,” says Reinfeld. “It was
great working with someone that loved what we were doing.” The “we” Reinfeld is
talking about is a “who’s who” band of Philadelphia indie musicians who have made
their mark on differing brands of pop. “I wanted to work with people ho I knew but were
not familiar with my music,” “say Reinfeld. The Jealous Type’s Tommy Ciccone played
bass and guitars that veered from his usual brand of power pop. “Brian and I kept
handing him slides and hooked him up to an Echoplex, so the phrase "more Petty, less
Skynard " was born.” Drummer Patrick Berkery was a long time Bigger Lover whose
albums had been produced by McTear. “When the sessions started it was like we
had played together our whole lives,” says Reinfeld. “Especially when Brian added all
kind of tasty stuff from a upright piano, B-3 organ, and a Fender Rhodes. Reinfeld is
talking about Brian Christinzio of B.C. Camplight fame who acted as the project’s sonic
glue gun.

But HiFi Disco is Bruce Reinfeld, front, center and simple, and there is an emotional
attachment to the songs of Analog Style for a Digital World that gradually eroded over
time to become just words and loud guitars. “It’s like throwing a party to honor the death
of a friend,” says Reinfeld. Pretty colors and melodies that cover up what lies beneath the
surface...kinda like my photographs.”

Bruce Reinfeld just doesn’t get the idea of barriers.