Back in the 1990s, Bill Milbrodt of Howell bought a used Honda Accord and drove it until its odometer passed 185,000 miles. Then the self-taught musician and composer found a Philadelphia-area sculptor, Ray Faunce III, whose team turned it into musical instruments. Milbrodt used them to start a band, the Car Music Project. “I just thought it would be fun to do,” he says.
Instruments include the trombone-like strutbone, tuba-like exhaustophone, tube flutes, percarsion, and (gas) tank bass. Milbrodt plays air guitar, a six-stringed instrument that looks like a banjo, sounds like a guitar, and is made from the Honda’s air cleaner, front windshield support, and a brake caliper.
The five-man band has a gig May 5 in Long Branch (call 732-263-1121 or visit carmusicproject.com for details). Milbrodt, who won a 1991 Emmy Award for his electronic score to a video short, writes edgy, dissonant songs with titles like “Wrinkles in Space,” “Crenabulations No. 1,” and “A Day at the Beach with the Water People.” What’s the style called? “Progressive rock, weird jazz—nobody quite has a category to fit it.”
Milbrodt now drives a 1997 Chevy Cavalier that has seen better days. He is considering its future: “It would be nice to have some backup instruments,” he says.