The Trolleyvox trace their origins to 1993-95, when Andrew Chalfen—known for his work with the Wishniaks, Gimme, and Joey Sweeney—laid down early demos alongside guitarist-vocalist Dave Gray of the Idlewilds and Vegas Nerve, with Adam Lasus of Helium and Madder Rose handling engineering duties. In 1996 Chalfen ran a vocalist-wanted notice in a Philadelphia weekly, which Beth Filla answered; he initially wondered whether she practiced witchcraft after detecting the scent of charred wood and spices from a recent pagan rite, yet her smoldering take on the Byrds’ “Everyone’s Been Burned” and an Italian aria convinced him of her suitability. The pair began performing acoustically and soon enlisted Lasus, Gray, and drummer Ken Buono—previously of Flight of Mavis, Buzz Zeemer, and Dragstrip Courage—to lay basic tracks in 1997, adding further material the next year. After several years the group issued its debut, Ephemera for the Future, comprising eleven songs written by Chalfen, who supplied every instrument except drums.
By 1998 the Trolleyvox were playing electric shows with the core quintet of Chalfen, Filla, Gray, Buono, and bassist Kevin Karg from the Rolling Hayseeds. Subsequent personnel shifts saw Karg give way to Walt Collins and then Greg Dubrow of the Idlewilds; Buono was succeeded by Bret Tobias of Moped and the Bigger Lovers; and Gray relocated to New York City without a replacement. Two tracks from this period—“Jupiter Light” from the debut and the band’s cover of “(I’m Not Your) Stepping Stone”—appeared in the film Chutney Popcorn. While Filla pursued graduate studies the group scaled back its performances, yet still supplied a cover of “Crows on a Phone Line” for Every Word: A Tribute to Let’s Active and Department S’s “Is Vic There?” for the Stiff Generation compilation. Work continued on a second album, Leap of Folly, featuring Chalfen, Filla, Buono, Tobias, and Dubrow; it emerged in 2003, at which point the live configuration settled into Chalfen, Filla, Buono, and bassist Scott Rodgers of Three 4 Tens and Mondo Topless.
