Eels head honcho, and legendary figure in American music, Mark “E” Everett has recently taken time off to indulge in a bit of nostalgia. With a ‘Best of’ due, along with a candid autobiography, perhaps now is the ideal chance to receive some of Everett’s trademark words of wisdom.
I WAS JUST IN LOVE WITH THE IDEA.
It’s something that’s always appealed to me since I was a very young kid. When I was six years old my next door neighbours had a garage sale, and they had a little toy drum set, and I was just in love with the idea. I talked my parents into giving me the fifteen dollars, and unfortunately for my parents most kids get a toy drum set, play it for a few days and lose interest so it gathers dust until your next garage sale, but I played it every day for ten years.
DEMOCRACY DOESN’T WORK VERY WELL.
Well I set out to always be throwing myself into different situations from year to year. I think a lot of bands tend to make the same records over and over again, because the combined imaginations of the band members can only go so far. I had to keep throwing myself into different situations to keep trying to get to different places. If I can find a group of people where I felt that we all had such limitless imaginations then I might stay married to them forever – otherwise this isn’t a bad way to go about it. I personally think democracy doesn’t work very well; I think it’s usually better if there’s someone who has a strong vision driving the ship.
IT JUST TAKES ONE PERSON.
Hard work and luck are both pretty important, but I think that hard work is more important because that’s something that you can have control over – the luck you don’t have any control over so all you can do is just hope that it comes along. I worked very hard for many years, writing songs and trying to get better at it, making tapes. Then also some luck came along, as nobody cared for a long time and it just takes one person to come along who cares about it who can change everything for you. It would be nice to have had an earlier start; I was a late bloomer in that sense. But it took me a long time to whittle away and woodshed and figure out what I had to offer.
LOOKING BACK IT’S PRETTY UNUSUAL.
I was in an unusual situation in that I got signed for my first record deal without ever having performed live as the frontman. I had played live a lot back in Virginia as a drummer, but it wasn’t until after my first record came out that I actually performed as the front guy playing guitar, which was pretty unusual. I wasn’t aware of it at the time but looking back it’s pretty unusual. Most of my records I’ll make in my home, or someone else’s home. Every once in a while I’ll go to a professional recording studio, which is always exciting but you don’t really need to do that that much these days. I’m always open to collaborating with producers and it can be really fun and exciting if they bring something that you don’t bring to be but other times I really want help and find it exciting.
TRAVELLING IS ALWAYS A GOOD TEST.
I think it’s important for everyone to find some time to themselves every once and a while, you can start to go a little crazy like any family. Travelling is always a good test. New couples will often go to Europe and often comeback broken up. It’s a good test for how people can get along when they’re travelling together. When you’re travelling together for long periods of time in a rock band you’re constantly in close quarters, and the same kind of stuff that can happen in any kind of family can happen. People can start to get on each other’s nerves but it’s great to be part of agroup of people who are all getting along and having fun.
THE HEALING POWERS OF ROCK.
Well usually doing the shows themselves is a lot of fun. It’s a lot of work. I often notice that you’ll catch a cold, or be sick while on tour and some days I’ll think, ‘I don’t think I can put a show on tonight, I don’t know how I’m going to do it’, and then something happens during the course of the show and you get off stage and you think, ‘Hey, I don’t feel sick anymore’. We call it the healing powers of rock.
DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO.
It’s probably smarter to just ignore it all and keep your nose to the grindstone and just do what you gotta do. I guess sometimes someone can make a valid point but I think a good artist is usually a page ahead of whatever someone’s going to say about them. For feedback, I have some friends whose opinions I greatly admire and listen to their views. In interviews just act naturally, I thinks that’s all you can do. It’d be pretty hard to act like someone who’s not you. I don’t know how you could keep that up.
A REVOLVING CAST.
Well one way is probably throwing myself into different situations; that’s probably the biggest help. It seems to happen pretty naturally. You’ll be working on one album and that’ll often inspire you to do something different. Eels really is designed to be a revolving cast, that’s my way of throwing myself into new situations. It never feels like losing members to me; it always feels like gaining new ones the next time.
CLEAR THE DECKS.
Every time I branch out and do something else, that’s not writing a song or recording it, I always come back and beg music to take me back. I couldn’t leave it. I’m someone who’s never liked looking back before and now I’ve spent the last couple of years looking back. It’s a difficult thing to do but in the end it’s had a really positive effect in that it’s good to take stock when you’re so busy for all those years and all of a sudden you stop and get some air, and wonder what it all adding up to. It kind of helps clear the decks so you can move into the future.
Words by Robin Murray
