Eclectiblogs Interview w/ Eric Avery

[Mike]

Eric Avery: Past, Present & Future

-Christopher Levine, 2012

It was Southern California, I was 16 years old, and I was driving to high school.

I have read and re-read that sentence and each time it just looks so wonderful. It kind of was…for a number of reasons.

First off, it was sunny and Ventura County-perfect and my windows were down. I don’t even think that my car had air conditioning. Secondly, my driving experience began after everyone else’s did, so it felt somehow more special. You see, my parents realized that I could read at an extremely young age so they put me in school early, and so when I got to drive at 16 it seemed like an eternity after all of the other people in my grade did.

I also recall being obsessed with music, and that I kept playing one song over and over. It was so different and perfect and was carried by this beautiful bass line. The song sounded like I was actually listening to California while physically driving in California. The song was “Summertime Rolls” by Jane’s Addiction.

To this day, any time I hear that song…or “Ocean Size” or “Up the Beach”… I am once again a 16 year old driving in California with the windows down in perfect weather. So when the opportunity presented itself to interview the person who played the bass that carried these songs to such hypnotic places, I was truly beside myself. Eric Avery is a bassist that goes beyond holding down the bottom end. His lines dance through the songs and are an integral part of what they eventually become.

In the middle of his musically busy schedule he took the time to interview with me, and I am happy to share this with you.



CL: As you are certainly one of the most iconic bass players of my generation, it goes without saying that I very much appreciate the time you are taking to do this interview. Thank you.


EA: Well if you keep calling me "iconic" then I’m going to keep taking the time for you.


CL: (Laughs) I have read that you were considering touring with Garbage this year. Is that a go? How did that come about?


EA: That is a go. I am currently in Houston on tour with my friends from Garbage. I call them my friends because I worked with them before…in 2005 I think…and in the intervening years Shirley in particular has become one of my closest friends.


CL: You are one of the few musicians to work a miracle in the changing times of the late eighties. Many late eighties artists were classified as out of style when the Sunset Strip started merging from Metal to Alt.Rock, yet you not only succeeded in both camps, but helped to light the fire of the new revolution of music in the musical changing of the guard. What was it like being in Jane's Addiction while this was happening?


EA: It seems to me that these are sort of two questions or observations. Firstly, I think we just happened to succeed in 'both camps' because I am related to my sister, Rebecca. I say that because it is only through the random effect that she was dating a heavy metal drummer, Stephen Perkins, who happened to be best friends with a heavy metal guitarist, David Navarro. So you combine that with the fact that Perry and I were fans of Joy Division, Bauhaus, Neubauten…and you have music that might appeal to two different sets of folks.


Secondly, what was it like....it was interesting and scruffy and wild and pretty exciting to be in Jane’s in those early days.

CL: In Jane's Addiction, the bass is right out front. Is that something the band fell into or consciously planned?


EA: I think the bass placement was just a function of Perry and I listening to so much English music. The bass plays a far more important and prominent melodic role in English eighties music than it ever does in rock.


CL: On "Nothing's Shocking," what was the deciding factor in going with Dave Jerden as a producer?


EA: I honestly don’t remember why we chose Dave but I am sure glad we did. Although I do remember that he impressed us as being cool and in stark contrast to at least one successful producer the record company had us meeting with. Dave had also worked on "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts," which would have had a very powerful positive effect on me and my vote.


CL: While most celebrate the first Lollapalooza tour, it's bittersweet for Jane's fans because it essentially was your last tour at the time. What was your frame of mind at the time? Relief?


EA: Absolutely, it was relief. I found the final days in “Jane’s 1.0” very oppressive on a daily basis…difficult.


CL: By the way, as a fan I am so glad you didn't join Metallica. They are a great band, and their bass players all the way down the line have been great...but their bass is often hidden deep in the mix, and the thought of your melodic bass lines being barely audible was hard to imagine. I know that's not really a question...


EA: Well then…let me try to come up with something that’s not really and answer. I didn’t really think I was trying for the job. It didn’t seem realistic, but I knew that I would have the opportunity to have a day that was different from any other. It was only a night or two before the actual audition, talking to Flea, when he convinced me that I even could actually get the job. It scared me. Unconsciously, I hadn’t really considered it as a real possibility up to that point. I have to say, Metallica were so cool to me that day and showed a great deal of respect to me after; Lars called me himself to tell they hadn’t chosen me. I was impressed with the class of that move.


CL: You have to know how much fans devour those kinds of recollections. Thanks for sharing that. So tell me how Polar Bear came to be.


EA: Again it was Carla Bozulich. She put Perry and I together to begin Jane’s. She was a close friend. She was in a band that I was a fan of; Ethyl Meatplow...the drummer/programmer was Biff Sanders. When I met him at his studio downtown, I immediately felt at home there and wanted to work with him. He is so talented. He taught me tons about sampling and electronics early on.


CL: Is the Giraffe Tongue Orchestra still going? Tell us about that project.


EA: Yes. Just spoke to Ben Weinman yesterday. It’s growing like a fungus. Still talking…still swapping files…still not sure if or what it’s ever going to be but it could be really cool. If all voices can find a way to comingle we might be able to do something special. That’s the hope anyway, always.


CL: I'll leave you with a chance to make an aspiring band very happy. Any new bands out there you are currently into?


EA: Let’s see...just asked my wife what I’ve been listening to lately...Timber Timbre, Oneohtrix Point Never, and Adebisi Shank.


CL: Mr. Avery, it was a pleasure. Thanks for your time, and especially for adding bass lines to the soundtrack of my youth.


EA: I appreciate your interest.

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