It’s been a while since Pop Break has talked to a local Asbury Park artist. We all know why — do we really need to talk about unprecedented times?
It’s hard to put into words the sonic euphoria this writer experienced when he put on ‘Shore Towns’ the second single off of Brian Erickson’s new solo record, Little Secrets. As the welcome crisp air hinted at autumn’s return, Erickson’s contemplative and evocative single brought me home. It brought me back to the city back that welcomed a fledgling pop culture magazine with open arms and wove us into its DNA.
This is why it’s so rad to relaunch our coverage of the Asbury scene with Brian Erickson. Erickson embodies the artist and activist spirit of Asbury Park — performing solo and in bands like Paper Jets and The Extensions, hosting a podcast (One More with Brian Erickson), and most recently (and some could say importantly) bringing a cavalcade of artists from around the world together for the Demos for a Difference project which has brought in over $3,000 for the NAACP Legal Fund. With his new record, Little Secrets, Erickson has masterfully created a record that leans into these wonderful acoustic inspirations from the ’70s but also remains firmly planted in the now.
Recently, Brian Erickson spoke with Pop Break about Little Secrets, his decision to make a solo record, Demos for a Difference, solo recording, and what he’d love to see change within the Asbury Park music scene.
You’ve been the frontman of bands such as Paper Jets and The Extensions. What inspired you to record a solo record?
Brian Erickson: Having a project where you can take full ownership over the good and the bad adds a certain value to a person’s body of work. No more blaming the bass player! Truthfully, I’ve been recording myself for 15 years, and threatening a solo album for nearly as long. What’s different is that in April I found myself with the time and the energy to finally commit to releasing something.
For those yet to hear the album, but know you from those bands, can you talk about how your solo work differs both sonically and lyrically from your band work?
Brian Erickson: I finally took the long list of ideas I’ve had for an album and started crossing things off. I really love those ramshackle Rod Stewart albums from the ’70s where it’s all acoustic instruments. Because of that, there are no electric guitars on this record at all. I never made a proper concept album before, so this one has daytime and nighttime themes on the different sides. The songs on the back half run into one another Abbey Road-style. There were so many little choices – double-tracked vocals, instrumental songs, field-recorded sound effects – that I just could not wait to try on this record!
Let’s discuss the recording process of the album — which was done completely at your home. Can you talk about both the frustrations and the freedoms of making a record on your own, within your own home?
Brian Erickson: The biggest frustration came when a neighbor was power washing the side of their house in, like, 40-degree weather! I remember sitting there trying to record vocals thinking, “What’s this person doing right now?” Apart from that incident, frustrations were minimal. I made the album at my kitchen table, so sometimes someone would walk past or open and close the basement door or something. Some of that stuff made it onto the recording, but you’ll need to listen closely to hear it.
On the flip side, the freedom was immense! Even in a cheap studio, it’s still a few hundred dollars per day. But at home, I was able to work four days a week completely at my leisure. If anything needed to be remixed, I didn’t need to articulate what I wanted, I could just do it and test it immediately, make changes, test it again, etc. It was absolutely wonderful!
The one thing I didn’t do on the technical end was master the record. That was taken care of by Elaine Rasnake at Daughterboard Audio in Philadelphia. She’s also a stunningly talented songwriter and performer and having Elaine be the last set of ears before the record was all done made an immeasurable difference. I take her word and her judgment extremely seriously and was a fan of her work as a recording artist first. Getting to work together has been great, and I look forward to continuing that!
‘Another Unfinished Novel’ and ‘Shore Towns’ are these wonderfully evocative songs that pop so many images of New Jersey into my mind. Why did you choose those two songs of the record as your lead singles?
Brian Erickson: I needed something immediately relatable. I’m not famous. This is a “know your audience” move. Most of this album’s listeners will start out being from New Jersey. Being able to identify with the visuals of the narrow shore town streets and old turnpike pay phones can only serve to help. Incidentally, “Another Unfinished Novel” wasn’t written by me. It was written by Bill Lambusta, a dear friend and currently the bassist for the band Fake Pockets. And I appreciate him letting me record his excellent song for this album.
How much of the album’s lyrical content was influenced, if any at all, by the current state of the world?
Brian Erickson: None whatsoever. I’m not a current event writer. I’m more long-term reflective in my observations. I might write about the current state of the world a few years from now. I require a full scope of context, otherwise my songs come off sounding extremely contrived.
How have you been dealing, as a creative, during this time where live streams and the infrequent socially distanced outdoor show are your only means of performing your music?
Brian Erickson: I lost a significant bit of income due to lack of live performances, but I was lucky to have been prepared-enough to absorb it, keep working my 9-5 and keep moving forward. So that’s how I’ve mostly been dealing. I’ll do an occasional livestream if I think it’s worthwhile. But the chance to step off the treadmill for a few months and not have to worry about managing the live performance aspect of things has been positive. I’ll definitely get back to playing shows once it’s safe, but I’m really not in much hurry. Writing has always been my favorite part of this whole journey and I’ve got more time than ever to absorb influences from new places and start applying that to whatever I’m going to do next.
You were a major force behind “Demos for a Difference” which brought a plethora of artists from New Jersey, New York and far stretches of the world together to benefit the NAACP. Can you discuss how that project came together? Will we be seeing a second Demos for a Difference?
Brian Erickson: That project came together at the very start of the worldwide protests against racial injustice, brutality, and discrimination. We were so lucky to almost immediately get a handful of prominent artists within the music community on board. That enabled us to reach out to people we didn’t know quite as well and drop some credible names. “If this person is doing it, I’ll do it too.” We got lovely support from The Pop Break, from You Don’t Know Jersey, from Makin Waves, and from NJ.com. We also got a bump from American Songwriter who exposed the project to people from all over the country until we had a total of 191 acts on board for the compilation!
So far the project has raised around $3,500 (for the NAACP Legal Fund) between the compilation and a recent livestream fundraiser. So right now, the team (Hana Denson, Phil Robinson, Bill Greenwood, and I) are all taking a moment. We’re not done and keeping a project like this organized was certainly time well-spent. Right now, we have some other obligations we need to put our respective focuses on. But the project has an infrastructure in place so if and when we decide to host another livestream or perhaps pitch a new compilation, we can hit the ground running!
You have a podcast called “One More with Brian Erickson” — let people know what this pod is about and when we can see a return of it to the “air.”
Brian Erickson: Bill, you should be a guest sometime; get yourself on the other side of an interview! The podcast is viewable on OneMore’s Facebook page and there are archived episodes on YouTube. Each week, we bring in two new guests for a late night-style interview and – if they’re a performer – an in-studio live set. It’s community focused and mostly features musicians, but we’ve had poets, journalists, concert promoters, community organizers, charities, visual artists, photographers, politicians. We try to really run the gamut as we continue to try and become part of the greater Asbury Park community.
We air on Mondays at 7pm and will be back on September 21st talking with Matt Fernicola from The Foes of Fern about their new album which everyone should absolutely go check out! The season ends on November 16th.
Obviously, Asbury Park is the heart and soul of the Jersey music scene. What’s one positive change you’d like to see in the scene once it can safely come back to 100% efficacy?
Brian Erickson: I’d like some of these venues to recognize both the value and the struggles of our local artists. Too many places are a little too exploitative. But there’s always going to be someone willing to play for less. So really, it’s like a race to the bottom. That’s the only problem I’ve ever had. It’s nice when other bands repost your new album on Instagram. But if we really wanted to lift each other up, we’d make sure everyone was being compensated fairly for their time. That’s what I’d love to see.
Finally, what are your creative plans for the rest of 2020 and heading into 2021?
Brian Erickson: For the rest of 2020, I’ve got some live video content coming, probably another livestream or two, and an appearance at Asbury Park Porchfest. In February of 2021, I’ll be releasing another solo record! It’s already mastered and is going to be called Origami Birds. I’ve had this one sitting completed for a few years yet. But with one solo record now in the books, it feels like it’s finally time to give this older one its proper due.
