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Over the past nine years, Eels’ frontman, instrumentalist, crux and sometimes sole member Mark ‘E’ Everett has emerged as one of the contemporary greats of song writing. Having been propelled into the mainstream with the stunningly brilliant ‘Beautiful Freak’ in 1996, as has been well-documented, E’s life was swiftly thrown into turmoil with the suicide of his sister and death of his mother to cancer. Over the ensuing albums, E has produced some of his greatest music – whether it be painfully introspective musings (‘Electro-Shock Blues’), optimistic gems (‘Daisies Of The Galaxy’), humorous dittys, or unadulterated pop songs (‘Souljacker’). Arguably, E’s song writing dexterity has peaked with the release of the magnificent ‘Blinking Lights (And Other Revelations)’ late this spring. Gigwise caught up with E during the band’s UK tour to talk about the album, President Bush, and on-the-road debauchery…
Beginning with the sprawling 33 track opus that is ‘Blinking Lights’, we put it to E whether the album is in part about learning to cope with the tragedies within his family. Enunciating quietly and carefully, E, however, sees things a little more black and white: “It’s (the album) about being representative, it’s just about life and living, things I can’t really ignore really. Some of it’s about my life, some of it’s not.” He also dismisses the idea that his music looks fondly back on childhood memories to draw strength: “I wouldn’t say the songs are overly nostalgic. It’s more about looking at life for what it was.”
In fact E cites the broader aim of the album was trying to capture as many basic human emotions such as despair, sadness, hope etc. as he could possibly cover, saying: “That’s what the album I wanted the album to be. I wanted as many aspects as possible about living life. I mean it was a pretty tall order!” Obviously fairly chuffed with the end result, E refuses to say whether it’s better than his previous efforts, he’s so fond of them all that he personifies them: “I don’t want to make the other ones jealous. I like them all for different reasons, each one has got its strengths.” Reflecting on if E thinks he’s created his much sought-after ‘masterpiece’ in this album, he rather bashfully adds: “I think you’ll have to wait till the next one”.
Fortunately, such is the man’s prolificacy we shouldn’t have to wait too long – ‘Blinking Lights’ for one was whittled down from 66 tracks. E himself admits song writing is a therapy for him: “Yeah. It cures me on many levels, it’s just the right thing to do… I’ll always be writing music, whether people will still be hearing it I don’t know, but I won’t stop.”
Throughout his career E’s works have been no stranger to critical adulation. Refreshingly though he doesn’t buy into such opinions: “It’s just chit-chat, one person says one thing, someone else says another. I guess it’s not for me to say really.” Conversely, E is tremendously pleased that he received a mauling over a certain man at The White House over his 1999 track ‘It’s A Motherfucker’: “That’s the proudest moment of my career, honestly. It was as a tremendous honour!”
Of course the White House added a twist to the debate by hinting the fairy tale-esque artwork for the album ‘Daises Of The Galaxy’ which featured the track, was somehow aimed at children. E slams such distortions: “It was absolutely ridiculous. It was like they were thinking I was telling kids to go and fuck their mothers or something. It’s not that literal. I think that should be your headline - ‘Children don’t fuck your mothers’ - it’s definitely not the right thing to do.” Asked whether he’s a fan of President Bush, E proclaims “What do you think?” We’ll take that as an emphatic ‘no’ then.
Propelled to the mainstream psyche for a little while by George Dubyah, it was all a strange experience for E, who sees himself as a perennial outsider: “All the people Bush could pitch against and he chose me.” Despite receiving a fair amount of media coverage with ‘Beautiful Freak’, E confesses he’s happy he’s not always such a paramount figure in the public eye: “I did get some (media attention) but it’s not like I’m Tom Hanks or Madonna or something… I don’t like it really, I wouldn’t want to be really famous, it’s too boring.”
And so to The Eels’ tour… brutally honest, E admits playing live is not top of his priorities: “No, making records is the best bit.” A ‘With Strings’ tour, referring to the apparently none existent plus points of having a string section E is equally blunt: “It’s not really worth it they’re too expensive.” Interrogated by Gigwise as to why he’s using them on the tour, he adds: “I was hoping to mix it up a bit. Something that would be challenging and interesting. I guess it was just to be different to try something new.”
While E may be quiet about the strings’ virtues, he’s keen to talk of their on-the-road debauchery - with his tongue firmly wedged in his cheek, of course. Talking about the six women, he jokes: “The strings are in a whole different world to us, they’re classically trained instrumentalists but they were more like rock stars than us. We’d get back to the tour coach after a show and they’d be there with male prostitutes snorting cocaine off their asses, we just wanted some sleep and they’d be having all these crazy parties.” Sounds fantastic, E!
Ahem. Nearing the end of the interview we return to the music, and surprisingly despite his songs’ incredible depth and emotional scope E downplays their power and scope to change people’s lives – especially those who have perhaps been through similar experiences as the great man himself. Instead he humbly adds: “If it offers anything to them then that’s good.” Running out of time, we’re forced to ask E one last ditch question about what effect he hopes his music has on people. Typically witty, he proclaims “I hope it make them horny.” Really, we couldn’t have put it better ourselves.
