Eric's Trip Interview Archive Nov 18, 1995 - Lee's Palace, Toronto, ON, Canada
Personnel
- Interviewer(s)
- Ryan Wheeler
- Interviewee(s)
- Julie Doiron
Sources
| Publisher | Title | Transcript |
|---|---|---|
| Tongues #2 | ERIC'S TRIP | Yes |
Transcript
Ryan: How long have you all been together?
Julie: Ah, well, originally Eric’s Trip, the original lineup, like when Rick first started, was June 1990. We got Mark in December ‘91 and then we’ve been like this ever since.
R: Are old cassettes like the self-titled from which “I Exist” comes from still available?
J: Well, there’s been 4 cassettes.
R: 4! I’ve never even heard of them.
J: Yeah, all by December ‘91. No, the 4th came out in January ‘92. That one’s with Mark. We had him for like, a month and we recoded. Teeheehee, he didn’t even know it was gonna be a cassette, like Rick got a new 4-track for Christmas and he wanted to try it out so he got Mark to do all these tracks and then we just... Oh, you’re here!
Some guy: Yeah, I live here now.
J: You live in Toronto? (turns to me) He’s from Moncton. He knows all about the Esquire. Anyways, so, yeah we put out all those tapes. Yeah, we had 4 tapes out by January 1992 then our 7” came out in July ‘92.
R: Are any of those still available?
J: No, we sold 300 of each which was mainly in Moncton.
R: What’s your favourite place to play in Moncton?
J: Well that’s kinda weird. Moncton kinda goes, like, there’s not a lot of places to play at once. We’d discover a place, they’d let us play there for a while and then something happens so we can’t play there anymore. So we find a new place. Right now there’s this tavern called Esquire.
R: Isn’t “I Exist” off the new 7” recorded there?
J: Yep, that’s where all of the shows have been going on for over a year now, I think. All of them pretty much. Once in a while there are some at the University. That’s where a lot of them used to happen and a lot of them were at the Arts Cultural Centre as well. But we don’t do them there anymore and well, every once in a while a new place will open up that we can do shows at, but right now it’s been the Esquire. There once was this old tavern that had all regulars. Like, my grandfather went there everyday for a long time. So it’s like, when we started playing there the regulars would get kinda mad but it’s only on Friday nights or Saturday nights and then some on Sunday afternoons, but it’s always all ages on Sunday afternoons.
R: Where did the name come from?
J: Well, it came from the Sonic Youth record. But there’s a whole other meaning.
R: I know this kinda corny, but who is Eric exactly?
J: We kinda adapted it as our guardian angel. Like Eric seems to be the person in all our drawings. That could be a form of Eric (pointing to my shirt.)
R: Like the inside of the “Peter” booklet?
: Yep, that’s Eric.
R: What is the reason for signing to Sub Pop?
J: Um, well we were looking to get signed and they offered us a deal and the first one we didn’t like so we were just gonna stay indepdent. But then they gave us a better deal. It was a little bit better, it wasn’t like $100,000 or something. It was more like, we wouldn’t put so many records out. ‘Cause it’s better to sign with less records. So, it was something like that. They were really nice to us, like, they let us do whatever we want. They don’t make us tour 10 months out of a year (though they do anyways), where you know, some labels really want to push your product.
R: How come you decided to do Roadside? That must’ve brought a lot of new fans in. I know a lot of people who went, and after, told me that Eric’s Trip is awesome, though I had tried to tell them (no names), but how come?
J: I Don’t know. It just sounded like fun. They offered it to us and they really wanted us to play. I guess Gord Downie really likes us a lot so, they asked us to play at that other thing last year or the year before too. You know, the Canada Day thing? But The Roadside Attraction was pretty fun actually, so we enjoyed it.
R: What’s the worst thing an audience can do?
J: Ah, well, they stole my pedal. (stolen last night in Kitchener). I couldn’t believe it! I came back out after our set to put my stuff away and it was gone. That’s the worst thing. Although a long time ago, people would call me stuff like “cunt” and “bitch” so that was kinda mean, too.
R: What? At the shows?
J: Yeah, a long time ago, when we were first playing. I Was still on guitar back then. I don’t know. I get kind of offended when we’re playing a show, well that’s another story.
R: Well it’s story time, let’s hear it.
J: When people yell for us to play stuff. I don’t know, it’s.... no, anyways, the worst thing is definitely when someone stole my pedal.
R:What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done to an audience?
J: What’s the worst thing I’ve ever done, or us?
R: Well, I guess all of you.
J: I don’t think, um, we’re not very mean to the audience. Like, we don’t say “Dance or we won’t play.” (laughs) We’ve never ever done that ever. We hate going to shows and hearing bands say stuff like “there’s plenty of room to dance!” and stuff like that. We’ve never ever, ever done that. We just like to stand on stage and play. The worst thing I guess is maybe we don’t play a good show, I guess.
R: That’s not a bad thing.
J: Yeah, I know. I guess I got mad a couple of times, but I’ve never said anything mean to the audience. We played a show once where some guys tormented me all night and spit in front of me all night.
© Ryan Wheeler, 1995