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It could be anything – a movie I saw, some book I read, something a girl says, a beautiful sunset, a sunrise after getting too drunk the night before, really anything. I hear music in pretty much everything. -Eric McFadden |
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Photo by Chris Lea
Since so many of the songs were works in progress in the sense that new sounds and musicians were being added just prior to recording, McFadden says the atmosphere in the studio was conducive to achieving fresh takes.
 McFadden & Schools - Stockholm Syndrome by Josh Miller |
"Most of the musicians hadn't ever heard, much less played, the songs before we recorded them," he says. "Maybe we'd do them one time through and that was it before we hit the record button. I didn't want anyone to know the song too well 'cause I didn't, so it wouldn't be fair if they did."
The 14 tracks that make up Let's Die Forever... Together encompass all of McFadden's diverse influences from his love of flamenco guitar instrumentals and European gypsy folk music to his love of carnivals and clowns and his reverence of the dark genius of Tom Waits.
"The reason I admire Tom Waits so much is because he's developed an entire sound and persona that is definitely his own," McFadden says. "He's gone from the seedy lounge thing to the weird, eccentric farmer carnie thing but he's always been Tom Waits. Besides developing this character and persona that is so definitively him, he's also written some brilliant, moving music. I love his ballads because they're fucking beautiful. And of course I love all the other shit he delves into like the freaky Russian carnie weirdness. Ultimately, I'm striving to be unique and identifiable as an artist as well as being expressive and prolific. He embodies a lot of that for me. Tom Waits is one of many people that I admire but I place him very high on that list. I'd be happy to shake his foot much less his hand."
 Eric McFadden |
Of all the various influences, McFadden believes Let's Die Forever... Together hearkens back sonically to two early Eric McFadden Experience albums - 1996's Who's Laughing Now and 1999's Our Revels Now Are Ended.
"Even a little bit of Devil Moon, too," he says, referring to his 2003 solo album. "I've always had an affinity for Euro-gypsy sounds in music, like the accordion and flamenco guitar. I got into flamenco music when I was 14 years old living in New Mexico. Some friends of my parents had a kid who was taking flamenco guitar lessons. They asked me to take him to his lessons on the bus after school because they didn't want him to get lost or roughed up. I was already playing guitar at the time and I'd heard flamenco music before but there was something about seeing it being played right there in front of me. It had a real big impact. A few summers ago, I jammed with some Spanish gypsies in Barcelona when Wally Ingram and I toured Europe. They were pretty shocked I had any knowledge of flamenco music whatsoever but we jammed for a few hours and I hung in there with them. They gave me the nickname 'El Gitano Negro.'"
 Eric McFadden by Jay Blakesberg |
Lyrically, Let's Die Forever... Together borrows heavily from the classic themes in all great art - heartbreak, misery and personal despair. McFadden says he hoped the record would help close a door on an extremely dark period in his life fraught with "emotional turmoil and tumultuous relationships, but it's never that easy." With life's hellhounds nipping at his heals, the songsmith did what he does best – channeled his inner conflicts and personal demons into poignant, powerful songs that ruminate on love lost, the death of a friend, heartache, self-doubt, fear and the perils of life on the road.
"The album expresses a lot of the things I was experiencing emotionally and otherwise at that time. But isn't that what all artists typically do with their work?" asks the tattooed, dreadlocked musician, resting his guitar on the table in the courtyard as the evening light faded to black. "I realize there are some people that like to write more outside themselves and depict certain situations or circumstances using characters. I often like to do that, too. Using metaphors can be an effective way of not having to fuckin' completely lay naked onstage in front of the audience every night. But there's nothing wrong with writing something straight up and really baring your soul. It can be therapeutic in a way. I guess there's a lot of that on this record."
While initially released only in Europe through France's Bad Reputation Records, Let's Die Forever... Together is now available through iTunes and has garnered favorable reviews from critics and fans, both domestic and abroad.
"My bass player in the Trio, James Whiton, uses a French press to make his coffee out on the road. I use the French press for an entirely different purpose – to write favorable reviews of my records," McFadden says with a self-deprecating laugh. "The French press have always been supportive of my work but I stopped worrying about that stuff a while ago. I need to be true to myself as an artist and if people appreciate and connect with my music, I'm grateful."
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