September 4, 2003
Eric Coleman
Some See the Glass Half Empty
Seedy Are Records
By Heidi Driscoll-Blunt
Reader Weekly
I had the pleasure of grabbing a few local (well local-ish) CD's from the Reader office.
One of them was from an Iowa singer/songwriter/comedian Eric Coleman, who had appeared at
the Highway 61 Folks Festival up here in early August. With his guitar jamming away in the
background he pokes fun at our human nature, society and relationships. Eric prides
himself in being "old, furry, and fat," for writing "hopelessly sad songs
filled with self pity and middle aged angst," and for "making cruel fun of
people who, frankly, make a lot more money than I do." Currently his claim to fame is
the song "Bang My Bald Spot," which received some radio airplay on the
nationwide Dr. Demento show. He hopes to perform a show in Duluth in the
unspecified-but-not-so-distant future.
I got in touch with Eric online and had the chance to chat:
I'm sure like most artists you haven't always been playing/writing solo. Where did
you start out?
It all starts with punk rock (doesn't everything?). I was in several punk bands in the
70's. I started writing lyrics for the first band I was in (I was the drummer) in about
1975. I went from the drummer in a couple of bands to the singer finally. I was the singer
in a band called "Jim?" I was also in a synthetic band called "Soldiers in
a Field" which almost put out a single. And then I moved to Chicago for a decade or
so, and spent the time working and writing songs and hanging out with bands, but never
quite getting into one. So I've been at it almost 28 years...something like that.
So, unlike the image I have based on what I've heard, you're not single?
Heh, a good friend came up to me after hearing the CD and asked, "Are you and Julie
still together?" I am married, but the songs on the CD are all about real instances,
some of them not recent of course. The song "Color of Your Eyes" is claimed by
two ex-girlfriends and my current wife. I asked her if she realized that it was a breakup
song. She said, "I know." So no, I am not looking for a Trophy Wife.
Your lyrics can be quite funny, was this one of your goals? My father, until very
recently had been single for years, not to make fun, but he was rolling around laughing,
because he too is, "old, fat and furry."
Some of the songs are obviously funny, so yeah. Some of the songs are meant to be
satirical, so one HOPES that someone will find them funny. I was accused of being terribly
sexist for "Trophy Wife." Obviously they didn't get it; it's a song about
sexism. That was what I was going for, some sort of real truth about people my age. There
are a lot of single men in their 40's. What can they do? I hope that I stay married, I was
terrible at dating when I was young and skinny, and I can't imagine that I would be better
now.
My father also seemed to connect with, "Bang My Bald Spot."
I don't like a bunch of jokes, there has to be a story.
That song must have been a story.
That is a real story about several instances. I made a joke about Quiet Riot (the baldest
working band in showbiz) as not banging their heads any more but ...well...that combined
with a story about a mosh pit at a Dylan show and my boss seeing a mosh pit for the first
time at about age 40. They all combined into that song. The Dylan fans were so offended
but apparently he thought it was great, it meant he was getting through to a young
audience, and "Maggie's Farm" does rock pretty ferociously.
So are you a big Dylan fan?
I love his electric stuff, Blonde On Blonde is one of my favorite all time records (I
still call them records). His recent stuff is also pretty astounding. It's good to see
someone still making vibrant music in his 60's.
What do you listen to on a regular basis?
Eric: whew...I knew you would ask this...I have a CD folder in my car with a 100 CDs in
it. Lately I have been listening to Steve Earle, Paul K (brilliant songwriter from KY), Me
First and The Gimme Gimmes, and Jethro Tull. This of course would change if you asked me
tomorrow. I ignore genre and just try to find good music of all sorts.
How old are your children? Do you share music with them?
11 (almost 12), 6 and 2 1/2. They don't get dad's music, although the baby loves Ska. The
eldest is into boy bands (much to my shame) and JUST getting into girl singers (as he
discovers girls). The middle child seems to like what his mom likes (pop singers and some
songwriters like Mary Chapin Carpenter). I don't play a lot of my music for them.
"Golden Age of Silicon" was a reaction to my son's love of N'Sync, but I refuse
to make fun of what he likes. He has his choices. My dad did that to me and I won't do it
to my kids. I value what they love. I'll write songs about it though.
Do you have an opinion about the downloading of music off of the internet
controversy?
I have wildly mixed feelings. I have downloaded some stuff, but stuff that I couldn't find
anywhere after looking for some time. I have problems with people downloading entire CDs
worth of music. Someone needs that to sell so they can pay some bills; unfortunately it
usually isn't the artist who is making money off the CDs, so somewhere inside me is a
radical saying "to hell with the record companies". I have too many friends who
have been ripped off by the business to be totally against downloading music.
Music should be in control of the artist, not suits. I don't know what I would think
though, if I found my CD available on Kazaa. I think I would be bothered and flattered. I
hope that the music that I have made available out there will make people buy my CDs.
So, are you continuously working on new songs?
Continuously? No. As often as I can. I am currently playing about 3 real new songs in my
live sets. And I am working on a few more. One of the songs fits in with an earlier
question. It is about my son making fun of the music that was popular when I was in HS.
When playing live, do you do any covers? Or is it all your work?
Eric: I have about a dozen covers in my book. But I defy most audiences to know when my
stuff stops and the covers begin. I run a contest actually. I play a song by someone else
and offer up a free CD to anyone who knows the song. I have only had to give away two and
both times it was a Ramones song (done as a slow country blues). I cover The Sensational
Alex Harvey Band, The Ramones, Joy Division, The Fabulous Poodles, The Bonzo Dog Band,
Dylan and a few others. I prefer to do my own stuff.
So you're an interactive performer type? My favorite.
I love the audience to get into it. I love getting heckled. I want the audience to be part
of the show. Someone was being obnoxious one night. So I went and sat at their table and
sang songs directly to them. Two of them bought CDs.
So when are you going to make the trek closer to Duluth?
I want to try to get a show up there before the end of the year. I have gone to the
Mahtowa Folks Festival the last two years and I love the area. If the Mahtowa Festival is
any indication, there are a lot of good songwriters up in that area, so the audiences must
be good.
Eric's full length CD is only available through his web page,
http://members.aol.com/ericcoleman
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