A Chat with Sorry Eric (05.10.20)
Combine alternative rock with some indie and post-punk and what do you get? Well, Sorry, Eric, of course. Hailing from Cincinnati, Sorry, Eric is a dynamic and passionate project breeding a unique indie sound. We spoke with Sorry, Eric about the debut LP It’s Okay, future plans and earliest memories.
OSR: What is the backstory to your debut LP it’s Okay?
Sorry, Eric: Sorry, Eric started as a solo recording project that gradually became a band. Christina and I started playing duo gigs around 2018. Brian joined shortly after on bass. Nick and Jerry joined in 2019 on guitar.
It’s Okay consists of songs I recorded alone (‘Earthly Insults’ and ‘Bicycle Experiments’), as well as stuff we recorded live as a band (every other song on the LP). Sometime last year, Brian reached out to Robert Scott of The Clean and The Bats to do the cover art. We’re all huge fans of Flying Nun, New Zealand rock, so we were stoked when Robert agreed to paint the cover. I’m really lucky to have such good friends and badass talent to help bring It’s Okay into existence.
OSR: If you could change one thing about It’s Okay what would that be?
Sorry, Eric: Well, we might have released it sooner had we known about 2020, but you got to look on the bright side of life.
OSR: What inspired you to make this record?
Sorry, Eric: I think there’s a lot of things I’m not supposed to feel about work, capitalism and Cincinnati. There’s a bumper sticker that was all the rage a few years ago that goes, ‘Cincinnati – It’s Okay’. It’s supposed to be like a rebuttal to the obligatory ‘I Love Cincinnati’ sticker, but it also sounds like an apology or condolence – ‘Hey, Cincinnati, it’s okay, it’s gonna be okay…’
I love this town with its hills and its graveyards, but I’ve always had the sense that you could live your whole life here and never really understand it, no matter how long you spent trying. Like a just recently discovered ghost town, except I grew up here so I’m one of the ghosts. I’m sure it’s the same in most places with artisanal beer and optimistic bumper stickers; there’s this invisible cloud of memory and pollution that hovers over everything.
OSR: What is the worst piece of advice you received as a musician?
Sorry, Eric: I can’t think of any specific advice, but everything I learned in school was terrible with the exception of a jazz theory elective I luckily signed up for last minute.
OSR: What advice would you give emerging artists?
Sorry, Eric: Well, I think it’s a strange time with the pandemic and all, but I would say try to play as much as possible. Livestream and/or record frequent videos of your songs. If you’re quarantining, find a way to play the songs alone with loops or recordings or whatever. Get some cheap home recording gear if you can.
When I was younger, I spent way too much time practicing or doing school stuff. It’s good to be a nerd about it, but not too much. It’s better to start writing the music in your head, record it and start a group if you have cool people around you.
OSR: If you were a bird, what bird would you be and why?
Sorry, Eric: I aspire to be an industrious raven making my place in this world by luck or lack, but I’m more like a melancholy duck just trying to get by.
OSR: How would you describe your sound?
Sorry, Eric: If Dark Day was from Ohio or if The Magnetic Fields were from New Zealand depending on the song.
OSR: What is your earliest memory?
Sorry, Eric: I think I erased it.
OSR: How do you remain motivated, particularly during a pandemic?
Sorry, Eric: I’ve been luckier than most. Up until very recently, I’ve had lots of time to write. I think if you’re able to take this tragic and evil energy as an opportunity to write something, you should. I’ve been making videos and writing/recording as much as I can. Stay busy, don’t get bogged down; but, it’s also necessary to go easy on yourself. I’ve heard a lot of people say stuff like, “you don’t have to do something amazing right now, you just have to survive” and I think that’s the truest thing.
OSR: Do you have any future plans?
Sorry, Eric: We’ll be playing some remote shows as a band in the next couple of months. I recently acquired an electronic wind instrument called an Aerophone (basically, it’s a sax you plug in) that allows me to sing and play sax simultaneously. It’s a very liberating thing to transform a wind instrument into a keyboard. I’ve also been thinking about how the narrative-type writing could be used to make a more theatrical thing with a cohesive story. The hard part is figuring out what that story would even be.
The future is murky and mysterious, but at times I’m kind of hopeful about it. Other than that, I’ll just be surviving and doing that thing ducks do when they submerge themselves to eat delicious Ohio pond scum.
Thanks to Sorry, Eric for chatting with us! You can find more about the group on their Facebook and Bandcamp.
