Back in the early 2000′s (way back when!) I was attending a lot of open mikes around New York City — sometimes two or three per week. I remember this one time I was at the Baggott Inn — a Village bar that no longer exists — and there was this guy Eric Hutchinson playing, I remember he was only in town for a few days. He was quite good, with a fun soulful sound; pretty cute and genuinely nice and friendly — and politely pushy with his e-mail list. I was on his e-mail list for ages, until inevitably my address changed and I lost track of him.
A few months ago I saw a video on MTV for a Jason Mraz-esque song called “Rock and Roll” — by a guy named Eric Hutchinson. It rocked…and rolled…and I was amazed. Turns out after getting his deal dumped by Maverick Records, Eric went indie and was soon discovered by the blogosphere and got a second chance at singer/songwriter fame with his album Sounds Like This. Now Eric, a full-time New York City resident (when he’s touring every night and everywhere), totally has the buzz — appearances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, touring with Kelly Clarkson, the whole nine.
So of course I wanted to chat! So I finagled a phone interview with Eric and here’s what he had to say:
Q: I met you on the open mike scene years ago – what’s it like not being in that place anymore and being on a much larger level?
A: For a while I was doing 5-6 open mikes a week in New York and then in L.A…I feel it’s a badge of pride to have done them all, they definitely helped me get going, but they can be a little brutal. But I mean, it feels really good to now be able to do this professionally.
Q: What are the challenges for your songwriting now that you’re so busy touring and recording?
A: Being on the road, the challenge is finding the time. I need a couple of hours blocked off where I can be by myself. So I’ll get sketches on the road and when I have a couple of days off I’ll flesh the stuff out. Generally I’m really trying to have my music grow and maintain the people that like my music but with my next album, I’d also like to impress some people who had written me off. I consider my music soul music, so I’d like my next album to show that maybe a little bit more.
Q: What are your songwriting habits?
A: I’m definitely a morning person — most of my friends are not musicians, they have 9-5 jobs, so I get on that same schedule when I’m at home. I get up and treat it almost like an author might — I get up and start writing, take a break for lunch, keep going and when people start to get off work I’ll go to dinner. I like being in a routine and then a good song will come along by keeping my tools sharp and writing even if there isn’t the inspiration there that I want. When the inspiration does show up I want to still be able to execute, I guess.
Q: What do you think are the biggest challenges today for singer/songwriters? In a way, any songwriter can get out there but it’s so hard to get your music heard in a big way.
A: The hardest thing to do with a new song is to get people to pay attention and embrace it and know it. A lot of music out there is sampling old songs. If you can get someone to recognize a song it’s half the battle. I’m competing against myself, peers, but all of the music that came before as well..
Q: Who are your biggest influences?
I mean there’s the sort of more obvious people, like Stevie Wonder and the Beatles and Paul Simon, but more recently there’s Vampire Weekend — I like them a lot. I think Kanye West does a lot of really cool things, and Fiona Apple is a great modern songwriter.
Q: I’ve been trying to get an interview with Paul Simon. Have you met him?
I have not and I’m signed with Warner Brothers — I’m not sure if he was or still is. I was hoping I could run into him at a party.
Q: Would people be surprised by what you’re listening to on your iPod?
A: I like all kinds of music — people would be surprised to know I don’t listen to a ton of modern singer songwriters, people within my own genre. But I’m just a fan of melodies, everyone from Cole Porter and George Gershwin to Rage Against The Machine, really.
Q: You had a record deal fall through with Maverick Records – what was that like for you and how did you get over it?
A: It was definitely really tough and at that point I had been doing this for a few years already, so I thought that was the chance and slipped through my fingers, and it was not necessarily my own fault. I felt like maybe that was the chance I had and maybe I should go on and do something else. But I decided to give it one more try. I get asked often from people who are just starting out, do you have advice? My advice is toughen your skin and keep doing it. There’s no real specific way to do it — for me, it feels like it’s just keep going, keep going. I like the expression the harder you work, the luckier you get.
