Music Now

Music Interview: Eric Xodik

Published: January 25, 2007 6:07 PM EST
By: Isaac Joseph Davis Junior
(Juniorscave.com)


PHOTO CREDIT:
ericxodik

Check out our newest music interview with one of the coolest cats in the music business--Eric Xodik

MUSIC NOW: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview: Can you give our audience a brief background of you, your music, and your family?

Certainly. Back in the 1996, I was your run-of-the-mill guitar wanker, trying to figure out how perfect sweep arpeggios and whatnot when some dis-incarnate hyperdimensional entities (maybe spirits, possibly aliens, maybe both) got a hold of me and infused a bunch of weird music into my brain. The information unfurled over the course of the next few years. Right away I began tuning my guitar differently and playing these unusual scales (with both a major and minor third). Eventually I was able to fuse trippy, psychedelic guitar sounds with the wanker-technique I spent years perfecting.

As for my family, my parents are cool. They are moving into a geodesic dome in the Ozarks next year.

MUSIC NOW: What is your background? (Who are you and/or your band members? Tell your story.)

I've played guitar for a zillion different bands. I was in The Toxic Gods, Pyrofoam, and Malarkie. I have also jammed with a lot of Oakland funk/blues/jazz-fusion cats. I have played with some of John Lee Hooker's backing players, I have played at the Berkeley Jazz School a few times and most notably I played at Tazwell Baird's memorial concert in 2003. Mr. Baird was a Count Bassie Trombonist and Oakland's 100th murder victim in 2002. In 2006, I played guitar in Placenta (anarcho-feminist alt punk band) as cross-dressing harlequin clown. I am currently playing in the goth metal band Kontessa. We are finishing up an EP we did with Melvin's producer Tim Green. Somewhere in there I recorded my solo album Songs of Samsara, were I play all of the instruments.

MUSIC NOW: Why do you want to record and release your own music? (Be very honest.)

The DIY approach has a lot of freedom that comes with it. I don't have to edit my music to fit into a specific genre or conform to focus group recommendations, I don't have to wait for marketing campaign start dates, and I don't have to worry about managements changes at a label dropping my project.

As for doing my OWN music, the set-up I have is like this special feature I saw on the Jason X (Friday the 13th part 10) DVD. That movie was transferred directly from film to digital, all the editing was done on computer so they didn't have to deal with the limitations of film. With my solo stuff, I play all of the instruments directly into the computer so I don't have to filter my ideas through musicians. I can get a lot recorded in a very short amount of time.

MUSIC NOW: Do you write your own songs? (Discuss the songwriting process in detail.)

I do write songs, but "capturing performances" is a better way of describing it. The song writing process is often simultaneous with recording. What I do is come up with a chord structure and a beat. Sometimes I come up with the beat first, sometimes the chords. Then I lay down the skeleton, the bass and drums. After that, I take a deep breath, have a sip of chai, and unleash the guitar.

Before I bought this nifty software I use now, I had a 4-track tape recorder. This taught me to play as well as I can to get the right part down, because if I mess up I gotta do the whole part again, and if I am not confident in the take I may not be able to capture something that good again. Multiple takes gets tedious after a while too so I learned how to do it efficiently. Plus my blues/jazz-fusion experience has taught me to think on my feet.

The rhythm is usually something that comes intuitively and the melody usually comes out of the chords on it's own. 50-75% of the guitar part I get on the first take. Then I go back to tighten the rhythm up and fix any flubs or glitches. If I am switching guitar tones (clean distortion) I will do that on two tracks. Improvised solos are usually 2-4 takes (the first one is a warm-up).

MUSIC NOW: What image do you think your music conveys? ( Do not avoid the image issue!)

Someone once said my music was like "getting high without drugs". I try no to appeal so much to the emotional centers but the higher aspects of consciousness, the visuddha ajna, and sahasrara chakras. I want people to close their eyes and see mandalas, hypercubes, and alien landscapes. I brought this music back from hyperspace and I want it to expand awareness. If that doesn’t work, then I want to it rock out with some sick guitar solos.

MUSIC NOW: What are your immediate music career goals? (Next 1 to 3 years.)

Well, the Mayan calendar ends in 2012 and if that means what some people say it does, that doesn't give me much time. In the next three years I am going to create and release as much music as I can, and get it to as many receptive ear-drums as I can. I hope to do some serious touring, appear on other artist's records, and participate in great musical moments. As Choptop said in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre pt 2: "Music is my life."

MUSIC NOW: Who has been your biggest influences in the music industry?

Steve Vai. He has played with many great artists like Zappa, Johnny Rotten and David Lee Roth, he has demonstrated what an independent artist can do, and he's an amazing musician. As a younger guitarist, I ended up getting my hands on the Passion and Warfare guitar notation book I don't know if this was his intend but in the introduction he conveys his philosophy on professionalism. He demonstrates how to be gracious, humble, but at the same time focused on your work. He has this great attitude, he's not arrogant, and sees his music as a form of personal expression. I learned a lot from that intro...I don't think I learned how to play any of the songs.

MUSIC NOW: If you could jam with just one person, who would it be? (dead or alive)

Stevie Ray Vaughn. First off, I read somewhere that he was great to jam with. Also, I feel a deep kindred spirit with him as well as with his music. Although I have never met him in this world he has gotten me through a lot of tough times and I would love the opportunity share with him what he has inspired in me.

MUSIC NOW: What are some advices you can tell young people who are trying to do what you do?

Get a metronome and practice different rhythm figures. Find your own musical voice, but listen to as much music as you can to learn musical ideas. Listen to music that is similar and to music that is different than what you do, and then render those ideas into your own playing. Jam with as many people as you can. Play in front of people when you can. Most of all, there is a lot of accessible information out there lean as much as you can.

MUSIC NOW: Do you consider yourself a role model?

I don't know if I'm a role model or not, but I try to set the best example I can. I try to let my actions speak and I try to share helpful information with others when I can.

MUSIC NOW: What's new with you? new album, tour dates, etc.

The new Eric Xodik album is called Songs of Samsara. I am going to release another album in a few months called IX from Ixtlan. I have a majority of the material for a third album recorded called I Will Control Your Brain. I am planning to buy a new computer soon and there could be a very tricky data transfer involved but hopefully these songs will survive. My current band, Kontessa has been hibernating in the rehearsal studio all winter and will hopefully be playing some shows around the San Francisco Bay Area this spring and have our video and EP finished. I played guitar on a song with Wild Bill Davis for the pocaHUANTus soundtrack. I am slated to play on a song for Sean O' Brien's next album. To quote Choptop again: "Music is my life"

MUSIC NOW: How can people access you online or buy your music? You can buy the CD at: http://cdbaby.com/cd/ericxodik

I am also on iTunes.

If you don't feel like buying the music, I have mp3's on NumberOneMusic.com, BandBuzz.com, JukeBoxAlive.com, Freedio.com AccessMyMusic.com and some other.

I have free videos up on my MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/ericxodik

(feel free to add me)

As well as youtube.com, vidilife.com, bolt.com, yahoo video, google video, metacafe, and a bunch of others.

Thanks so much for the interview

-- namaste

Eric Xodik

http://www.soundclick.com/ericxodik
http://www.myspace.com/ericxodik
http://www.numberonemusic.com/ericxodik/
http://xodblog.blogspot.com/
http://cdbaby.com/cd/ericxodik

I hope everyone has enjoyed our interview with Eric Xodik. Eric is a great artist and even better human being. It has been fun learning more about him and his music.