Let’s get this out of the way. Eric Avery is a smart guy. Not only was he one of the most influential bassists, in one of the most influential bands of the late 80’s-early 90’s, Jane’s Addiction, he’s also a self-motivated scholar. “Back in Jane’s Addiction I was always taking classes. I still do. I enrolled in a basic math class and chipped away to Integral Calculus at UCLA. I’ll just get a bee in my bonnet about a certain subject and then I exhaust it.” Avery enthusiastically continues, “I took world history, a class about Mayan civilization, and right now I’m totally tweaking on 20th century avant-garde classical music.” Mind you he drops this bit of science while en route to the library.
But he’s not only about the Dewey Decimal System. Post Jane’s (initial) demise Avery worked with former band mate—and friend—Dave Navarro as Deconstruction and then fronted the now defunct, Polar Bear. He also has kept very busy recording and touring with artists as varied as Peter Murphy, Alanis Morisette and Garbage. And, don’t forget that he auditioned for a little band called Metallica. “It was great,” he says, “It was just something to look back on in a rocking chair and go, ‘Wow, that was weird!’”
However, even with so much success, shockingly he never felt like much of a musician. He humbly explains, “I know it sounds weird, it’s been my living, but I always felt like there were people I knew that were musicians and then there were people that were musicians that were art students. I’ve always considered myself as sort of the latter. I started going, ‘I don’t want to be that guy who’s holding on too long, and maybe the world is telling me that it’s time to do something different.’ I actually went through a real time of questioning.” This might have to do with the fact that he has an innate desire to fly under the radar, but that’s not much of a shock when one has worked with some flashy showmen (yes, I’m talking to you Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro). “My natural tendency is to move about without announcing myself. I’m not going to all the hip places and being ‘that’ guy all the time.”
It was only after his architect wife convinced him to try and not make music that Avery realized that music really is his calling. “My story is about me getting back in touch with feeling excited about music. Over the last year or two I feel more inspiration and interest in music than I have in twenty years.” And it was that inspiration that lead to his most recent project, the often moody, dark and electronically tinged solo album, Help Wanted.
With Help Wanted he got just that...a lot of help. Instead of trying to court a major label he self-produced the album—in addition to playing the majority of the instruments—and asked some famously talented friends for some assistance. “A lot of the drumming was a bit scruffy so I asked Taylor (Hawkins of Foo Fighters fame) if he would (play) and he basically did everything in one afternoon,” Avery recalls. When he decided that the track “Song in the Silence (The Man Who Can Fly Pt. 7)” needed a trumpet part he called on Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, who he recorded right into his laptop at Flea’s home. And “Maybe,” one of the most hauntingly beautiful tracks on the album, features a duet with Garbage’s Shirley Manson reminiscent of Mark Lanegan and PJ Harvey’s seductive collaboration, “Come to Me.”
Since Avery will be busy with this project he won’t have time to ward off requests for additional Jane’s Addiction reunion tours, something he has famously turned down in the past. In his mind he would like to keep that period in his life sacred. “If we were asked to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or something I would show up happily for that. It would be something still keeping Jane’s in its rightful place rather than trying to sort of drum it up again.” Without a trace of bitterness and the utmost respect he continues, “I understand that people feel differently about this and I respect that. That’s just not me.”
Regardless of how the public takes to Help Wanted and what he does in the future, Avery keeps it all in perspective. “Some people are really touchy about talking about their past and I’m not. Being part of something like that has been such an extraordinary thing and I don’t know how you can top that. I’m happy with the past and that included being part of Jane’s, that’s legacy enough for me.”
So with that we bid adieu and a self-reflective Avery heads into the library to learn more about avant-garde composers adding inspiration to his on-going legacy.
-- By Erika Clarke [April 6, 2008]
Eric Avery’s Help Wanted is available April 8, 2008 on Dangerbird Records.
Eric Avery Myspace
