By: Lindsy Carrasquillo
Everyone has internal and external motivators that push them to go after their passions. For Eric Butler, Mom Jean’s vocalist, lyricist and guitarist, some of them include his band mates and the people he works with. We were able to catch up with Eric to talk discuss the band’s sophomore record, Puppy Love, which is out on Counter Intuitive Records on July 3, 2018, about the album how factors like anxiety influenced his writing and much more.
While the band just released their single off the record, “Season 9 Ep 2-3”, buzz about the upcoming record grew louder when they released dates for their album release shows in April.
“It was positive, I think people are excited about it,” Eric said. “We’re playing both shows Save Face and Prince Daddy and The Hyena which are both really good friends of ours who live far away.”
The first album release show is on July 20, 2018 in San Francisco at Bottom Of The Hill followed by a show at Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles on June 21, 2018. At those shows the band will be playing three old songs and the new record from top to bottom.
“I’m really excited about the new record,” Butler said. “I think it sounds really cool and it’s a lot different at least tonally from anything that we’ve done in the past, especially Best Buds. I’m interested in seeing if people like this record [too]. I’m hoping that some people who maybe weren’t into the production style or the song writing style, if it wasn’t for them or something they enjoyed, that maybe it’ll appeal to a wider range of people.”
Best Buds, was “pretty nichey and pretty crystal clean,” bare bones and without distortion. Having looked up to Modern Baseball, Joyce Manor and The Hotelier, Butler has “diversified” his music taste a lot lately.
“On the new record, we really tried to pack as much noise, music and sound as can,” Butler said. “I think it’s really high energy and quickly paced in relation to the last one. I’m stoked on that and it’s got a faster vibe similar to that of ‘Shred Cruz.'”
Retirement Party, Just Friends, Nervous Dater. I really like the new Charly Bliss record and Hop along, I’ve been listening to their new record a lot. Looming – so good, really into them; just a lot of bands like Pictures of Vernon, Perspective A Lovely Hand To Hold, our friends that we hangout with a lot. All of my friends are always putting out music and its really interesting and motivating to see. The Great Grandpa record, I’ve been listening to them a lot, I’m really into them.
Who are some of your earlier inspirations?
I listened to a lot of ska in high school. Sam from Just Friends showed me Joyce Manor and there was a big shift when he showed me them. From there, I got into Modern Baseball, The Front Bottoms, Tiny Moving Parts and Weatherbox. Then, I started diving more into the local scenes and bands that were around. I wanted to write music and be in a band and because of that, I met Austin and he was kind of the catalyst.
Tell me about your local scene.
When I was in high school [in Plesanton, California]there just wasn’t absolutely anything at all. There wasn’t a big enough demand for music to have a D.I.Y. venue. Kids would throw shows in their backyards and parents garages. Honestly, it was awesome. It was so cool, it was our favorite. House shows would get shut down and there was like a softball field at the edge of town that we would bring a generator to and we’d drive out to it and play a show in the bleachers because it was the only place with outlets that you could plug your amp into.
Upcoming Mom Jeans. tour
What are some local bands you’ve been digging lately?
Just friends is the most underrated band in the country. I honestly think their record is going to change the way people look at rock music, I think it’s just an insane record with all the detail and effort they put into it and the fact that they’re a bunch of 24-year-olds and made an album that sounds like an Earth, Wind and Fire album that they spent $100,000 on it. It’s pretty crazy, the amount of work and the polish the band has [put in]. Lawn Chairs, Sarcasm – they’re the bands that make the scene happen. They’re honestly the heart and lungs of the bay area music scene. Awakebutstillinbed – Shannon [Taylor] is one of my oldest friends in music and I am so proud of them for doing what theyre doing and the record they put out. Jake [from Counter Intuitive Records]wanted to make CDs and they started getting connected and it was around the time I just started being in Graduating Life. That was in the middle of us trying to figure out how to press vinyl ourselves Jake has just been there with us and for us every step of the way and has a plan and is excited to help us, we wouldn’t be able to handle the mental stress if we had to do it all ourselves. It makes me happy to know we’re working with someone that’s fostering a community.
How have you grown as a band?
When we were recording Best Buds, we didn’t have a lot of money and didn’t really have a lot of gear and just had the absolute bare minimum. We’ve probably grown less as musicians and more as people, we’re road dogs and have been on tour all over the US five times now. We were always friends first and have gotten really good at operating as a team.
Tell me about your writing style.
The lyrical content of the last record was really wallowing and sad and with this record, it’s more rooted in anxiety and losing the things that you do have. More me personally: with the band doing really well, the last couple years being good for me with my relationships, family and being done with school, when you deal with things like depression and anxiety and the things in your life get better, you don’t necessarily feel better. Like I have money to pay rent now and I’m not stressed out about that, but I don’t feel better and I’m still anxious. I’ve kind of identified with those feelings and it’s from a place of hoping I wont screw things up and how quickly everything can just quickly do down the drain. It’s interesting because relationships and experiences are like that, just because things are good now, that doesn’t mean they’ll be good later. Our album is called Puppy Love because lyrically, it focus on anxieties about things ending and wanting to focus on the good before your inner monologue makes you question things.
Puppy Love is out on July 3, 2018 via Counter Intuitive Records. Stream it on Spotify, iTunes, Bandcamp. Check out their singles from the album below. Catch the band on tour with their friends listed above.
