EUGENE EDWARDS - It Doesn’t Get Better Than This
by John M. Borack

Los Angeles-area resident Eugene Edwards has released one of the finest pure pop albums of the past few years with his debut long-player, "MY FAVORITE REVOLUTION", on Tallboy Records. Edwards is a fiery guitarist and a superb singer and songwriter, something that Sparklefesters can witness firsthand when Gene and his band hit the stage on October 9th.

Eugene and I sat down on a comfy cybersofa for a chat a few weeks back and here’s what transpired….

JB: To many in the indie pop community, you seemingly arrived out of nowhere. Tell us a bit about your musical background.

EE: I was born in Yuma, AZ and left for the Berklee College of Music at the age of 17. I'd already been gigging for a few years by then, mostly country and funk--though not in the same band.

JB: Thank God!

EE: After a semester at Berklee, I realized that I didn't have the yearning to play jazz for a living, so I re-joined the country band that I had left and went on the road. This led me to Los Angeles, where I joined Russell Scott & His Red Hots, the best rockabilly band in L.A. that doesn't play solely rockabilly! We gigged five nights a week and traveled all over the country. Then I left that to join the Majestics, which lasted for a little over a year, but that ended because we played too many types of music to get enough gigs in L.A.

So then I found myself with some songs and without a band for the first time since I was 14. That's when the Eugene Edwards band was built, roughly three years ago. Our first show was October 13th, 2001 in Eagle Rock, CA. So if I seemed to have come out of nowhere, it's only because those people weren't going to rockabilly/country/roots shows around the area.

JB: Define, if you could, the "Eugene Edwards sound."

EE: I'm not sure if I'm qualified to do that. I think that there's a sound, per song, that I hear in my head and sometimes we nail it and other times we don't. If I had to...organic pop/rock? Life-affirming music that can't be denied? The ranting of a rock fanatic? I told you I'm not qualified.

JB: Hey, all three sound good to me! You've also drawn some comparisons to both Elvis Costello and Squeeze. How do you feel about being compared to those two particular artists?

EE: Well on one hand if you walk like a duck, talk like a duck, etc. On the other hand, it seems as though people that have drawn that comparison have focused on a few songs from the album, probably their favorites. I've noticed that since we've started, baby boomers say we remind them of the Kinks and the Who and the Beatles. Teenagers equate us with the Foo Fighters and Weezer. Those that sit somewhere in between those age brackets usually refer to Elvis Costello, Squeeze and Nick Lowe. I think it's all a very good sign. I obviously spent a lot of time listening to those artists and they represent great songwriting to me, so I do take it as a compliment.

JB: OK, what about your desert island discs and songs? Give me five of each.

EE: Jesus...I'd like to think that I'd have other concerns on a desert island! The albums would be Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen), The Pretenders, Kiko (Los Lobos), Chuck Berry's Golden Decade Volume II and Get Happy (Elvis Costello).

As far as songs…”Lickin' Stick” by James Brown, “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke, “Hey Jude” by the Beatles, “Cypress Avenue” by Van Morrison (the live version from It's Too Late to Stop Now) and “Whispering Pines” by the Band).

JB: Nice diverse picks there! All right, talk about how you came to sign with Tallboy.

EE: [Tallboy honchette] Anna Borg saw us early on in Huntington Beach opening for Walter Clevenger and the Dairy Kings. She said that if we ever wanted to release something, then to let her know. [Producer/engineer] Dave Peterson and I made the album not considering who'd release it or anything, so there was no outside involvement during the recording process from anyone. Once the music was where we wanted it, I reached Anna and said, "It's done, you want to hear it? Now what do we do?"

JB: Even before the album was released, you had the reputation for playing out quite often. As a musician, what do you feel that does for you?

EE: Gigging is what I do, always has been. It keeps us sharp as a band for one thing. The guys in the band are experienced and well-traveled, so we know what to do in any situation. I simply believe that you always have to be out there and that as a musical entity, you cannot play hard to get. If you're out there often enough and long enough, then good things will happen.

JB: Does it bug you when people flag your music as "power pop?"

EE: I'm just happy to have people taking the time to flag.

JB: True enough! So, are songs like "I'd Like to Think So" and "Victim at Bedtime" about real people and situations, or are you a storyteller, a la Tilbrook and McCartney?

EE: I'm really a dancer. No, those two songs have stories behind them. "I'd Like to Think So" was originally a 9/11 song written for a Red Cross benefit CD that a friend of mine put together. After a while I decided not to have the song so tied into one moment, so I revised a few key lines. There was someone in New York with whom I no longer have contact, so there was a kernel of experience there.

"Victim at Bedtime" is based on something that I actually heard a woman say years ago (the "He's so sweet when he’s not drinking" line) and it always stuck with me. For most songs, I'll take a scrap of experience or information and go from there. I'm not sure that I ever made up an entire story from scratch. There's no such thing as an original thought.

JB: Your first record is pretty damned amazing right out of the chute. Where do you see yourself going from here?

EE: Thank you. I see myself making a second album by next year with Dave Peterson producing again, though this time I'd like to use the whole band as opposed to playing a bulk of the instruments myself. I don't see myself making project or concept albums, that is, a country record, then a punk record, etc. I think that the songs themselves will provide an overall narrative in the end.

JB: Tell me about this nasty rumor about you playing in an Elvis tribute band at Disneyland.

EE: Vicious crap spread by the Fox Network! A friend of mine, Scot Bruce, is an Elvis impersonator, doing the stuff from '54-'62. The guys in the Fab Four [a California-based Beatles tribute act] suggested him when Disneyland asked for an Elvis guy, and he does a great job. I slick my hair back and we play the Tomorrowland stage or somewhere on the California Adventure side once a month. It's a lot of fun and working for the Big Mouse is interesting. I've picked up a lot of fans through that gig. Disney people are very loyal.

JB: Finally, how do you feel about playing the East Coast?

EE: Well, I have very fond memories of Boston. I've never played in North Carolina, but I’ve been hearing incredible things about the scene there. I find that as you get out of Los Angeles there's an enthusiasm for live music that's quite inspiring. We've gone to Chicago for the International Pop Overthrow a couple of times and also to San Francisco recently, so I know that I love hitting the road with the guys. I'm very confident in the material and the band, so I'm not worried about anything other than logistics. We’re also going to IPO Liverpool and playing around England at the end of October, so we're all excited about going on the road. Someone once told me that as long as you're leaving Yuma you're going somewhere.

My Favorite Revolution is available online at www.tallboyrecords.com. For more information about Eugene Edwards, visit www.eugeneedwards.com.