Q&A: Singer-Songwriter Eric Hutchinson Talks ‘Pure Fiction,’ Boston Show
Singer-songwriter Eric Hutchinson has perennially been touted as “the next big thing’’ in music.
While the Emerson graduate briefly broke into the mainstream with his 2008 hit “Rock and Roll,’’ it’s been a bumpy road since for the 33-year-old musician.
Well, Hutchinson is on the comeback trail as he’s poised for a big 2014 after recently dropping his latest studio album, “Pure Fiction,’’ in April.
The singer-songwriter recently opened up to Boston.com to talk about his new record, his time as a student in Boston, as well as his upcoming show at the Paradise Rock Club.
Boston.com: Your latest studio album, “Pure Fiction,’’ just dropped last month. How big of a deal was that for you?
Eric Hutchinson: I learned a lot on the first two records, and a lot of my favorite artists, at their third record, is where they usually break through and kind of really nail their sound. And that was kind of in the back of my mind, to really try to focus it all and make this album the next step for me.
Boston.com: You started out doing a lot of solo, acoustic stuff, but your music has become more produced in recent years. What’s been the reasoning behind integrating more contemporary sounds into your work?
Hutchinson: You know, I’m sort of a classicist. For so long, I’ve loved the Beatles and Stevie Wonder and all the big stuff that I’ve loved so much, but I had to admit to myself that these albums were made a long time ago. I’m not making music in that era, I’m making music in 2014. That, to me, was really important. I wanted to make an album now. If they were making an album now, they wouldn’t put everything on reel to reel, they’d use Pro Tools and loops and all kinds of stuff. It was just important, to me, to make a modern album and kind of push myself.
Boston.com: Did any bands or artists in particular influence the sound of your latest record?
Hutchinson: There’s two albums that I spent a lot of time listening to. “Some Nights’’ by Fun., which was a big album for me, and Frank Ocean’s “channel ORANGE.’’ They were both, to me, pop music in the greatest sense of the word, but they were also smart and modern and different. And to me it was like, to see these albums do so well gave me a lot of hope that I can try and make something that feels poppy but still has some weight to it, hopefully.
Boston.com: “Pure Fiction’’ has such an eclectic sound to it, especially the track “Forget About Joni,’’ which sounds like a more contemporary Jimmy Buffet tune.
Hutchinson: That song actually, I wrote that song to have some fun. I played it at a show, and I was like I’m just going to play this song for me, and someone reacted so strongly to it. I got all these tweets the next day saying, “You got to put that song on the album,’’ or “Where can I hear that song again?’’ So I did a version of it and put it on the album and it’s sort of a fun song. Hopefully I can do it at a live show and people can get into that.
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Boston.com: Do you take pride in bringing such diversity to your musical style?
Hutchinson: I do! I grew up in the south side of Washington D.C. in a really diverse area and school. There were a lot of different kinds of people and music and culture and food. I think I just appreciate all that kind of stuff. I listen to a lot of kinds of music, and that kind of all ends up, in one way or another, in the songs that I like. I did some shows for the troops in Djibouti, Africa last summer, and one night, the guys who were stationed there took us to this Ethiopian bar and there was all this traditional Ethiopian music. It’s super fun and so rhythmic, and I tried to do that in my own version, and that’s sort of what became the song “I Got the Feelin Now.’’ It’s very much not Ethiopian, but when I was writing the song, I was trying to do something rhythmic like that music was. I just like, sort of, never know where the music is going to come from.
Boston.com: A lot of the songs on the new album have the theme of losing a loved one or a girlfriend. Did anyone in particular inspire these tunes?
Hutchinson: It’s funny, this album, the reason why I called it “Pure Fiction’’ was I finished writing the album and I looked and was like, none of these songs are about me. This is all fiction. But then, the more I thought about it, I thought, is anything that I write can it be total fiction? It all comes from somewhere. A song like “Goodnight Goodbye,’’ that I wrote, I thought that I was just sort of writing whatever, I didn’t really think about it. I finished writing it and I look down and realized that it was all about the last week before I left for college, trying to hold on to my friends in high school. It didn’t feel like it was about me, then I looked at it again, and it was.
Boston.com: Speaking of being eclectic with your music, I was listening to a rap song you were featured on a long time ago called “Life Goes On.’’ Can you tell me a little more about this track?
Hutchinson: You’ve done your research my friend. That song, I was actually not featured on, that was my rap group called Wonder Bread. I had a rap group called Wonder Bread, that not many people know about besides yourself, and it was me and another guy. It was something fun to do, but I was singing more and more on it, and it felt like I kind of wanted to go down that path. But every now and then I can still bust a rhyme if I need to.
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Boston.com: You’ve done a lot of great mash-up and interesting covers of songs, like fusing together “My Girl’’ with R. Kelly’s “Ignition.’’ How do you come up with that stuff?
Hutchinson: I’ve been doing a cover of “Happy’’ lately, but it’s got to be a song that I really like. Sometimes people suggest something and I’m like, I don’t like that song. But I really did like R. Kelly’s “Ignition’’ and I just kept singing it every night. I try and do covers of songs that I wish I could have written. It’s sort of fun to see where that stuff comes from.
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Boston.com: You’re an Emerson graduate and will be performing at the Paradise Rock Club. How has the Boston scene influenced you as a musician?
Hutchinson: It was a really fun place to start out. I made a lot of really great friends there. It was the first city that I kind of got to know on my own as an adult. It’s got a lot of energy to it because of so many college students there. It’s just a place that I’ve always got a soft spot for. I always love it. It’s going to be the last day of our tour so it’s going to be a great place to finish things up. It’s going to be fun.
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