Shinedown drummer Barry Kerch recently told Detroit’s WRIF that the band is working on new music, and now, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and Shinedown bassist Eric Bass just announced his debut solo album, “Eric Bass Presents: I Had A Name”.
Now you’re thinkin’, “Christmas came early”! And you’re not wrong. Although you will need to wait til February 28, 2025 to hear “I Had A Name” (written, recorded, and produced entirely by Bass). You can pre-save/pre-order now.
Bass says, “We live in a world right now where music gets homogenized and maybe everything sounds and feels the same. I wanted to create something different and I hope listeners hear that. Lyrically and emotionally I hope it empowers them and they can see themselves in the characters and stories I sing about.”
He continues: “We all go through dark times and hardships, but there’s always a way out. I think that’s what being a human being is about. I feel like Earth is a test and we’re here to prove ourselves, go through things and come out better on the other side.”
On the new single, he says, “‘Mind Control’ is part of a larger story than I’m telling on this record and in the graphic novel that goes along with it. We’re following this character Devaren as he’s talking about his disdain for the population and how he can’t stand them, but at the end of the song he has this reflective moment where he actually regrets everything he’s been doing. The interesting thing about the characters in this story is that they represent a different part of my neurodivergence and mental health journey. In ‘Mind Control’ Devaren represents the depression that has crept into my life over the years that I didn’t see coming. I just had to personify that in a character so in ‘Mind Control’ it has taken over, but ultimately in our story it will be defeated.”
Of course, you’ll be know Eric Bass as the co-songwriter, producer, and bassist for Shinedown, the band that has the most #1 singles on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart. Freaking. Huge. Band.
Bass says the initial storytelling spark behind “I Had A Name” started in hotel room in Milan, Italy. Shinedown was touring 2018’s “Attention Attention”. He says, “I sat on the bed with a pen and paper and wrote for two hours. It turned into a synopsis for a prequel to the story I’m telling on the album. When I started writing music, I thought about these characters. The album doesn’t chronologically tell the story, but it depicts various scenes from it — bits and pieces that happen throughout it.”
How cool is it to hear the back story on the songs you love?
“Eric Bass Presents: I Had A Name” track listing:
01. A World Unseen
02. The New Gods Of War
03. Azalia
04. We Can’t Go Home
05. Goodnight Goodnight
06. Mind Control
07. New Graves
08. All Good Children – Our Guts
09. Modenhardt
10. Dead Inside
11. The Churches Of The Dead
12. Wanna Go To Hell
What do you think about Eric’s solo stuff?
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