Eric Hutchinson — Moving Up, Living Down Review + Interview
Some artists have the ability to write lyrics about the most random situations and make them into fun songs. The lead single ‘Watching You Watch Him’ was praised by Perez Hilton as being a more fun version of Adele’s Someone Like You,’ but my personal favorite ‘The Basement is about a club of the same name that played 50s and 60s music where Eric Hutchinson randomly went a night after a concert. Today, Hutchinson’s second album ‘Moving Up, Living Down’ hits the shelves and his tour continues on after opening last night. Check out our interview below and click the link to see tour dates! Make sure to grab a copy of the album and head out to a show because you won’t want to miss this.
Arin: What inspired you to get into music?
Eric: Well I always loved music and my family was very musical. My grandmother was a violin player and my dad and my mom met when my dad gave my mom guitar lessons. I was always interested in music and songwriting, so from very early on the first thing I started doing was just writing songs. I was 8 or 9 when I began. And I don’t know I just always loved the creativity of it all.
A: You tend to have really witty and interesting lyrics, so how do you come up with those?
E: I’m always on the lookout for lyrics and ideas. and I mean a lot of my lyrics just come from life. People will say something in a conversation or just certain things that happen and I’ll write it down. I feel like there’s a lot of great poetry in everyday life.
A: I know some of the songs on the album have cool stories, so what is the exact story behind ‘The Basement’?
E: ‘The Basement,’ I did a show in Massachusetts and afterwards the promoter invited the band out. He said ‘oh you gotta come check out this club called The Basement; they play all this soul music; you’re going to love it.’ So the band and I went out and I spent the whole night there. I probably had a few too many drinks, but it was really great. It was all this 50s and 60s soul music that I love so much. I don’t really get to celebrate with other people, so there’s all these music fans there. It was really inspiring and the next morning I woke up and wasn’t even sure if it actually happened or not. I wrote the song sort of as an homage to that night and also to the music.
A: With tour coming up, which cities are you most looking forward to? Which always seem to have the best crowds?
E: I mean I have a great time everywhere and every town has its sort of special quirks to it. I’m excited to play a hometown show. I grew up in Washington, D.C. and I’m playing at the 930 club there. And that’s a venue I grew up going to when I was a kid, and I always wanted to play there. It has already sold out, so I’m really excited about that. Boston’s another one; I went to college up there and I used to go see bands at the venue we’re playing and that’s sold out also. So it’s really exciting and I love it.
A: Which song is your favorite to listen to or to play live?
E: I’ve gotta say the single, ‘Watching You Watch Him’ is the song. When I wrote it, it sort of just felt right immediately. And when we were working in the studio I kept wanting to hear that one on the big speakers. We played it on the Tonight Show the other night and we had to do a bunch of rehearsals for it with the camera and the soundcheck and stuff; and it’s a song I could just play over and over again. I just really love it, and I’m glad to see people have been responding to it
A: I’ve been told that when you play songs over and over live, they begin to lose some meaning. Does that happen to you?
E: Yeah I don’t care about anything anymore… I’m just kidding. No, I feel the opposite; I find more meaning in the songs. A lot of times fans will point out things that I hadn’t even really considered before. The biggest thing is playing them live, the audience adds energy to it. And the song it’s like a hair dryer or something. The song sitting there by itself is just an object, but once you plug the energy into it, that’s what brings it to life. And that’s what I always have fun with. The crowd is what gives the energy to the song and I love them for it.
A: You have played on a bunch of TV shows, but if you could be a guest on any TV show, do you have a top one or two?
E: I really, really, really want to play Saturday Night Live. I’m a huge fan of the show and I’ve got a few friends who are writers on it, I grew up watching it, so I’d love to play that; and then also Ellen would be really fun. I’m a big fan of hers and her show. I’d love to get my mom to come out and check out that show.
