ERIC REED - ALABAMA DEATHWALK

Name: Eric Reed

Band: Alabama Deathwalk

Duties: Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist

A combination of boredom and sleepiness is usually my response when listening to acoustic songwriters. I mean, either I think it’s damn good or it does nothing to captivate my interest. In retrospect, I’ll admit that it applies to all genres but a vocally out of tune, E,A,G chord strumming folk singer makes me want to shoot lasers out of my eyes. Sure, I’ll stick around and bob my head but I most likely won’t buy a record or search for the artist’s music in the future. When I first saw Eric Reed perform, I held the same expectations as before but ended up with a different outcome. I was genuinely impressed and I thoroughly enjoyed his performance. The conviction in his voice and the rhythm of his guitar had me instantly hooked. In the past year or so, I’ve had the pleasure of playing some shows with him and watching him perform multiple times. I look forward to it every time. Recently, I had a chance to ask Eric some questions about his project, Alabama Deathwalk, before he heads out on some Texas dates. Here they are.

Goofy

How do you say, “If I don’t eat 10 tacos and drink a gallon of grape soda, my stomach is going to explode?” in Spanish? No, you cannot use Google Translate. 

Oh gosh… “comer un diez tacos y un grande soda de grape, o mi stomach tiene un explosion”?

Who were the 2012 MLB World Series Champions?Rockies, definitely the Rockies…

Favorite reptile?

Lizard (specifically Curt Connors from Spiderman).

The last regret you had?

Not knowing more Spanish for the first question.

How do you like your steak cooked?

Medium.

Do you have nicknames for your guitars? You know, like “Betty” or “Warbird” or something like that.

When I first got the acoustic guitar I use now I named it Benjamin, but I don’t ever call it that.

Forgiveness is ___________?

Something I need and need to give more.

Personal

Eric Reed. Is that your legal name?

Yep.

You currently live in Las Cruces, NM. Where are you from originally?

I grew up in El Paso, TX.

I have a pretty decent memory. Ironically, I believe that I first met you at a Converge show at the Pan American Center in the fall of 2009. Did you go or am I crazy? If that was you, do you still dig heavy music?

Yea! I remember that show. It was weird because I just went to see Converge, but they were the opening act for this huge production of a metal show. I left right after Converge played I think, haha. I do still dig heavy music, but I don’t listen to those bands nearly as much as I used to. I do think there is similar emotional release I get from singer-songwriters like Rocky Votolato and Noah Gundersen and heavy bands like Some Girls or Ceremony. I played in heavy bands when I was younger and sometimes I really miss the feeling you get after playing a super loud, aggressive set of songs.

You are currently in college. What is your major/field of study?

I am studying Civil Engineering with a focus on Structures, but I graduate in three weeks so I don’t have much left.

We recently spoke about our connection to the Carolinas. You go to North Carolina annually. Any particular reason?

I go to New Mexico State University, but I did a one year National Student Exchange program at North Carolina State University a few years back and I still have some really great friends in the Raleigh area. I know I have a tendency to lose touch with old friends, so I try to fly back each year to spend time with them. I really love Raleigh as a city/community too.

You have a song on your split with KT Neely called “X-Men”. Who is your favorite X-Men?  You kind strike me as an Angel type of guy.

Angel is cool, but I think he is too squeaky clean for me. I really like Nightcrawler. He has a really interesting origin story.

You have also done a cover of Modest Mouse’s  “Blame it on the Tetons”. What’s your favorite Modest Mouse record?

I really enjoy the album with “Blame It On The Tetons” on it (Good News for People Who Love Bad News). I also like the album This is a Long Drive…, especially the song “Dramamine”.

Do you have any plans of collaborating with other artists or starting any other bands?

Although Alabama Deathwalk is a moniker I use for my songs, I have friends help pretty often at shows and in every Alabama Deathwalk recording project I have done so far. I love playing music with my friends and I try my best to make that happen pretty often.  I think Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) once said something like this: “The music scene is like the wild west… the dudes with the biggest posse are the ones that last”.

Aside from music, are there any other hobbies that you partake in? Legal or illegal.

I really enjoy bouldering, which is rock climbing with crash pads, but no ropes. I also enjoy riding bicycles with my friends here in Las Cruces; big shout out my Skid Sunday boyz.

Alabama Deathwalk

What inspired you to start writing as a solo artist?

I played in some thrashy metal and grindcore bands towards the end of high school and I enjoyed playing that music a lot, but I went through a combination of being burnt out on shows and getting turned on to some singer-songwriters like Ryan Adams and Rocky Votolato that just turned my world on its side. After that shift, I started making a serious effort to write good songs with an acoustic guitar and I soon left the band I was currently in. I didn’t play shows as a solo artist for probably a year after that though…

Are there any other artists that you would say have helped mold your sound?

Early on (like 7 years ago), I was listening to Ryan Adams, Rocky Votolato, Manchester Orchestra, Right Away, Great Captain!, Bright Eyes, Neutral Milk Hotel, AA Bondy, Wilco, Sufjan Stevens, mewithoutYou, The Snake The Cross The Crown, As Cities Burn, and Whiskeytown. I still listen to most of these pretty regularly…

Why did you choose a moniker instead of going by your name, Eric Reed?

When I was younger and the bands I was in would break up I would be really bummed out that we had to leave behind those songs we loved. When I started writing these solo songs that were even more personal to me, I really needed a way to perform them in a sustainable way. Having a moniker frees me to let as many friends as I want help on songs, but also play solo shows with no change to the name. It also allows me to play shows as often or rarely as I want to without worrying about a band breakup or letting anyone down if I didn’t want to play any shows for a few months. Alabama Deathwalk is just me at its core, but it’s actually bigger than me most of the time (both metaphorically and literally).

Why did you choose the name, Alabama Deathwalk? I have a feeling it has nothing to do with the Trail of Tears or the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

Haha, you’re right about it not having to do with Native Americans. It’s more of an imagery thing than any event, either in my life or in early Euro-American history. I was beginning to write these really personal songs and I needed a name to put them under. “Deathwalk” came from being interested in writing about things that were truly important to me; things that you might think about on a walk into the wilderness with no intension of coming back. And I really like the image of this walk happening with the backdrop of the deep, green south (“Alabama”).

Have you ever thought of doing a full electric rendition of Alabama Deathwalk?

I actually have done that in the past. If I know I’ll be playing a show at a loud bar or something like that, I will sometimes just bring my electric rig and play my songs with some sustained, distorted, sometimes drone-y guitar stuff. I really enjoy the feeling of digging into an electric guitar with a bunch of gain and singing over it. I have also played a few times with friends helping me out with a full drum set and other electric instruments.

About a week ago at The Trainyard in Las Cruces, you told me that you were working on an album called “Graduation”. Tell me about it

Yea! I’m really excited about it. I graduate from college in a few weeks and that’s obviously a huge transition period in my life. I am leaving behind close friends, a strong music scene, and my day-to-day routine here at school. Knowing this has been pretty heavy on my mind and heart the last few months and I have been working some of that out through a few new songs that have a pretty similar feel and theme. I’ m also excited because this is the first recording project where I’ve recruited a team of friends to help me with recording AND working out additional parts on the songs. KT Neely (who is an amazing songwriter here in Las Cruces), Robert Watkins, and Simeon Beardsley (another great songwriter who just played his first show here in Cruces and blew everyone away) are going to help me breath some extra life into 4 songs for an album called “The Graduation EP”. I’m hoping to have it out sometime in early January. The songs are almost done and I’ve played most of them live at least once. I’m really excited to see how these friends will put their own fingerprints on the songs when we record them. It takes a lot of trust for me to hand over some creative control, but I really do trust these guys and I know they care about this music.

When writing songs, do your songs typically drift back and forth for you to refine them or is it a pretty straightforward of finishing a song in one sitting?

I don’t think I have ever finished a song in one sitting. Sometimes it’s frustrating, but I think the song ends up stronger because of the time that I put into it over a longer period. I sometimes over-edit though, and then the song will get put into a huge folder with other songs that I couldn’t seal the deal with. I have dozens of them…

I know that you are a Christian. Some people like keeping their faith separate from the tunes they play but I suppose that intrinsically a person’s faith seems to shine through regardless. How prevalent would you say that your Christianity is in your songwriting/lyricism?

I think on my best days Christianity is an overarching belief in the way everything works, more than a weekend ritual or a tool to get me through hard times. If I really believe that a God exists and he made an effort to love us and show us who he was though Jesus… I mean if I REALLY believed that was true, I think it would be a hard thing to keep out of the lyrics I write. I don’t always write about my faith well (which probably points to the doubt that any honest Christian will tell you they struggle with sometimes), but I think my faith comes through in my lyrics because it is the lens I see the world through, and it’s also in some ways the world that I see through that lens.

“Paul” and “James” are both songs on your album “Oh to Trade Nothing for Everything” . Paul and James were both apostles. Coincidence or just random?

Good eye, Chris! Not random. Earlier this year I was really interested in how different Paul’s letters and James’s letters feel when you read them. Upon just reading a few popular verses out of context, it is easy to think that James cares most about “being good” and Paul is really into just accepting grace and mercy as free gifts. After reading through the books a bit more though, and getting some information from people smarter than me, I realized that Paul and James don’t conflict at all. I won’t go into much more detail here, but I believe James is saying that “being good” is EVIDENCE of faith, but not a replacement for faith. Anyway, I was very interested in this topic so I wrote those songs with that in mind, most notably in “James”.

“The Unspoken Heart”.  Man that song is a tearjerker.

My sister actually wrote those lyrics, originally in a poem she did in high school. I really liked it so she let me turn it into a song.

“Confessions (Infinity Love)”.  That song has a bit of a different vibe then the rest of the songs on your album. More ambience, the absence of an acoustic, and a stronger presence in the electric guitar department. Is that kind of a one off song or can listeners expect to hear songs of a similar nature in the future?

That was a really fun song to record. Writing that song felt very different than any other song on that record. I’m not sure if there will be a song like that on The Graduation EP, but I’d like to do a song like that again sometime. It seemed like the best way to end that group of songs at that time in my life.

If I last recall, you said you were going to do a string of dates in Texas. When and where exactly?

Yea, I’m going on a road trip with KT Neely later this week for a few shows in Texas. We’re calling it the Tiny Texas Tour and we’ll be playing Austin on Thursday, Denton on Saturday, and Lubbock on Monday.  Details for those shows will be posted on each of our facebook pages. I’m excited to see some old friends, as well as make some new ones. We really like doing these out of town shows.

Any other news in the life of Eric Reed / Alabama Deathwalk?

I think we covered most of it. Thanks for listening to me ramble, Chris. Take care!

end.

You can check out Alabama Deathwalk at:

http://alabamadeathwalk.bandcamp.com/

Chris.