ERIC REED - ALABAMA DEATHWALK
Illustration: Jazz Torrez / Text: Skipp White
Band: Alabama Deathwalk
Duties: sing, play guitar, write songs, not get lazy
Random
Acts of kindness are worth the effort.
Are you more of a van or muscle car guy?
Probably van, haha.
What are you deathly afraid of?
Losing my memory.
What toppings are mandatory for an Eric Reed pizza?
I like veggie pizzas. I’m a big fan of artichoke hearts and green chili right now.
Music/Band
When and where does inspiration strike you the most?
It’s hard to pinpoint because it changes all the time, but finding a great album I’ve never heard before helps a lot. Driving long distances by myself also does the trick sometimes. Even just watching YouTube videos of concerts can help, maybe seeing a strange guitar chord I want to mess around with.
Acoustic/Electric – How do you know which one it’ll be when writing a song?
I wish I had a good answer for that, but it’s honestly been a pretty visceral, hands-on process. I think the songs we play full-band generally need to be pretty percussive and able to survive at higher volumes, but we really just try some songs and whichever feel good are the ones we’ll play live full-band.
You used to play in a hardcore band, would you ever play “heavy” music again?
Yea, I was in a few pretty rowdy bands when I was younger, haha. I still love heavy music and I’m not ashamed of those years I played in bands like that, but I’m just not as attached to that scene anymore. I’m not against playing heavy music again in the future, but I’m not really searching for it.
Who are some of your favorite singer/songwriters?
It is really hard for me not to give you a 1,000 word answer to this question, but I’ll do my best. The past few years I’ve consistently listened to a lot of David Bazan (Pedro the Lion), The Mountain Goats, Sufjan Stevens, Father John Misty, Paul Simon, The Weakerthans, Ryan Adams, Rocky Votolato, Bright Eyes, and a lot of great local artists like KT Neely, Simeon Beardsley, and Back of a Car. Some of my new favorites are Porches, Dan Mangan, and Haley Bonar.
What’s the biggest life lesson that playing music has taught you?
I think playing music has taught me that it’s good (and sometimes better) to give up control and just let things happen. Some of my favorite things on an album are a line where their voice cracks a bit, or a guitar part comes in so unpredictably just a bit late. Those little nuances wouldn’t be possible if those musicians had tried to hold on too tight and overthink that stuff. I still struggle with this sometimes and I get control mixed up with passion, but I make an effort to remember to let go. I’ve been doing Alabama Deathwalk for about 8 years now, so some lessons I’ve learned from playing music have really shaped who I am as a person. I’m thankful for that.
