Fruit Bats, the moniker of both Eric D. Johnson and the band he has led for more than 20 years, will be in Alberta in February. Johnson is a shape-shifting artist and bandleader who has been a member of The Shins and Bonny Light Horseman. Fruit Bats (the band) has seen many personnel changes over the years. Now, as Johnson prepares for performances in Edmonton and Calgary, he reflects on playing solo shows, his musical longevity, and his influences.
“I’m just learning to enjoy it,” he says of the solo show. “I found it quite terrifying at first. But there’s a freedom and stealth that comes from being up there on your own. People make requests, and it can get a little looser.”
Fruit Bats’ most recent album, Baby Man, is a tender offering with pared-down instrumentation and isolated vocals. The artist’s own website describes it as “just Johnson in the room, meaning that when the turntable’s needle meets Baby Man’s groove, it’s just him and the listener, mutually in for a reckoning.”
“This was originally designed to be a casual project,” says Johnson. “I was thinking it would have cover songs. It blossomed. There was a mandate for simplicity, and an immediacy in the lyrics, because they were happening in real time. This was not a year’s work. I refer to it as a two-week diary entry.”
The depth and wit of Johnson’s lyrics over the years have prompted critics to refer to him as a songwriter’s songwriter.
“I never thought that,” says Johnson about that title. “It makes me happy. I came from an indie rock background, so my early work was more about vibe creation than song craft. I have become more confident in the past ten years. It took me a minute to allow myself to feel like a songwriter.”
He mentions Anaïs Mitchell (his bandmate in Bonny Light Horseman) and Josh Ritter as songwriters he admires. His current influences are diverse. “I’m inspired by my own close community,” he says. “My bandmates in Bonny Light Horseman have had a huge influence on me. Kevin Morby is a good friend, and he’s such a different songwriter from me, but we’re also cut from the same cloth in a lot of ways. And I love Lana Del Rey’s songwriting and the world she paints. She was an influence on the writing of Baby Man.”
He describes his career as “long and bumpy” and says he still enjoys making music. “I didn’t go to college, and I never really envisioned myself doing anything else. This is what I do, and I was very lucky to come up when I did. I caught the tail end of indie rock, and it was easier to make music in that time. It was a mentality of just getting in a van and putting on a show. So in a lot of ways, I just looked up and here I was.”
With so many albums in the Fruit Bats’ catalogue, it can be challenging to create a set list. It’s something Johnson works on, but he also wants to leave room for requests. “I want to take people on a ride. I take set list design very seriously. But I also like it when people make requests. It’s an interesting survey about what songs people like.”
Fruit Bats will perform solo at St. Albert’s Arden Theatre on February 6 and at Calgary’s Block Heater festival on February 7.
“Stuck In My Head Again” by Fruit Bats, from the album Baby Man
