Eric Johnson describes himself as a midwestern mutt. During Johnson’s early years, his family moved around a lot throughout the midwest with stops in Wisconsin, central Illinois, and both of Michigan’s peninsula’s before the family finally settled in the Chicagoland area.

By the time Eric reached his high school years, he was dabbling in theater and music. Once he moved into the city from the suburbs, Johnson figures he could have either landed at Second City or The Old Town School of Folk Music to find his path. He found the Old Town School first and began working in earnest as a songwriter.

Johnson soon found himself collaborating with the members of the Chicago band, Califone. That band’s encouragement and access to recording equipment led the way to the creation of the first two Fruit Bats LPs, Echolocation and Mouthfuls. Throughout the early aughts, Fruit Bats continued to churn out excellent records to critical acclaim and a small, but passionate fanbase.

Within the last ten years, Johnson has seen his band, and his own creative work blossom. During our chat, Eric shares the wave on which he and his band have been riding for the previous decade. There is a surety in this recent work that has brought forth a looser, and more playful version of the band. There has also been an uptick in fan interest as Fruit Bats have seen their audiences grow at the same time their work is reaching an artistic zenith.

The band’s most recent effort The Landslide is a sprawling, shimmering example of the creative wave that Johnson and his band are riding at the moment. Eric and I discussed the evolution from the early work with Califone through to the present day, and some of the ways in which time and place have changed Eric Johnson both as a person and as a songwriter.

Let’s get into it.

Cheers,

Matty C

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End Credits

Thanks so much to Eric for joining me. You can find out all about his work at http://www.fruitbatsmusic.com/

The What Am I Making podcast is hosted, written, and produced by me, Matty C.

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