Boston-based singer/songwriter Mark Erelli performed at 88.9 WERS this week as part of Wicked Local Wednesday. After the set, WERS’ Kenneth Cox sat down with Erelli to talk about his beginnings as an artist, his song “By Degrees,” and how fatherhood has helped shape his work.
How did you get into making music?
Mark Erelli: It started in like junior high and high school with musicals, and then it did the fairly standard progression from musicals to rock bands, and then when high school ends the band breaks up so you become a solo guy with a guitar in college, and from there it grew into what I do now.
Did you have any fun band names during your time in high school?
ME: Oh yeah. The first one was Freudian Slip which is a pretty textbook band name for a high school band. The best one was Organic Ice Cube which sounds like a 1968 kind of high school band.
Is there any moment throughout your career that truly stands out to you?
ME: Honestly it’s the stuff that’s happening now, which I would have never really thought. When I started out I thought, “Well if I hadn’t made it by the time I was 30, I’ll stop and go back to science,” which was what I was doing before this. And that was when I was 24 years-old, so 6 years was an eternity. I got to 30 and I was like, “Oh my god, I’m just barely there, I haven’t really started.” So the stuff that’s happening these days with this most recent Song of the Year nomination for the song I wrote called “By Degrees” for the Americana Music Awards. I mean that, it feels like it’s 20 years in the making, and I’m really grateful to feel like the newest phase that I’m at is the one that is the most memorable and feels like I’ve been working towards it for a while.
“By Degrees” was created as a response to the rise of mass shootings across America. What about using art as a tool for advocacy speaks to you and why do you think it is effective?
ME: For me, whatever comes in goes out. So, whatever I pay attention to becomes fodder for songs. Sometimes it’s happy-go-lucky lovey-dovey stuff, and sometimes it’s the news. And I don't think it’s not the job of an artist to censor themselves, I wouldn’t not write about something for fear that it would offend someone. I think it helps me make sense of it, and maybe it will help someone else make sense of it. And at the very least, it can help raise consciousness about an issue and help support people that are on the front lines, which is what “By Degrees” is doing. All the money for “By Degrees” goes to Gabby Giffords’ organization to reduce gun violence. She’s on the front line, and it feels nice to use the art to help the people that are actually rolling up their sleeves and doing stuff.
You also are a producer and singer. Do you think there’s anything in common among these roles?
ME: Well, the thing you have to bring to any role is the utmost focus on what is important. That is never how it is going to be perceived, or how it is going to sell, it’s all about what the musical idea or inspiration you’re trying to communicate, and what is the most direct, purest root to expressing that. And you don’t want anything to get in the way of that. So, whether I’m producing another artist or doing something on my own, or as a side man, whatever you’re trying to communicate that nothing is standing in the way of that.
What attracts you to collaborating with other artists?
ME: Well it’s lonely! [Laughs] In New England we’re these individualistic, hardscrabble Yankees, we can do it ourselves and get by. And, you know, you can’t always. Even in the good old days they had to have a whole community come together to raise up a barn because it was bigger than any one person could do. So, I think you can really do a lot more working with people than you can just on your own. There’s a time and place for both. The songwriting stuff I find I’m probably more effective on my own, though I do some co-writing. But when it comes time to get it out there and realize the vision it helps to work with others.
You talked about how your song “The Hitter” was inspired by your son. Do you think fatherhood has changed you as an artist?
ME: Oh yeah. Not to devalue the art of any artist that’s not a parent, but for me, it feels like the stakes were almost nothing before, and now they’re everything. If I didn’t make a good record, or my career fizzled before I had kids, it didn’t really matter, I could adjust it and it would be fine. But now, it's like, you’ve got people depending on you, and it’s important for them to see you succeed. But it’s also important for them every once in a while to see that you don’t succeed, and see how you adjust and deal with that, because no one is going to succeed at everything all the time. It just feels like the stakes were raised and everything came into much sharper relief as to why I was doing what I was doing. It was just a big motivator [laughs]. And remains so.
What’s next for you?
ME: Well, “The Hitter” is out now, and then I have a full-length record of new material, new solo stuff ready to go. I’m just trying to figure out the best, most effective way to release it in a business that seems to be sort of a moving target. But that’ll come out probably early 2020, and I’m really proud of this one, and can’t wait to share it with people.
Where can people find your music?
ME: The best place is my website which is markerelli.com , but wherever you get your music I’m probably there.
