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Eric Erlandson

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Eric Erlandson
Erlandson performing in 2012
Erlandson performing in 2012
Background information
Birth nameEric Theodore Erlandson
Born (1963-01-09) January 9, 1963 (age 61)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Musician
  • songwriter
  • producer
  • author
Instruments
Years active1989–present
Labels

Eric Theodore Erlandson (born January 9, 1963)[1] is an American musician, guitarist, and writer, primarily known as founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole from 1989 to 2002.[2] He has also had several musical side projects, including Rodney & the Tube Tops, which he formed with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and RRIICCEE with Vincent Gallo.

While studying creative writing, Erlandson published a book titled Letters to Kurt in 2012, consisting of free-form and stream-of-consciousness poetry.

Early life

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Erlandson was born January 9, 1963[3][1] in Los Angeles, one of seven children in a Roman Catholic family.[4] He is of Swedish, German, and Irish descent. Erlandson and his siblings were raised in the Los Angeles community of San Pedro.[4]

Erlandson studied economics with a minor in marketing at Loyola Marymount University, where his father, Theodore Erlandson, served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree.[4] During his college years, he worked for the now-defunct Licorice Pizza record store chain.

In the late-1980s, Erlandson was working as an accountant for Capitol Records, where he managed Paul McCartney's, Tina Turner's, and various other artists' royalties. In 1988, Erlandson traveled Europe for a number of months "trying to decide what he wanted to do with his life".[5]

Career

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1989–2002: Hole

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Erlandson (right) performing with Courtney Love in Hole, c. 1989

In 1989, Erlandson responded to an advertisement placed by Courtney Love in Recycler, a local classified ad paper. Erlandson describes the band's first rehearsal session, which featured original bassist Lisa Roberts, as follows:

These two girls show up dressed completely crazy, we set up and they said, "okay, just start playing something". I started playing and they started screaming at the top of their lungs for two or three hours. Crazy lyrics and screaming. I said to myself, "most people would just run away from this really fast". But I heard something in Courtney's voice and lyrics.[6]

Love, Erlandson and Roberts were later joined by drummer Caroline Rue and third guitarist Mike Geisbrecht, and this line-up performed Hole's first live performances. A new line-up, with new bassist Jill Emery and without Geisbrecht, recorded their debut album, Pretty on the Inside, in 1991. After achieving underground success in the United Kingdom, Emery left the band in February and Rue in April 1992. With new members Patty Schemel and Kristen Pfaff, Hole signed a contract with their new label DGC in 1992 and, a year later, began touring and recording for their sophomore and major label debut, Live Through This. The album, ranked by Time magazine as one of the top 100 albums of all time,[7] received unanimous critical acclaim and is Hole's most successful record to date.

During Hole's hiatus in 1996, Erlandson formed a short-lived side project, Rodney & the Tube Tops, with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, various other musicians and DJ Rodney Bingenheimer. The project dissolved shortly after releasing the single "I Hate the '90's". He also co-produced the Sympathy for the Record Industry release "Milk Carton" by The Grown Ups, a raw riot of an album by a group of 14-year-old girls from Santa Monica, California.

Hole released their third studio album, Celebrity Skin, in 1998, with Erlandson co-producing the record. More pop-oriented than their previous albums, the album was a commercial success and was the last material by Hole to feature Erlandson. Auf der Maur left the group in 1999 to pursue other musical projects and on May 22, 2002, Erlandson and Love disbanded Hole through their official website noting that they would "no longer record or tour together".

2003–2008: White Flag and RRIICCEE

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Following Hole's disbandment, Erlandson contributed to Melissa Auf der Maur's debut solo album Auf der Maur, playing guitar on the track "Would If I Could". He toured with his friend Bill Bartell's band, White Flag, and wrote, produced and performed two shows with a group including singer/songwriter John Wolfington and drummer Blackie Onassis from Urge Overkill.

In 2007, Erlandson formed an improvisational music project, RRIICCEE, with Corey Lee Granet, and Vincent Gallo.[8][9] The band toured the United States and Canada between 2007 and 2008,[9] and performed at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan before its dissolution.

2009–present: Other projects

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In 2009, Love announced that her upcoming solo album, Nobody's Daughter, was being released under the name Hole and described the band's reunion, which included Love's guitarist Micko Larkin replacing Erlandson. Auf der Maur was first to respond to the news, describing it as "jeopardis[ing] a real Hole reunion"[10] and Erlandson stated that he and Love "have a contract",[11] which was later revealed to be a contract preventing either from reforming Hole without mutual involvement. In a later interview, just days before the expected release of Hole's Nobody's Daughter, Erlandson explained how "[Courtney's] management convinced me that it was all hot air and that she would never be able to finish her album. Now I'm left in an uncomfortable position."[12] Neither Love nor Erlandson have commented on the reunion further. In 2010, he noted that he has "new musical projects in the works".

In April 2012, Courtney Love joined Erlandson, bassist Melissa Auf der Maur, and drummer Patty Schemel onstage for the first time in 15 years at the after party for the premiere of Schemel's documentary entitled Hit So Hard. The band played two songs that evening, "Miss World" from the band's hit album Live Through This and a cover of The Wipers song "Over the Edge".[13]

In April 2014, Love confirmed that she had been rehearsing new material with Erlandson, Schemel, and Auf der Maur, and that a reunion of the 1994 lineup of the band was being prepared.[14]

In May 2019, Love confirmed that all the members are definitely "talking about it", in reference to regrouping and reforming the band.[15] In October 2019, Love posted a since-deleted photo of the group together, rehearsing songs in Los Angeles, but without Erlandson.[16]

Personal life

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Erlandson has practiced Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism since 1992.[17][11] During his tenure in Hole in the 1990s, Erlandson was romantically involved with the group's bassist Kristen Pfaff, until her death in June 1994[18] as well as actress Drew Barrymore.[4] He had also previously dated Courtney Love.

References

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  1. ^ a b Britannica Educational Publishing (2012). Ray, Michael (ed.). Alternative, Country, Hip-Hop, Rap, and More: Music from the 1980s to Today. Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-615-30910-8.
  2. ^ "Hole | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
  3. ^ "The Birth of Eric Erlandson". California Birth Index. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d Cohen, Jason (August 24, 1995). "Hole is a Band". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  5. ^ Mason, Darryl (1995). "Hole: A New Lease of Life". The West Australian (January 1995).
  6. ^ Erlandson, Eric (1999). "Skin Tight". Guitar World (January 1999).
  7. ^ "The All-Time 100 Albums: Live Through This by Hole". Time. November 2, 2006. Archived from the original on February 2, 2011. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
  8. ^ "Independent Film Quarterly, Issue 13 – Interview with Vincent Gallo". Archived from the original on June 23, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  9. ^ a b Fagan, Mark (November 30, 2007). "Man of a Thousand Faces: Vincent Gallo". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  10. ^ "Melissa Auf der Maur finds Hole in Courtney Love's reunion plans". The Guardian. London. January 18, 2010. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Q&A: Hole's Eric Erlandson". Spin. July 9, 2009. Archived from the original on October 11, 2012. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  12. ^ Brett Buchanan. "Exclusive Interview With Eric Erlandson". Blog Archive. GrungeReport.net. Archived from the original on March 27, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
  13. ^ "Watch Hole Reunite in Williamsburg". Archived from the original on April 14, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
  14. ^ Monde, Chidera (April 3, 2014). "Courtney Love confirms Hole reunion, teases possible Kurt Cobain musical". Daily News. New York. Archived from the original on April 5, 2014. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
  15. ^ "Courtney Love: 'A Hole reunion? We are definitely talking about it'". TheGuardian.com. May 25, 2019.
  16. ^ "Courtney Love teases Hole reunion with rehearsal session in LA". NME. October 9, 2019.
  17. ^ "Former Hole Guitarist, Eric Erlandson, On His New Book About Kurt Cobain, Tragedy Of Suicide And 90s Legacy". KROQ/CBS. March 28, 2012. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  18. ^ Cooper, Leonie (April 9, 2012). "Hole's Eric Erlandson: 'People are dead because of my stupid mistakes'". NME. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
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