An Interview with E of The Eels, Playing Showbox Tonight

Last October, the Eels played the Moore Theatre in support of Tomorrow Morning, the last album in a trilogy of records exploring what happens when love doesn't work out. Since then, the music vehicle of Los Angeles-based artist E has toured Europe and the U.S., performing some 100 shows over the course of a year. With its tour winding down, the band plays tonight at the Showbox. The Seattlest spoke with E about the recent record trilogy, his memoir, and touring.

Can you talk about your last few albums?

The records are linked. The first one, Hombre Lobo, is about desire. End Times is about loss. And Tomorrow Morning is about renewal. . . . When you make three albums and put them all out in about a year, you’re setting yourself for a lot of hard work for a really long time. It was all an experiment. It had been four years since Blinking Lights and Other Relevations, so I had plenty of time to make the three records during that period. I decided to put them out every six months, just to see what it would be like to do it at a more rapid pace and because they were related to each other.

You’ve been releasing records for about 20 years. How has your process for making an album changed over that time?

It’s always changing. You’re trying to mine everything that’s inside you, get everything out. It just keeps coming.

You recently penned a memoir ('Things the Grandchildren Should Know,' St. Martins Press). How would you compare the creative process for making a record and that for writing a book?

Writing a book was a complete experiment for me. I didn’t sign a book deal. I just did it quietly on my own, spending a year writing it. When I was done, I read it back and felt there was something really there and that I should put it out. It was probably the hardest project I’ve ever worked on. It was a lot harder than writing songs. It’s so exacting, you know—the pen, the paper, the sentence. It has to be just right. Making your life story, getting the linear timeline and everything correct while making it entertaining is a bit of a tall order. It was pretty hard, but really rewarding in the end. I’m glad I did it.

You have so much creative control over your music. How was it to work with an editor at a publishing house after you’d completed your draft of the book?

That part of it was amazingly easy because I had a publisher who loved it how it was. They made very few suggestions about editing. I got lucky.

Many Eels fans are into the MC Honky album that you did—or didn’t do—in 2003. Is there any chance you’ll ever resurrect that project?

I’ve been in touch with Honky. Periodically he sends me stuff he’s been cooking up and it’s great, way beyond the stuff that we did back on that record. I’ve been encouraging him to get deeper into it and do more, but he’s not very focused. If I can find the time, though, I’m all in.

You’ve done a lot of work in film, including soundtracks for Yes Man and Levity. How does making music for movies differ from the approach you take on your own records?

It can be fun for me because it’s so different than what I usually do. I’m used to being the boss and do what I want to do for a song to be on a record. But when you’re writing a song for a film, there are some specifics involved that make it a completely different experience, especially when the visual gets added to it. It’s fun because it’s different for me.

Have there been any extraordinary moments from your current tour?

China was a very strange experience because the Red Army was there. During the show, they would start marching when the music got a little too exciting. The army would march between the band and the audience. That was pretty surreal. We’d never seen that before. They were a great audience, though. Really everywhere—China, Europe, America—our audiences are great. It’s always fun.

What will you do after the last concert date in Los Angles later this month? Do you have any plans to start work on a new record?

We’ve been having a ball on tour, and all of the shows have been really great and fun. But it will be really nice to get home. . . . I think I’m going to take about a month-long nap and then I’ll wake up and, knowing me, most likely want to go right back into the studio.

How do you feel about playing in Seattle? What can those who make it down the Showbox tonight expect?

I don’t think I’ve ever had an unpleasant experience doing a show in Seattle. It’s something we look forward to, and we’re definitely looking forward to coming back. We’ve played the Showbox before and it’s always been really fun. . . .This tour, we’ve got one of the biggest bands we’ve ever had—seven pieces with a horn section. We focused on the trilogy last year and got that out of our system. Now we’re going all over the back catalog. I think it might be our most fan-friendly group of shows we’ve ever done. Everyone who comes out should have a really fun time.

Tonight at 7:00 p.m. // Showbox at the Market // $25.00