Here's an article I just finished writing for a 'zine in Boston. I
thought I'd give you guys a sneak preview. Feel free to flame...
PLease forgive the strange formatting problems, "U" = ' and "R"&"S" = ""
My mom thinks I should be a "rock journalist"...teehee!
Peicing Together the Broken Girl
by Michael Catano
I start my interview with Julie Doiron of EricÕs Trip with the
standard questions. I ask how her band came to be, the whoÕs the whatÕs
and the whyÕs, and she answers with the glazed over tone of a woman who
has answered all of these questions before.
EricÕs Trip formed in June of 1990, with Rick White playing
guitar, Julie playing guitar, Chris Thompson on bass and Ed Vaughn on
Drums. Chris and Rick had been playing together in a band called Forest,
and Julie came to know them through a boy she was dating at the time.
She had been playing guitar for a while, and wanted to buy an electric,
but didnÕt want to be destined to rot alone in her bedroom, so she
approached Rick about starting a band. Chris had been aching to play
something other than drums (as he had been doing in Forest), and they all
saw this as a perfect opportunity.
After a while, Ed left the band and Mark ÒSkedÓ Gaudet was
recruited. He was a staple of the Moncton scene and had been in punk
rock and hardcore bands since his early teens. He went to all the shows
and was an easy man to find, they just went to Sam the Record Man, where
he still works to this day.
With Mark in the band a mere two weeks, the ÒWarm GirlÓ cassette
was recorded and released a few months after. This was not their first
release (a self-titled cassette and the ÒCaterpillarsÓ e.p. precede it),
but it is the one that brought them to my attention, and remains one of
my favourites of their works. It is a roughly recorded work by a young,
inventive band. ItÕs raggedness and sincerity combine for a remarkably
enchanting tape. Some of the songs on that tape were recently
re-released on a seven inch from Derivative Records in Montreal.
All of this, however, pales when compared to recent events in
JulieÕs life. For starters, she is pregnant (expecting December 17 -
send her gifts!) and busy running a record label, Sappy; working on her
solo project, Broken Girl; and touring in support of Eric TripÕs latest
Sub Pop release, ÒForever AgainÓ. On top of all of this, sheÕs tesching
adults to swim, a job that she had years ago, but took up again when she
decided she needed something a little more stable to keep her busy while
she waits for the baby.
Julie the Broken Girl has released a single on Sappy Records, and
she has a cassette out as well, of which only fifteen copies exist. Her
music is very personal, singing about loves lost and the little tragedies
of every day life. It has become popular to the point that fans call out
to hear Broken Girl songs at EricÕs Trip shows. She is in the midst of
writing material for an upcoming full-length release, that she hopes will
come out soon. She has no plans to release it on her own label, but she
is opting to shop it around to other labels. If she canÕt find a taker
(which in my humble opinion, is very unlikely) she will put out a single
or two on her own.
Sappy Records are on a temporary hiatus, and Julie apologises
deeply to those she may have offended. She is a one woman operation, and
is very backed up with orders. Unfortunately, she is completely out of
records - everything is sold, so be warned. She hopes to have some new
stock in by winter, but sheÕs not sure. Future Sappy releases may
include (but nothing is certain) a single from HalifaxÕs Merge, and a
friend of herÕs from Ottawa.
Julie is very content. Her band has released a new album of what
she calls Òvery personal songsÓ. She says the decision to release two
full-length albums so close together was due to the fact that they are
extremely productive songwriters and really donÕt like to milk a record
for too long. She would never want to stuck in the position of many
major label bands, where they release a record every two-years, and have
to play the same songs over and over again. She doesnÕt feel that they
are over-saturating the market, and points to bands like Sebadoh and
Guided by Voices who put out tonnes of material, under their band names
and under side projects.
Julie believes that every good band puts out at least four great
albums, which means that they have two to go by her count - not including
their early independent releases. She says this to reinforce the fact
that EricÕs Trip are not breaking up. She chuckles at rumours of new
bass players and fighting within the band. All of their side-projects
(JulieÕs Broken Girl, ChrisÕ Moonsocket, MarkÕs Purple Knight) are
extensions of their individual personalities that donÕt get brought to
light in the band. Their solo efforts are most likely doing more to keep
them together than to break them apart.
As our conversation ends, she smiles and shakes my hand. I ask
her about her baby and she talks about someday driving around with her
husband and her child, playing shows and being together. The thought
makes her glow in an honest, innocent way, and she leaves me with her
final words: ÒTry to do everything you want to do, and make sure you are
happyÓ.
