By Jeb
Wright
Over the
course of the last ten years, I have had the pleasure of getting
to know Eric Bloom, through interviews and email exchanges. We
are not spending weekends together in The Hampton's, but I call
him a music industry friend, nonetheless.
Bloom is a
unique character. Now in his 60’s, he no longer drapes himself
in leather and shoots lasers out of his ring onstage; he still
has the sunglasses, though. Eric has a cool outlook on life; he
likes what he likes, and really doesn’t give a shit if you like
it or not. Oh, and he is pretty much okay with whatever hobbies
you may have too, so long as they are not too sick or sinister.
Eric is a big online gamer, going so far as to write a song with
the creators of Warhammer. In his spare time, he is
likely to venture into making limited edition, Blue Oyster Cult
artwork guitars, watching American Idol, enjoying a NASCAR race
or venturing out to see a performance by one of his favorite
artists. Bloom has had more spare time recently, than he is
used to, as BOC’s guitar player, Donald Roeser, AKA Buck Dharma,
fell down a flight of stairs, and bashed his shoulder into
pieces. The band’s downtime is getting ready to end, however,
as Buck is recovered, and ready to rock. It won’t be long till
Blue Oyster Cult is back on the road, forever.
In this
interview, Eric talks about the earliest days of the band, what
I call, “Pre-OC.” We discuss the band house in Long Island, and
driving across America to record The Stalk Forest Group. Bloom
goes on to discuss some of his first duties in the band; being
the tour manager and taking care of the band’s finances, or lack
of them. In addition, we delve into some of the highlights of
Blue Oyster Cult’s amazing past. At the end of the day, this is
a relaxed chat with an East Coast rocker, who has a great story
to tell.
Blue Oyster
Cult remains a constant draw on the touring circuit and, if
their rabid fans are any indication, will remain active as long
as they wish, keeping cities on flame with rock n’ roll wherever
they go.
Jeb:
Blue Oyster Cult has been off the road for some time. A lot of
people heard that your guitar player, Buck Dharma, had been
injured but I don’t think many people realized how badly he was
hurt.
Eric: He
had total shoulder reconstruction. He tripped, fell, and went
down some stairs, but he is okay. He is long over it. His
shoulder is going to be a little weird for a while. He is doing
physical therapy. He just drove to see his son and back, which
was over a thousand miles, and he handled it fine.
Jeb: When
do you start back on tour?
Eric: I
think the first show is June 3rd. We have been off
six months.
Jeb: When
was the last time Blue Oyster Cult was off work for six months?
Eric:
Never. Actually, I think back in 1987, we were off for nine
months. It is what it is. Whatever he needed, we were willing
to do. We didn’t want to do it without him, so we have waited.
Jeb: You
can’t do Blue Oyster Cult without you or Buck.
Eric: That
is the way we felt. I didn’t want to go out and find another
guitar player, so we just said, ‘Forget it.’ We are just going
to wait for him to be ready to rock, and that is it.
Jeb: What
have you done to pass the time?
Eric: I
always have a lot of little side things going on. I am writing
for a gaming magazine called Beckett Massive Online
Gamer Magazine (www.beckettmog.com); I am a massive
online gamer. I also did a piece for
www.autoweek.com called “Live at the New York Auto Show.” I
wrote a song for a video game called Warhammer online.
It is a free download at
www.warhammer.com. That has kind of generated some press,
since it is a new song for a new dwarf and battler video game.
It was kind of fun.
Jeb: I
follow BOC closely and I knew you were a big gammer. Why
haven’t you mixed your two loves before?
Eric: I
never really pursued it. I am playing Warhammer online
now. After three years of World of War Craft, I went to
Warhammer. The developers of Warhammer have a
garage band, and they put a link to it in the game. I heard
their garage band song and I thought it was pretty good. I
reached out to their PR firm, to get in touch with the
developers, and they invited me down to Virginia. I called
Richie [Castellano] and asked him if he wanted to go, and since
he is playing Warhammer as well, he said, “Sure.” Richie
had some music, and I had some music, and one of the developers
wrote the lyrics; that is how it happened. It is called “Kiss
My Ax While I Drink My Beer.”
Jeb: Are
you still doing the custom painted, Blue Oyster Cult guitars?
Eric: I am
still dabbling in it, but it is not anything like it was. I
have one guitar available, if someone is interested. I had it
made several months ago and the buyer backed out. It is the
only one I have available. If someone wanted to custom order a
guitar, then I would still do it.
Jeb: It
seems to me that the guy who painted Series Two is better than
the guy who did Series One. It looks like this venture was
successful.
Eric: It
was a fun little hobby thing to do. I think I made eight or
nine of them. Right now, it is custom orders only. If you want
one, then I will have one made. I agree; the second series was
better. They were just a little different. Dan Lawrence is a
well-known pro. He did some amazing things. He paints guitars
for a living. He is always painting stuff for all the major
guitar companies.
Jeb: What
will it take to get Blue Oyster Cult road worthy again? Are you
going to have to spend extra time in the rehearsal room?
Eric: We
are going to rehearse [for] one day. We are going to play one
day before our first gig in Florida. Buck couldn’t keep the
guitar out of his hands, once he was able to start playing, and
the other guys have stayed busy, playing with other bands, so
everybody is ready to rock. We just need to brush off a little
dust, but that is it. I gave everybody a little homework, a
couple of things to go over. If you are a pro, and you are told
to learn this song, or that song, then you will walk in the door
ready to go.
Jeb: Allen
[Lanier] has been out of the band for a year or so.
Eric: It
has been over two years. Allen does his own stuff; he is very
much in his own world.
Jeb: After
thirty-five years are you still itching to get out on the road?
Eric: We
like to play; it is what we do. You run a website, and you
write; it is what you do. I like all the little side projects,
but the main thing we do is get out there and play. The break
has been nice; I can’t remember ever having this much free
time. There are pluses and minuses. It gives me the chance to
wake up in the morning and go, “Gee, I have nothing to do
today. This is great.” But on the other hand, I like to keep
my hand into many different things.
Jeb: Blue
Oyster Cult has the saying, “On the Road Forever” and that is so
true for your band.
Eric: It is
true, and we would have been out there playing all this time if
it weren’t for that. We had to take a lot of gigs and move
them. Everything that was booked from December to May had to be
dropped, or rescheduled. We had a run through Europe that had
to be changed; it hasn’t been easy. We are going to be making
up, I would say, about 80% of the shows we couldn’t make.
Jeb: The
fans have to be going crazy waiting to see you live again.
Eric: I run
my own board at
www.ericbloom.net and the hardcore fans, that are in there,
let me know that they are itching to see some live BOC. We are
taking that under advisement and we will be ready to go.
Jeb: Were
you ever into bands that much?
Eric: I was
such a fan of music growing up that I saw a lot of bands that I
liked. My Fan Boy days are behind me. When you do this for a
living, then it becomes your job. There are very few bands that
I would go out of my way to see play live. I am a big Who fan.
If they are coming to the States, then I go out of my way to see
them. I am a big fan of Lykke Li, who is an indi female artist
from Sweden. I am going to go see her June 1st when
she comes to New York. It is hardly Hard Rock or Metal. She is
more of a pop, indi type of artist. I saw her play a song on
Carson Daily, and I really liked it, and I became a fan of
hers. I like Disturbed; I would go see them. I also like The
Moody Blues, and I would go see them. They tour, once in a
while, and they are always great. They come to New York every
couple of years and I try to see them. By the way, do you know
Lykke Li ?
Jeb: You
have sparked my interest. I do not know who she is.
Eric: Do
watch American Idol?
Jeb: Yes, I
do.
Eric: They
did one of her songs with the cast, a few weeks ago, during one
of their ensembles, and singing, and dancing things. It blew me
away that they were doing a Lykke Li song. I am a big American
Idol fan. It is a ‘Must TV’ thing for me. Oh, I am watching a
NASCAR race right now, and a guy is flipping over and over and
over. The car is on fire. It just flipped over on its tires.
Lets see the guy get out. He is out. Wow, he is walking away,
that is amazing.
Jeb: I
wouldn’t take you as a NASCAR fan.
Eric:
I am a huge car nut.
Jeb:
Fantasy gamers are usually intelligent. NASCAR fans,
stereotypically, are not.
Eric: I
have been a car nut my whole life. I will watch Formula One,
NASCAR, road rallying or anything.
Jeb: I
really like that about you. You are the type of person who
likes what you like and will not apologize for it.
Eric: Oh, I
don’t give a fuck. Would I get on your case if you were a stamp
collector or something? What do I care? Whatever gets you
through, and puts a smile on your face is fine with me.
Jeb: People
who have diverse likes, usually are interesting.
Eric: There
are pluses and minuses. When somebody has a special interest
and tries to push it off on other people, then that is when it
becomes annoying. I can only say, “This is what I am into. If
you want to check out a new artist that I like, or watch a car
race with me, then that is great, but I am not twisting your
arm.”
Jeb: I
would like to discuss Pre-OC, life before the band. Were you
ever in Soft White Underbelly?
Eric:
Towards the end. This is a very long story, if you want the
whole history. I played all through college in different
bands. I was in upstate New York playing in bar bands. Through
a series of coincidences, I moved back to New York, and was
working in a music store, and the guys from Underbelly walked in
to buy amps and I was the salesman. That is how the connection
was made.
Jeb: Was
there a picture of you in one of the bar bands up on the wall
next to pictures of some famous bands? Is that a true story?
Eric: That
is a true story. Andrew Winters was the original bass player
and he went to school with Donald. He saw the picture of my bar
band up on the wall. I put it up on the wall at the Sam Ash
music store in Hempstead; the store is now closed. Sam Ash
still exists, but this particular store does not still exist.
Andrew saw
the photo that I had put up on the wall, and made small talk,
and said, “I know that band.” I said, “How do you know that
band?” He said, “Our singer went to college with a guy in the
band.” I said, “That is me. Who is your singer?” The singer
of Underbelly was Les
Braunstein,
who was the lead singer before me.
On
Thanksgiving Day of 1968, the band got in touch with me to do
sound for them. They were playing in a club and the sound system
was shitty. So, I went down and did the sound for them, and
their manager, Sandy Pearlman, asked me if I wanted to be the
band’s tour manager. I am paraphrasing weeks of stories into
two sentences here, but I moved into the band house on Christmas
day of 1968, with my van and my motorcycle. I lived in the
hall, in the attic, because there were no empty rooms. In April
of 1969, they fired Les, and they hired me.
Jeb: Where
was this famous band house? Does it still exist?
Eric: It
was in Long Island. The house is still there. I think it has
been sold a couple of times since then—it was forty years ago.
The last time I was there it was shuddered because there had
been a fire. I don’t know if it has been fixed up or not; that
was about a year ago. It is not far from where I live now, so I
drive by it every once and a while.
Jeb: What
was it like to be that age and move into a band house? You
appear to have been just living day-to-day.
Eric: We
really were; we had no money. The band got an advance from the
first Soft White Underbelly [album] from Elektra Records, but
they pissed it all away buying amps, guitars and going out for
Chinese food. By the time I arrived, there was nothing. When
they brought me in, one of the things they wanted me to do was
to keep the books. It took me about five minutes to realize
that there were no books to keep.
There were
a few gigs, but the band was in the studio recording. The first
Underbelly record, the head of Elektra Records didn’t like. Les
was also having some difficulty, personality-wise, with the
other band members, so they fired him. They had heard some
tapes of me, in previous bands, and they asked me if I would
like to front the band. Elektra allowed me, and the guys, to go
to California and make the second Underbelly album, which is
also called The Stalk Forest album. That album went
nowhere and wasn’t even released until thirty-some years later.
Through a series of coincidences, we met David Lucas, who had a
jingle studio. He allowed us to use his studio, and he
co-produced our first demos, which got us into Columbia
Records.
Jeb: Were
Pearlman’s hooks into the band clear back to Soft White
Underbelly?
Eric: He
invented Soft White Underbelly. The earliest germ of the band
was in his head. Sandy walked into this place where people
jammed, at Stony Brook University, off campus, and he heard
Donald jamming with a bunch of guys. Donald’s playing blew
Sandy away, and he told him that he had connections, and that he
knew people, and that he had an idea for a band. He told Donald
that he worked for Crawdaddy magazine and that he could get us
deals. Albert was not living there at the time, as he was
living in Chicago. Donald got him to come back because they had
played together in college. Lanier had a mutual friend who took
him out to the house. They started jamming one night, and they
asked him if he would like to join. It was really just one
thing after another.
Jeb:
When did you change to a harder sound? Stalk Forest was much
different. It was not at all Blue Oyster Cult music.
Eric: There
were a couple of years in-between. The Stalk Forest
record was kind of a bridge from Underbelly to BOC. There was a
lot of material that was written before I was even there. I had
to sing those songs because that was my assignment.
Elektra
insisted that we use their studios in California to save money.
We got a couple of cars and we drove out to California. We had
to drive out there and drive back.
Jeb: So
much for the record company flying you out, and putting you up.
You had to drive across the fricking country.
Eric: That
is what we did; it was 1970. We drove cross-country with my
motorcycle in the back of my van, with all the band gear. We
got one of those companies that need cars driven across county,
to let us take a car for them. The other guys drove a Cadillac
across the country. I had a ‘68 Chevy, six cylinders, stick
shift van; it was my first new car. We drove it across the
country and back. We were a bunch of kids and that is what you
do.
Jeb: Was
Pearlman involved in the music as well as the lyrics?
Eric: Sandy
was involved in every bit of fabric of any of it, for the first
several years. He had the initial idea for the band. He also
had the material and knew what he wanted it to sound like. He
got us record deals, and provided lyric content, and got us
press—he did it all.
Jeb: You
may not have ever got to the first album without him.
Eric:
Without a doubt that is true, he made it happen. We all agree
that there would never have been a BOC without Sandy.
Jeb: You
can’t be a musician without a creative side. Did it ever become
a cramp in your style?
Eric: You
have to remember, that I was sort of the lone wolf, who didn’t
know what I was doing with myself. To get some sort of
direction, and join a band, was like the coolest thing in the
world to me. I didn’t have an attitude; I was just glad to be
there.
Years
later, we started backing off the kind of image that Columbia
wanted us to have. Several albums into our career, we were
older, and we sort of knew what we wanted to do with ourselves.
It might have been a mistake, looking back, but you can’t change
stuff.
Jeb: I
don’t think it was a mistake. I think it set you up to where
you can bookend eras of Blue Oyster Cult.
Eric: They
wanted us to be a faceless, Black Sabbath kind of band. After a
few years of going along with what they thought would work, we
realized that we really didn’t want to go in that direction. We
had a couple of records that didn’t do so hot, but in the big
picture it worked out.
Jeb: There
had to be some gigs like the Blues Brothers, with the chicken
wire. You have to have some stories.
Eric: Oh
plenty...oh man. We would get hired for a Friday and Saturday,
and after Friday, the club owner would tell us not to come back
on Saturday—that would happen all the time, this was before we
had a record deal. We had a local guy who would walk into the
band house and say, “I got you a gig for a hundred bucks, but
there is no room on stage for everyone, so only a three-piece
can go.” I would say, “That is enough for bass, drums and
Donald. I guess the rest of us will stay home.” That is the
kind of shit that would happen. It was a very hippie-dippy kind
of era for us because we were all living under one house.
Jeb: The
first album really shows the band trying to be unique. Would
that be fair to say?
Eric: I
don’t think we were trying to do anything other than to evolve
from the Underbelly, to Stalk Forest, to something else. Our
first tour was with The Byrds and The Mahavishnu Orchestra, and
we got crushed. We really had to rethink what the hell we were
doing. Sometime, immediately after that, things started
changing. Somewhere in there, I can’t put my finger on it,
things changed from a lot of jamming to songs.
I give a
lot of credit to Sandy. He took me down to Christopher Street
in Manhattan, which was a kind of a gay area, to a place called
Leather Man. He said, “Lets put some black leather jeans
on and see what you look like.” We had never had stage clothes
before that. That is when I got my look. I always wore
sunglasses, but not leather. They put Donald in a white suit,
and that was all Sandy’s idea of what would look cool.
Jeb: If you
look at the first album, and you look at songs like “Workshop of
the Telescopes” next to “She’s as Beautiful as a Foot” next to
“Cities on Flame,” then you realize that Blue Oyster Cult was a
musically diverse group.
Eric: I
agree, but when you put five musicians in a room with a
Pearlman, and a [Murray] Krugman, and a [Richard] Meltzer, then
you have a lot of different styles. Meltzer was living in the
band house with us; Sandy was in and out of the band house every
day. We combined all of this with David Lucas, who wrote
jingles. There were all sorts of chemistries going on.
Jeb: When
Black Sabbath first got popular, they met people that really
thought the band were eating babies and being Satanists. With
BOC being very off kilter, lyrically, did you ever have any
strange people showing up at your door?
Eric: You
have got to remember that “Don’t Fear the Reaper” was accused of
being a suicide song. Church leaders were taking our records
and breaking them, and burning them. We all thought that was
pretty ridiculous stuff. The only quote I recall was saying, “I
am glad they are burning our records. That just means that the
people who like us will have to go out and buy more.”
Jeb: The
“Reaper” was not about suicide.
Eric: If
you interview Donald, then he will tell you what he had in mind,
but it was not suicide.
Jeb: The
1970's were a paranoid time as so much was changing. They were
looking for things to blow out of the water and scare people.
Eric: It
sounds just like Republicans today; they sure haven’t changed
much. They are the party of ‘No’. We better not get political,
as that is a whole different can of worms. I find Obama trying
to show that American doesn’t have to be mean spirited very
enlightening. I don’t mind America speaking softly and carrying
a big stick, but there is no need for the horrible eight years
of Bush.
Jeb: You
just said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick” but I have seen
you dozens of times on stage yelling, “Dominance and
submission!”
Eric: That
is just a lyric. I also sing “Take Me Away.” They are just
songs.
Jeb: My
favorite Blue Oyster Cult cover is the church on the cover to
On Your Feet Or On Your Knees. Where is that church?
Eric: It is
in Westchester County, which is up north of here. I believe
Sandy knew about the church, and it was his idea to use it as
the cover. We rented a Cadillac and put the flags on; it was
fun.
Jeb: Old
churches can be evil looking places.
Eric: That
actually worked out as a good cover. If ever there was shit to
argue about it was album titles and artwork. Trying to get five
guys to agree on something? Forget about it.
Jeb: Tell
me about who came up with the idea for all five of you to come
out on stage playing guitars?
Eric: I
honestly don’t remember. Most show ideas were my ideas, but
that one could have been Albert, because he can play guitar. I
don’t really remember the germ of the idea.
Jeb: Blue
Oyster Cult was visual on stage. You had the lasers; the five
guitars, and you never knew what you were going to be wearing or
how big your hair was going to be.
Eric: I
tried to change it up and keep it interesting. People worked to
craft the image and keep it interesting, particularly the first
three or four years.
Jeb: Who is
holding the bible on the back of On Your Feet or On Your
Knees?
Eric: I
believe those are Sandy’s hands; he is wearing biker’s gloves.
Jeb: Was
Meltzer always as odd as he appears to be? Or has it gotten
worse over time?
Eric: Oh
no, he has always been a little left of center. He is a good
guy; he wrote “Burnin’ For You.” I have no ax to grind with
Richard. He wrote a lot of great shit for us.
Jeb:
Earlier, you said that you might have made a mistake breaking
away from Pearlman. Was that at this time?
Eric: We
went in and said, “Enough of this leather and spikes stuff; a
lot of bands are starting to do this. If other people are
starting to copy us, then it is time to move on and do something
different and new.” Sandy went to Columbia and told them that
we were not interested in doing this anymore. Columbia then
went and did a print ad with a guy with a leather mask on,
wearing S&M clothing, standing on the pulpit of a church,
preaching to monks. I was like, “Didn’t we just say we had
enough of this shit?” We vetoed that ad and they got pissed off
at us for getting pissed off at their ad agency, or their
creativity. It was the beginning of the end of our relationship
with Columbia Records. I think this was around the time that
Mirrors came out.
Jeb: You
still stayed quite a while.
Eric: We
were with them until around 1985 or 1986. Record companies are
a lot like a band. I think we saw five different presidents of
the company in the time we were there. People in those places
come and go. If you are lucky, then on your way up there are
people who actually believe in you, or even better, are fans of
your band; that is wonderful. That is really how it was in the
early days. The twelfth floor of the Columbia Building was full
of people. We would walk down the hall and hear our music
coming out of all of the offices; that was great.
Jeb: Blue
Oyster Cult was never known as being out of control like other
bands.
Eric: We
did our share, but I just don’t think we got the publicity. We
would take some gigs with Kiss and, somehow, all the chairs
around the pool ended up in the pool, and we had to pay for the
repainting of the pool. It was little stupid shit that you do
when you are young and full of yourself.
Jeb: Didn’t
Kiss open for you guys?
Eric: They
opened for us on their first show ever. I believe Gene’s hair
caught on fire.
Jeb: Some
people said that BOC were trying to be Kiss.
Eric: They
used to open for us and we had a twelve-foot truck and they had
a semi. They had some money backing and a big idea. It worked
for them. Within a year or so, Kiss had a twelve-foot box just
for their merchandise. We were hardly doing any merch, so I
learned from them.
Jeb: You
could have done a lot more branding and marketing because Blue
Oyster Cult was so unique.
Eric: It
may have been that the powers-that-be didn’t have the prescience
to see the commercial level of what BOC was. It took years for
that to click.
Jeb: I want
to ask you about your songwriting on Agents of Fortune
and Spectres. You don’t have many songs on those
albums.
Eric: I had
a weird year during ‘75 and ‘76 because I lived in an apartment
where I couldn’t make noise. Anytime I wanted to do anything, I
couldn’t. This was the same time that everybody was writing on
their own. We no longer had a band house; it really was
becoming a different era of Blue Oyster Cult.
Jeb: It
really did change the dynamics of the band.
Eric: Buck
wrote “Reaper” by himself, in his house.
Jeb: Who
wrote “ETI?”
Eric: Buck
wrote that as a different song, and no one cared for the lyric,
so we took one of Pearlman’s lyrics and put it to that.
Jeb:
Agents of Fortune was a great album. Some long-term fans
didn’t like the next one, Spectres, and I think that is
also an amazing album.
Eric: That
is a good record, and it sold well. My favorite aside for that
is that, one day, we were in a rental car, driving through the
Midwest, on the way from one gig to another, and we had the
radio on. This deejay comes on and says, “I have the new record
here from Blue Oyster Cult called Spectrees.”
Jeb: The
room on the cover is so cool. There is a clock at midnight and
a black cat and all the other symbolic things.
Eric: That
was actually a photography session and we had the lasers there.
It was an all day project to get that done. We got the suits
from a theatrical supply place. I think it was a successful
cover.
Jeb: Last
one: Another cover I love is Cultasaures Erectus. I love
how you made it look like a real scientific discovery.
Eric:
Albert and I wrote most of the blurb on the back. It sounds
like something that came out over a bowl or something.
Jeb: Your
name is showing on the credits again by this time. Did you
move?
Eric: I
bought a house. The first thing I did, when I got to the house,
was jump up and down on the floor. I had neighbors in the
apartment that used to come bang on my door to turn down music
and to stop walking so heavy.
Jeb: Okay,
really the last one: I have to ask about “Black Blade.” How did
you hook up with Michael Moorcock?
Eric: I
went out of my way to send him a Fan Boy letter. He was living
in England, and he came over to America, to meet with his
publisher. He said, “Lets get together.” We got together, and
bonded, and he started sending me lyrics. That is how “Black
Blade,” “Veteran of Psychic Wars” and “Great Sun Jester”
happened.
www.EricBloom.net
www.BlueOysterCult.com
