Eric's Trip is a Canadian

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band from

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...

, New Brunswick. Eric's Trip achieved prominence as the first Canadian band to be signed to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

's flagship

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock Music genre, genre and subculture that emerged during the in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, particularly in Seattle and Music of Olympia, Washington, O ...

label

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

in the early 1990s. The band had a minor hit in alternative circles with the single "View Master", from the 1994 album ''

Forever Again ''Forever Again'' is the second studio album by the Canadian indie band Eric's Trip. The album was recorded and mixed by the band's guitarist, Rick White. Sessions for the album took place at band members' homes and at White's home studio, Ste ...

.''

History

Eric's Trip formed in 1990 when musicians Rick White and Chris Thompson joined

Julie Doiron Julie Elaine Doiron (born June 28, 1972) is a Canadian singer-songwriter of Acadian heritage. She has been the bassist and co-vocalist for the Canadian indie rock band Eric's Trip since its formation in 1990. Doiron has also released ten solo al ...

and Ed Vaughan (who was later replaced by Mark Gaudet). They took their name from a

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

song and developed a unique sound which fused elements of the distorted guitar of Dinosaur Jr., vocal elements of My Bloody Valentine, the folk leanings of

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

, and the

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

aesthetic of

Sebadoh Sebadoh () is an American indie rock band formed in 1986 in Northampton, Massachusetts, by Eric Gaffney and Lou Barlow, with multi-instrumentalist Jason Loewenstein completing the line-up in 1989. Barlow co-created Sebadoh as an outlet for his ...

. White described their sound as "sappy melodic pop music on top of thick distortion." Gaudet's description was more succinct: "dreamy punk". The band released their first full-length album, '' Love Tara'', in 1993., their second LP, ''

'', in 1994, and their final studio LP '' Purple Blue'' in 1996. In between, Eric's Trip played the 1995 edition of the Tragically Hip's '' Another Roadside Attraction (festival)'' tour. JulieDoiron EricsTrip

Eric's Trip broke up in 1996, in the middle of their US tour and played a final hometown show in June, 1996 prior to reuniting in 2001. In 1997, as part of their contract with Sub Pop, they released the rarities compilation CD, ''Long Days Ride 'Til Tomorrow'', which was being discussed at their final show in 1996.They also played a series of shows between 2006 and 2009. These included a show at the 2007

Halifax Pop Explosion The Halifax Pop Explosion (HPX) was a music festival and conference that occurred every fall, typically two weeks after Thanksgiving, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The term "Halifax Pop Explosion" also came to be adopted in the 1990s as the n ...

and the 2008 edition of

Primavera Sound Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as Primavera) is an annual music festival held at the Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain, during late May and early June. It was founded in 2001 by Pablo Soler as "a showcase for Spanish Noise rock, noise ban ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain and the SP20, a 20th anniversary concert for

Records that took place in

Redmond, Washington Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located east of Seattle. The population was 73,256 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Redmond is best known as the home of Microsoft and Nintendo of America. The city h ...

. They played at the Sappy Records Festival in

Sackville, New Brunswick Sackville is a former town in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. It held town status prior to 2023 and is now part of the town of Tantramar, New Brunswick, Tantramar. Sackville is home to Mount Allison University, a primarily undergraduate libe ...

from 2006 to 2009, with their final performance as a band occurring at the 2009 edition of the festival. In 2010 both White and Doiron played separate sets at SappyFest.

Post Eric's Trip projects & legacy

Doiron currently has a successful solo career; in 1999, she recorded the album ''

Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars ''Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars'' is an album by Julie Doiron in collaboration with the indie rock band Wooden Stars, released in 1999. It represented the first time that Doiron had collaborated with a band since the end of Eric's Trip. The a ...

'' with the Ottawa band

Wooden Stars Wooden Stars are a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1994. The band, from Ottawa, consists of vocalist and guitarist Julien Beillard, guitarist Michael Feuerstack, bassists Josh Latour and Mathieu Beillard, and drummer Andrew McCormack. Style ...

, which won a

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

for Best Alternative Album of the Year, and from 2003 to 2007 she performed with Shotgun & Jaybird. White and Gaudet played in

Elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

until 2009, when White announced the band's dissolution at that year's SappyFest. Since then, White has also released three solo albums under the name Rick White Album, ''The Rick White Album'', '' Memoreaper'' and ''137'' during, and after Elevator. Gaudet currently plays in the heavy metal band Funeral Fog. Thompson enjoyed some fame as Moon Socket, and currently plays in The Memories Attack with Ron Bates of Moncton band Orange Glass, as well as the band Diamondtown. White produced Doiron's solo albums '' Woke Myself Up'' (2007) and '' I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day'' (2009). ''Woke Myself Up'' features three tracks on which the entire Eric's Trip lineup contributed to the recording, their first studio collaboration since the band's 1996 breakup, while ''I Can Wonder'' has been described by critics as directly revisiting the sound and style of Eric's Trip for the first time in Doiron's solo career. A two-disc CD tribute album, titled ''Songs For Eric: A Tribute to Eric's Trip'' featuring Eric's Trip songs covered by artists influenced by the band, released by Gooseberry Rcords, in April 2009.

Band members

Current * Rick White – vocals, guitar (1990–present) *

– bass, guitar, vocals (1990–present) * Chris Thompson – guitar, bass, drums, vocals (1990–present) * Mark Gaudet – drums, vocals (1991–present) Former * Ed Vaughan – drums (1990–1991)

Discography

EPs/cassettes

* ''Eric's Trip'' cassette (Independent) – Dec 1990 * ''Catapillars'' EP cassette (Independent) – Apr 1991 * ''Drowning'' EP cassette (Independent) – Aug 1991 * ''Warm Girl'' cassette (Independent) – Jan 1992 * ''Belong'' 7-inch EP (NIM) – Apr 1992 * ''Peter'' cassette/CD (

Murderecords Murderecords is an independent record label that releases the music of the Canadian rock band Sloan. Originally formed in 1992 to produce just the records of that band, it later released work of other bands including Eric's Trip, The Hardship ...

), LP (Sub Pop Germany) – Apr 1993 * ''Songs About Chris'' 7-inch EP (4 songs) / CD5 (6 songs) (

) – May 1993 * ''Julie and the Porthole to '' 7-inch EP (One solo track by each of the four members) ( Sappy Records) – Jul 1993 * ''Trapped In New York'' 7-inch EP (Summershine Records) – 1993 * ''Warm Girl'' 7-inch EP (Derivative) – 1993 * ''The Gordon Street Haunting'' 7-inch EP / CD5 (

) – May 1994 * ''The Road South'' 7-inch EP ( Sonic Unyon) – Aug 1995

Albums

* '' Love Tara'' (

) – Nov 1993 * ''

'' (Sub Pop) – Sep 1994 * '' Purple Blue'' (Sub Pop) – Jan 1996

Live albums

* ''The Eric's Trip Show'' live CD ( Teenage USA) – 2001 * ''Live in Concert November 4th, 2001'' live CD (Great Beyond) – 2001 * ''Live at The Esquire May 1995'' live archival digital streaming release (no label) – January 2020 * ''Live in Montreal - March 16th, 1993'' live archival digital streaming release (no label) – October 2022 * ''Live In Halifax March 17, 1992'' live archival digital streaming release (no label) – May 2025 * ''Live at Pop Montreal 2007'' live archival digital streaming release (no label) – May 2025

Splits

* "Laying Blame" b/w Stove-Smother Split 7-inch with Sloan (

Cinnamon Toast Records Cinnamon Toast Records was a Record label, record label from Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was inspired by the American label Simple Machines and was run by Walter Forsyth, Lee Ann Gillan, Shawn Duggan, Colin MacKenzie, Robert Jeans and Miroslav Wiesn ...

) – 1994 * ''Pillow (Red)'' b/w Payday and Don't Spook the Horse... Split 7-inch with

Moviola A Moviola () is a device that allows a Film editing, film editor to view a film while editing. It was the first machine for motion picture editing when it was invented by Iwan Serrurier in 1924. History Iwan Serrurier's original 1917 concept f ...

(metoo! records) – 1996

Compilations

* "Sickness" featured on ''Naked in the Marsh'' 10-inch Compilation of Moncton bands, 500 copies on green vinyl (NIM) – 1991 * "Understanding" featured on '' Raw Energy'' CD Compilation ( Raw Energy Records) – 1993 * "Blue Sky for Julie/Smother" featured on '' Never Mind the Molluscs'' East Coast Compilation Double 7-inch set/CD (Sub Pop) – 1993 * "Blue Sky for Julie/Smother" featured on ''Sub Pop Employee of the Month'' Compilation CD/LP (Sub Pop) – 1993 * "Laying Blame" featured on ''Trim Crusts if Desired'' East Coast CD Compilation (

) – 1994 * "Evie" featured on ''Not If I Smell You First'' CD Compilation ( Sonic Unyon) – Aug 1995 * "If You Don't Want Me" featured on ''Teenage Zit Rock Angst'' Compilation LP/CD/8-track (

Nardwuar the Human Serviette Nardwuar the Human Serviette (born John Andrew Vernon Ruskin, July 5, 1968), or simply Nardwuar, is a Canadian celebrity journalist and musician.Doug Ward, "Trudeau rolled by Human Serviette", ''Vancouver Sun'', November 17, 1993. p. A1 He forme ...

Mint Records Mint Records is a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based independent record label founded in 1991, by friends and campus radio enthusiasts Randy Iwata and Bill Baker. Mint has put out over 150 releases, several of which have won Juno Awards. His ...

) – 1995 * "So Easier Last Time" featured on '' More of Our Stupid Noise Squirtgun Records'' - 1996 * "Universe" featured on '' The Boys Club'' Soundtrack - 1996 * "New Love" (remix) & "We're Only Gonna Die" (live in Montreal '94) featured on "The Stareoscopic Scary Show - An Audiological View Of Moncton N.B." (No label, SSSCD 197-2, released independently by Rick White) * ''Long Days Ride 'Till Tomorrow'' ( Sappy Records) – 1997

Other

* ''Bootleg'' (No Label) – 2007 * ''Eric's Trip Demos (92-95)'' - 2023

References

External links

Eric's Trip
discography at Discogs.
Eric's Trip
official site at

Great Beyond Recordings
record label
Eric's Trip Live Archive
– Guide to Eric's Trip's studio sessions and live concerts, including side-projects. {{DEFAULTSORT:Erics Trip Musical groups established in 1990 Musical groups disestablished in 1996 Musical groups reestablished in 2006 Musical groups disestablished in 2009 Canadian indie rock groups Canadian alternative rock groups Musical groups from Moncton Sub Pop artists Canadian noise rock groups Murderecords artists 1990 establishments in New Brunswick 1996 disestablishments in Canada 2006 establishments in New Brunswick 2009 disestablishments in Canada Sonic Unyon artists