Eric's Trip is a Canadian

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

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

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

's flagship grunge label Sub Pop in the early 1990s. The band had a minor hit in alternative circles with the single "View Master", from the 1994 album '' Forever Again.''

History

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

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

and Ed Vaughan (who was later replaced by Mark Gaudet). They took their name from a Sonic Youth song and developed a unique sound which fused elements of the distorted guitar of

Dinosaur Jr. Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name. The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlo ...

, vocal elements of My Bloody Valentine, the folk leanings of

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fur ...

, 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 choice. The ...

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 hi ...

. 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 album, '' Love Tara'', in 1993. JulieDoiron EricsTrip

Eric's Trip went on indefinite hiatus in 1996 and reunited in 2001. They played at the Sappy Records Festival in Sackville, New Brunswick from 2006-2009. In 2010 both White and Doiron played separate sets at SappyFest. Eric's Trip also played a series of shows in 2007, including a show at the 2007

Halifax Pop Explosion The Halifax Pop Explosion 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 name o ...

. 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. Doiron currently has a successful solo career; in 1999, she recorded the album '' Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars'' with the Ottawa band Wooden Stars, which won a Juno Award for Best Alternative Album of the Year, and from 2003 to 2007 she performed with Shotgun & Jaybird. White and Gaudet play in

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, and White has also released three solo albums under the name Rick White Album, ''The Rick White Album'', '' Memoreaper'' and ''137''. Thompson enjoyed some fame as Moon Socket, and currently plays in The Memories Attack with Ron Bates of Moncton band Orange Glass. White produced Doiron's solo albums ''

Woke Myself Up ''Woke Myself Up'' is an album by Julie Doiron, released in 2007. Doiron's former Eric's Trip bandmate Rick White produced and played on the album. Three songs on the album — "I Woke Myself Up", "No More" and "The Wrong Guy" — also include ...

'' (2007) and ''

I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day ''I Can Wonder What You Did with Your Day'' is an album by Julie Doiron, released on March 10, 2009. Recorded at the home studio of Rick White, the album's producer and Doiron's onetime bandmate in Eric's Trip, the album is more rock-oriented ...

'' (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.

Personnel

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

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" 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" EP (4 songs) / CD5 (6 songs) ( Sub Pop) – May 1993 * ''Julie and the Porthole to Dimentia'' 7" EP (One solo track by each of the four members) ( Sappy Records) – Jul 1993 * ''Trapped In New York'' 7" EP (Summershine Records) – 1993 * ''Warm Girl'' 7" EP (Derivative) – 1993 * ''The Gordon Street Haunting'' 7" EP / CD5 ( Sub Pop) – May 1994 * ''The Road South'' 7" EP (

Sonic Unyon Sonic Unyon Recording Company is an independent record label based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Their former retail store was located on Wilson Street near James Street North. The label has put out releases by bands including Tristan Psioni ...

) – Aug 1995

Albums

* '' Love Tara'' ( Sub Pop) – Nov 1993 * '' Forever Again'' (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

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release (no label) – January 2020 * ''Live in Montreal - March 16th, 1993'' live archival

release (no label) – October 2022

Splits

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

Cinnamon Toast Records Cinnamon Toast Records was a 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 Wiesner. Born out ...

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

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(metoo! records) – 1996

Compilations

* "Sickness" featured on ''Naked in the Marsh'' 10" 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" 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 (

) – Aug 1995 * "If You Don't Want Me" featured on ''Teenage Zit Rock Angst'' Compilation LP/CD/8-track (

Nardwuar the Human Serviette John Ruskin (born July 5, 1968), better known as Nardwuar, or Nardwuar the Human Serviette, is a Canadian interviewer and musician from Vancouver, British Columbia.Doug Ward, "Trudeau rolled by Human Serviette", ''Vancouver Sun'', November 17, 1 ...

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. Hi ...

) – 1995 * "So Easier Last Time" featured on '' More of Our Stupid Noise Squirtgun Records'' - 1996 * "Universe" featured on ''

The Boys Club ''The Boys Club'' is a 1996 Canadian crime drama thriller film directed by John Fawcett, written by Doug Smith (story) and Peter Wellington (writer), and starring Chris Penn, Devon Sawa, Dominic Zamprogna, and Stuart Stone. It was released ...

'' 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