Eric John Wilson (born February 21, 1970) is an American musician who is best known as the former

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

for Sublime (1988–1996). He was also bassist for

Long Beach Dub Allstars The Long Beach Dub Allstars are an American dub/ska/rock band formed in 1997 and disbanded in 2002, but reformed 10 years later. History Initial career (1997–2001) Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh met in childhood (in 1979) and later started their ...

(1997–2002), and

Long Beach Shortbus Long Beach Shortbus was an American reggae-influenced punk band from Long Beach, California, United States. The band consists of four regular members: RAS-1 (lead vocals and guitar), Trey Pangborn (guitar), Eric Wilson (bass guitar) and Dam ...

, which was composed of several members of Long Beach Dub Allstars and Sublime. Since 2009, Wilson has been the bassist for

Sublime with Rome Sublime with Rome is a musical collaboration between Eric Wilson (bassist), Eric Wilson, formerly of the American ska punk band Sublime (band), Sublime, and singer and guitarist Rome Ramirez. The group's name is not only a reference to the singe ...

, a musical collaboration between Wilson and singer and guitarist

Rome Ramirez Roman René Ramírez (born June 11, 1988), better known as Rome Ramirez or simply Rome, is an American singer and guitarist best known for playing with Eric Wilson (bassist), Eric Wilson from Sublime (band), Sublime in the band Sublime with Rome ...

Musical career

Sublime

Wilson and Bradley Nowell met in 1979 and later started a punk band called Hogan's Heroes, later changing their name to Sloppy Seconds (not to be confused with the Indiana hardcore punk band of the same name). In 1988, Wilson introduced friend Bradley Nowell to his long-time friend Bud Gaugh, and the three of them went on to form Sublime. After the death of Sublime's lead vocalist Bradley Nowell in 1996, which disbanded Sublime, Wilson temporarily joined up with 1960s style

surf rock Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a Music genre, genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is in ...

band Del Noah & the Mt. Ara Ratfinks, with whom he played the

stand-up bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

Long Beach Dub Allstars

At the same time, Wilson and Sublime drummer Bud Gaugh—along with many friends—started to experiment with the unique Sublime sound. They eventually formed many Sublime-related bands, most of whom signed with the Long Beach record label

Skunk Records Skunk Records is a Long Beach, California based record label that was founded by Michael "Miguel" Happoldt and Bradley Nowell in 1990. The label also operates a subsidiary, Cornerstone R.A.S. The record label originally produced records for Subl ...

. In 1997,

formed and their first album, ''

Right Back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

'' (

DreamWorks DreamWorks may refer to: * DreamWorks Pictures, an American film production company of Amblin ** DreamWorks Television, an American television production company and division of the film studio ** DreamWorks Records, an American record label and f ...

) was released in 1999. Long Beach Dub Allstars second album ''

Wonders of the World Various lists of the Wonders of the World have been compiled from antiquity to the present day, in order to catalogue the world's most spectacular natural features and human-built structures. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is the o ...

'' (DreamWorks) was released in 2001. However, the band broke up shortly after in 2002.

Long Beach Shortbus

Wilson then joined a band with lead singer of Long Beach Dub Allstars

RAS-1 RAS-1 (Richard Arthur Smith) is a musician (guitarist/singer) who was in the band Long Beach Shortbus with former Sublime bassist Eric Wilson and Willard "trey" Pangborn of Falling Idols, along with drummer Damien Ramirez. RAS-1 was also a me ...

called

. The band later split in October 2007. Wilson currently plays the drums in a psychedelic rock band called StoneWing who went on a 2009 tour of the Midwest and Colorado with Midwest Reggae Rockers Jon Wayne and The Pain out of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. Wilson also plays in an

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

cover band called The STyMiES.

Sublime with Rome

It was announced in early 2009 that Wilson would be reuniting with Sublime at Cantina Los Tres Hombres in

Sparks, Nevada Sparks is a city in Washoe County, Nevada, United States. It was founded in 1904, incorporated on March 15, 1905, and is located just east of Reno. The 2020 U.S. Census counted 108,445 residents in the city. It is the fifth most populous city in ...

on February 28 with Bud Gaugh and new frontman and guitarist

, in place of Bradley Nowell. Following positive response, the band decided to reunite properly in August 2009 for a possible tour and new album. However, not long after the October 2009 performance at

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...

's Smokeout Festival, a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

judge banned the new lineup from using the Sublime name and the band was forced to change the name. The new lineup of Eric Wilson, Bud Gaugh and Rome Ramirez performed together as

. Their debut album, '' Yours Truly'' was released on July 12, 2011. In December 2011, Gaugh left Sublime with Rome, reportedly to spend more time with his family. He was replaced by

Josh Freese Joshua Ryan Freese (born December 25, 1972) is an American session drummer. He is the son of tuba soloist Stan Freese and the older brother of musician Jason Freese. He is a member of the Vandals (since 1989) and Devo (since 1996), having forme ...

and the band has continued to tour.

Spray Allen

In the summer of 2019, after performing in the reggae-rock genre for over three decades, Wilson formed a new 4-piece rock band called of Spray Allen. They released their debut single and music video for the song, "Stay Clean" in May 2021. The single was produced by

Paul Leary Paul Leary Walthall (born May 7, 1957), known as Paul Leary, is an American musician and music producer from Austin, Texas, best known as the lead guitarist and occasional lead vocalist for the American rock band Butthole Surfers. He is also the ...

of the

Butthole Surfers Butthole Surfers are an American rock band formed in San Antonio, Texas, by singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been ...

, along with Stu Brooks from

Dub Trio Dub Trio is a dub/rock cross-over band from Brooklyn, New York City, New York. History Dub Trio consists of bassist Stu Brooks, guitarist DP Holmes, and drummer Joe Tomino. With the addition of electronic, rock, punk and heavy metal, the group pa ...

and

Gabrial McNair Gabrial McNair (born September 8, 1973) is a musician and composer, most famous for his work in No Doubt since 1993 as a trombonist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist. He recorded and toured with Green Day during the ''Nimrod'' and '' Warning'' t ...

from

No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1986. For most of their career, the band has consisted of vocalist Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young. Since the mid-1990s, they ...

. This is a rock-outlet for Wilson taking influences from

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

from

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

and

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

with

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredicta ...

's style vocals into a modern-day sound, they call "new psychedelic", a blend of old and new coming from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Spray Allen consists of Daniel Lonner on vocals, Eric Sherman on guitar, Wade Youman (

Unwritten Law Unwritten Law is an American punk rock band formed in 1990 in Poway, California. They have released seven full-length studio albums and have toured internationally, including performances on the Warped Tour. They are notable for their singles " ...

) on Drums, and Wilson himself on bass.

Personal life

On April 2, 2019, Wilson broke his arm and four ribs in an ATV accident on his avocado ranch in California. Days after, he was reported to be in stable condition at a San Diego hospital.

Discography

Sublime

*'' 40 Oz. to Freedom'' (1992) *''

Robbin' the Hood ''Robbin' the Hood'' is the second studio album by American ska punk band Sublime, released on March 1, 1994 on Skunk Records. It is noted for its experimental nature, low production values, and numerous samples and interpolations of other art ...

'' (1994) *'' Sublime'' (1996) *''

Second-hand Smoke Passive smoking is the inhalation of tobacco smoke, called secondhand smoke (SHS), or environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), by persons other than the intended "active" smoker. It occurs when tobacco smoke enters an environment, causing its inhalat ...

'' (1997)

Del Noah & the Mt. Ararat Finks

*''Blower Explosion'' (1998)

Long Beach Dub All-Stars

*''

'' (1999) *''

'' (2001)

Long Beach Shortbus

*''Flying Ship of Fantasy'' (2004)

Sublime With Rome

*'' Yours Truly'' (2011) *''

Sirens Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology Places * Siren (town), Wisconsin * Siren, Wisco ...

'' (2015) *'' Blessings'' (2019)

References

External links

Sublime Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Eric 1970 births American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Living people Musicians from Long Beach, California American punk rock musicians Sublime (band) members American male guitarists Guitarists from California 21st-century American bass guitarists Long Beach Dub Allstars members Long Beach Shortbus members Sublime with Rome members