The Eli Young Band is bringing its fans more of its country sound with its newest EP “Turn It On.”
The band is currently touring and will perform at the Varsity Theatre on Oct. 2. Mike Eli, lead vocalist, spoke to The Daily Reveille about the band, its touring experience and future plans.
The Daily Reveille: What is the story of the band’s formation?
Mike Eli: Two of us were roommates — James [Young] and I. And Jon [Jones] and Chris [Thompson] were roommates. They actually got to college at [University of] North Texas the year before I came. So they actually had met in ’98. And then when I came to college in ’99, that’s when I met the guys. And they had already been jamming together a little bit, and we became friends. … and I think one day James and I were talking about writing songs, and so we just started writing songs and eventually that just led to us wanting to go out and play acoustic somewhere and so we started playing around acoustic, James and I. And that was at the point where we just wanted somebody to give us some microphones and speakers and let us go up there and play open mic-night. … Jon and Chris jumped on stage with us for the first time in October 2001. 15 years later…
TDR: How would you describe your sound today?
ME: It’s changed over time, a little bit, but you continually evolve. We are focused on trying to just make great music, and we try to think outside of the box even when it comes to genre. There was a time when we first started coming out and radio started taking notice of us, and we were very left-center. We weren’t inside that country box that was especially so evident back then. We draw from so much — not just from country music — but we draw so much from anywhere from Paul Simon to [Bruce] Springsteen to … and you hear a lot of those artists in a lot of what we do. And back then, when we started the band, we listened to a lot of refreshments and a lot of that ’90s stuff that was happening, and you can hear that in our music.
TDR: Are you excited to play at the Varsity Theatre?
ME: The Varsity is one of our favorite places to play in. We always look forward to going back there. The Varsity kind of recharged us sometimes. It kind of gets us jazzed up too, remembering why we do it and it’s that small, intimate theatre — a good time. We always really love it.
TDR: How does your newest release, “Turn It On” EP, differ from your past releases?
ME: You know, with the EP we were really kind of experimenting with some different sounds and stuff that we have done in the past and didn’t necessarily turn it up in the mix, and I think that we were kind of messing around with a lot of those ideas. And it’s funny because that music, when we went into the studio, the intention for it was to experiment, not necessarily to release it right away. … The label ended up loving it, and so they asked if they could release it. … We actually go back in a couple weeks to work on the new songs and then to put some finishing touches on maybe another four songs, and we’ve been playing a lot of the songs live.
TDR: What was it like working with Andy Grammer on “Honey, I’m Good,” and do you have any collaborations planned for the future?
ME: We’ve talked about doing some writing and stuff, so we’ve kind of got to know Andy. We played some shows together even before working on “Honey, I’m Good,” so it was great. We were flattered that he called us and asked us to be a part of his song. The song is a great tune and being able to be a part of it was awesome, so we play it live and we have a great time. The song is a monster hit, and we’re flattered that he asked us to be a part of it — easy decision.
TDR: What has been the band’s favorite part of touring?
ME: We get to play music — as cliche and predictable as that is. We always said we would get on stage and play music for free. We did, for so long. It’s kind of the other crap you pay for — the traveling, and the never being home thing. That’s the downside. But the upside is that we get to get on stage and play
music every night. That’s a
pretty good day.
TDR: What has been the most interesting fan experience you guys have dealt with?
ME: We’ve had a lot of odd fan experiences, but we also have our favorites. The tattoos are one of those things that, oddly — you know, you want it so bad — you want to be up on the stage where people are singing your music back to you. You want the music to belong to them as much as it belongs to you, and so when somebody comes up to you and has your song tattooed on their body — I mean it’s stuck with them now. They’ll remember me forever.
TDR: Are you flattered by that?
ME: Yeah, absolutely. That’s one of the cool things. It belongs to them so much that it’s
tattooed on their body.
TDR: So how has been
performing with Toby Keith?
ME: It’s good. We’ve been kind of on and off his tour all summer. It’s a big, rowdy, crowd. … And Toby’s from Oklahoma. He says we’re the only Texans he likes — us and Willie Nelson. We try to make sure we don’t tick him off. … It’s been a good run.
TDR: What are your future plans for the band?
ME: We’re going to hopefully have a new album come out in the spring and focus on our touring in 2016. We’re doing a winter tour, doing all these smaller venues, like the Varsity, all through the winter. It’s going to be a really good time, and it’s really going to recharge our batteries. Every time we play somewhere like the Varsity, it kind of gets this new spark in our eye. So, we’ll do that the rest of the summer and then 2016 focus on our touring.