- Eric Matthews
Eric Matthews (born 1969 in
Compton, California ) is an Americancomposer ,musician , recording artist, and record producer.Eric came to the world's attention as one half of the band Cardinal. Cardinal was formed with
Australia n singer-songwriter Richard Davies in 1992 while the two both lived inBoston, Massachusetts . Cardinal introduced Eric as a multi-instrumentalist and arranger while Richard contributed most of the songwriting. Cardinal, while not a huge commercial success, made a big splash among sophisticated music fans in most of the West's big cities and with its 1994 self titled debut cemented itself as one of the pivotal bands of the 1990s.Eric’s love of the symphonic tradition matched with his appreciation for the greatBee Gees andBeatles records of the 1960s were both a great blend for Cardinal as well as a template for what Eric hoped to achieve in his own music later.Richard and Eric went separate ways, and in 1995 Eric released his debut solo record on
Sub Pop Records in 1995. "It's Heavy In Here" featured the radio hit "Fanfare" and went on to be a top seller for Sub Pop and one of the most talked about albums of 1995. In 1997 the follow-up album "The Lateness of the Hour" was released on Sub Pop and, while it did not sell as well, was filled with more demonstration of Eric's ability to weave orchestral instruments with more traditional rock stylings.Eric and Sub Pop parted ways in 1999, and Eric began a steady stream of projects (as side-man) with such groups as
Tahiti 80 ,The Dandy Warhols , Ivy, Man of the Year,Elliott Smith ,Paula Kelley , Pugwash, Volovan, and Bug 2000.In 2004 Eric began a relationship with
Empyrean Records for the purpose of the long awaited re-issue of the Cardinal record. Out of this project grew the opportunity for Eric to begin making new records again under the Empyrean label.In 2005 Eric released his third solo record, entitled "Six Kinds of Passion Looking For An Exit," and in 2006 another album entitled "Foundation Sounds." In the summer of 2006, Eric announced that he and a guitarist from Cleveland named Christopher Seink had formed a new instrumental recording band called Seinking Ships.
Collaborations/guest musicians include:Richard Davies,
Jason Falkner ,Spookey Ruben , Elliott Smith, Gregg Williams,Tony Lash , Robert Harris, Christopher Seink,Mark Eitzel ,Lou Barlow , Bob Fay, and Steven Hanford.Discography
* Cardinal
Further reading
* [http://crawdaddy.wolfgangsvault.com/Article.aspx?id=5166 Review of "The Imagination Stage"] at "
Crawdaddy! "
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