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About"On through the crowds of repressed inmates, shaking their fists at the thought of escape, you and I could live like the first day we breathed the light and felt the Earth shake."
This single verse from "The Open Landscape" on Emptyself's self-titled debut CD provides a snapshot of all the inspirations contained within this work of art. A collection of songs that reveal the search for beauty amidst the tragedies of the modern world. Flowing from romantic awe at the vibrancy of youth to the struggle to understand heartlessness, this album somehow manages to be intensely personal, political, and philosophical at the same time, while feeling refreshingly honest throughout.
Emptyself is hauntingly beautiful music from New Orleans-based artist/producer Eric Johanson, featuring lush acoustic guitars, trip-hop and industrial beats, and emotionally revealing lyrics. Fans of Portishead, A Perfect Circle, Massive Attack, Zero 7, and Nine Inch Nails should give Emptyself a listen. Emptyself's self-titled debut CD was released 5/27/05, and is now available from GenomeRecords.com.
Eric began playing guitar at age 5, and was recording his own original rock projects by the ripe old age of 12. At 13 he was assisting in a commercial recording studio, learning the production and mixing techniques that would ultimately lead to the intense sonic atmosphere of Emptyself's music. Johanson seamlessly blends technology with the soulful musicianship that he honed while playing blues and rock guitar for years in clubs and festivals throughout the Southeast.
Following his high school graduation, Eric spent about a year as a regular attraction on Memphis' famed Beale St., before returning to New Orleans to pursue larger philosophical questions that traditional blues playing could not satisfy. Over the next 4 years, he would work out his ideas both through academic means, earning a degree in Philosophy from the University of New Orleans, and through the music of Cire, his progressive art-rock trio. Cire released 2 CDs, Pleasure Is Our Enemy (2001), and Adrenological (2003), generating an international cult following that reached well beyond Cire's live exposure.
Wanting to branch out from the common rock format, Eric once again began experimenting with the open palette of sampling and synthesis to tastefully compliment the guitar/vocal-based songwriting, to reach an emotional intimacy beyond anything he'd done before. This new project, both defying normal genre classification and yet strangely accessible at the same time, would become Emptyself.
Almost exactly 3 months after the release of Emptyself's debut, Hurricane Katrina swept through New Orleans, flooding Johanson's home and wiping out all of his musical equipment and other possessions. Nonetheless, Eric remains focused on moving Emptyself forward, and growing upon the family of loyal fans of this new project.
See also Cire (www.Cire.tv), Eric Johanson's progressive art-rock band from New Orleans, LA.
This single verse from "The Open Landscape" on Emptyself's self-titled debut CD provides a snapshot of all the inspirations contained within this work of art. A collection of songs that reveal the search for beauty amidst the tragedies of the modern world. Flowing from romantic awe at the vibrancy of youth to the struggle to understand heartlessness, this album somehow manages to be intensely personal, political, and philosophical at the same time, while feeling refreshingly honest throughout.
Emptyself is hauntingly beautiful music from New Orleans-based artist/producer Eric Johanson, featuring lush acoustic guitars, trip-hop and industrial beats, and emotionally revealing lyrics. Fans of Portishead, A Perfect Circle, Massive Attack, Zero 7, and Nine Inch Nails should give Emptyself a listen. Emptyself's self-titled debut CD was released 5/27/05, and is now available from GenomeRecords.com.
Eric began playing guitar at age 5, and was recording his own original rock projects by the ripe old age of 12. At 13 he was assisting in a commercial recording studio, learning the production and mixing techniques that would ultimately lead to the intense sonic atmosphere of Emptyself's music. Johanson seamlessly blends technology with the soulful musicianship that he honed while playing blues and rock guitar for years in clubs and festivals throughout the Southeast.
Following his high school graduation, Eric spent about a year as a regular attraction on Memphis' famed Beale St., before returning to New Orleans to pursue larger philosophical questions that traditional blues playing could not satisfy. Over the next 4 years, he would work out his ideas both through academic means, earning a degree in Philosophy from the University of New Orleans, and through the music of Cire, his progressive art-rock trio. Cire released 2 CDs, Pleasure Is Our Enemy (2001), and Adrenological (2003), generating an international cult following that reached well beyond Cire's live exposure.
Wanting to branch out from the common rock format, Eric once again began experimenting with the open palette of sampling and synthesis to tastefully compliment the guitar/vocal-based songwriting, to reach an emotional intimacy beyond anything he'd done before. This new project, both defying normal genre classification and yet strangely accessible at the same time, would become Emptyself.
Almost exactly 3 months after the release of Emptyself's debut, Hurricane Katrina swept through New Orleans, flooding Johanson's home and wiping out all of his musical equipment and other possessions. Nonetheless, Eric remains focused on moving Emptyself forward, and growing upon the family of loyal fans of this new project.
See also Cire (www.Cire.tv), Eric Johanson's progressive art-rock band from New Orleans, LA.
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