Eric Althaus started playing drums at the age of five, when his parents gave him his first set of drums for Christmas.  He took to them immediately, and by the age of seven he was performing for his school classmates, as well as any visitors to his home.

Basically self taught up to the age of thirteen, he sought out formal lessons to learn how to sight-read.  “I didn’t just want to play a snare drum in the school band.  I wanted to play the full set of drums, and the only way to do that at school, was to play with the jazz band.”  He continues, “I knew that I could play better than the other drummers trying out, but I didn’t have a practical knowledge of music theory, and I had very limited knowledge of reading music”. 

After being selected for the jazz band, Eric continued his formal musical education, and private lessons.  A year and a half later, at the age of fourteen, he took over his instructor’s position and taught private lessons to others for the next couple of years.

Throughout high school, he continued playing in the jazz bands at school.  They would travel around the country, performing at academically sponsored festivals for increasing awareness in music education.  Eric was the recipient of numerous awards, as well as thunderous applause whenever he performed a solo.  In his senior year of high school, he was presented with the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award, a prestigious award presented annually to one individual for their portrayal of excellence in jazz performance and academics.  “I guess I was a band geek!” (laughs) “But it sure was a fun time in my life.  I wasn’t only playing drums through school, though.  I managed to keep up with sports, and in my junior year, I [finally] earned my first degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do.”  He points out that “At that point, I also became a Tae Kwon Do instructor”, which he says was one of the goals he set for himself several years earlier. In fact, he has continued on earning higher ranks in Tae Kwon Do and other styles, and still teaches classes twice each week when EQUINOX isn't on the road.

Another goal Eric set for himself, was to attend Berklee College of Music, in Boston.  “I remember my band teacher, Neil Mueller, convincing me to let him record me playing several different musical styles, and then just an impromptu solo.”  “He then apparently sent the recording to Berklee on my behalf, as well as other schools, because in the following month there were a few representatives from some schools – including Berklee – that wanted me to perform for them.”  Eric auditioned for a scholarship, and was accepted to Berklee.  Unfortunately, he did not decide to attend.  He explains “At that particular time, I was playing with a funk band that featured Prince’s cousin on vocals.  I was young enough to actually believe that one good gig is all you need for a successful career.  I figured, since we had the label interest – everything else would just fall into place.  Obviously it didn’t, but that experience led me directly to the project that would eventually become EQUINOX.”  He continues “We may not ever become a huge success in this industry, but nothing makes me happier musically, than working with the other members of EQUINOX.  We all enjoy music for the sake of music.  To become ‘rich’ or ‘famous’ is not the point of this band.  Every one of us, would still be playing this style of music for our own enjoyment – even if it never became successful in any way.”  “To us, we are serious about music – not the business of becoming ‘rock stars’ ”.

When EQUINOX started getting serious about recording their music, the role of manager was ‘assigned’ to Eric.  “Basically, no one else wanted to do it, and I had a moderate amount of curiosity to try it” he says.  He started to maintain the day to day management duties, and after about a year of solid plugging away at it – EQUINOX landed a five-album deal with JVC/Victor.  “It really was an unbelievable situation”, he explains, “We hadn’t attempted to contact ANY labels.  We just put together an album, and I worked up enough industry contacts, that landed us a great distribution opportunity all over the world.  Through one of those distribution outlets, a popular DJ in Japan somehow got his hands on the CD, and started playing it on his radio show.  Eventually, he forwarded a copy to an associate at JVC/Victor.  The unbelievable part was when I received a fax at my house from JVC asking for all sorts of information.  It was about 3:30 in the morning, and I woke up thinking ‘who the hell is faxing me now?’ ”. (laughs)

Currently, Eric is entering his twenty-seventh year of playing drums.  He sites Neil Peart (Rush), Terry Bozzio, and Stuart Copeland (The Police) as his on-going drumming influences.  He states that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is his all-around musical inspiration.  “Each of these individuals have their own unique style, as well as sound. You can listen to any piece of their work, and even if you weren’t familiar with the song you were hearing, you’d still be able to tell that it was these guys you were hearing.”  He adds, “This is my ultimate musical goal – to be recognized for my own style and sound.  I’m not sure you can listen to yourself objectively enough to be able to tell – that’s the only reason I say ‘recognized’ ”. 

In the wake of Eric separating himself from the second incarnation of Equinox, he finds himself busier than ever. "I'm making time to do all the projects - musical and non-musical - that I haven't been able to focus on during the past six years. I'm working with some friends on a jazz/fusion album; I'm working with a new hard-core band, Nocturnal Prince; I'm playing bass guitar with some friends of mine in BlackLyte; I've laid down tracks for radio jingles; and [of course] I'm still playing with my long-time rock and roll band Torok. I've also been spending as much time as possible with my family. It's amazing how much time I've been able to find now that I'm not concentrating and waiting on Equinox."

Of the Equinox situation, Eric offers the following: "After the original Equinox lineup parted ways in 1997, I decided to keep working with the guys we originally brought into the band as backing musicians to tour with - in an attempt to keep the Equinox machine running. I brought in Takara's session keyboardist to play keys in 1998, and we all collectively brought in a new singer in early 2002. Nearly three years after I originally recorded the drum tracks for our Opus album, and after numerous missed deadlines, I began to once again assert my duties in the management of the group to hopefully get the album completed and released once and for all. Since I had allowed the group to act in more of a democratic manner over the previous year or so, my actions were met with great hostility. And while I acknowledged their desires to be more involved in the overall operation of the group, I was uncomfortable with it because none of them had any experience with band management before - the only thing I saw from the combined efforts was further delays, missed deadlines, more conference calls to clear up other conference call issues, and just 'sitting still' in general. Unable to convince them to trust me, in spite of my own successful track record of accomplishments for Equinox before any of them were even members of the group <<interviewer's note: Eric acted as Equinox's manager since the early 1990's, and orchestrated the events that led up to Equinox signing their first major label contract with JVC/Victor>>, combined with my desire to not just 'sit and spin our wheels all the time', I decided to ultimately leave and possibly entertain the idea of reforming Equinox, or maybe even get the original band together again." He adds: "From a musicianship standpoint, those players were talented. But I've been very fortunate and spoiled over the years to play with phenomenal musicians like the virtuosos Jamison [Masters] and Lonnie [Melland] in the original Equinox lineup. The three of us created something very special together, and it was original. We didn't have the luxury of being associated with a band that had already 'made it', to make marketing ourselves easier. We forged our own path through the music industry, and made it all the way to the 'major league' of the industry. Most other bands in the prog genre can't make that claim." 

-Interviewer: Shane Lovalle, January 2003
-Further excerpts taken from the original Equinox web site originally published in 1996.

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